Dionne Warwick "Deja Vu"

I went to my High School reunion last week.

I was great to see some folks I don't often get to see.  And see some folks I haven't seen in 2-plus decades.

I did kind of have it in my mind that seeing some of these people would jog a few memories, that would lead to a few good blog posts.

Surprisingly, despite the full night of 80s music on the P.A., I really didn't find any fodder for stories---until the end of the night.

As I was walking out the door, I passed a guy I hadn't seen or talked to, probably since graduation.  And hilariously, today's song is the first thing I thought of.

I've written before about being the oldest kid in my family, about not having an older brother to introduce me to certain things like music.

Other things that friends with older brothers had access too,  included profanity, and secret knowledge.

Secret knowledge is that stuff they don't teach you about in school, and your parent don't talk to you about.  You just pick it up on the playground.

In middle school, I learned, via friends with older brothers, what a hermaphrodite is.  And the definition of "twat."  Things like that.

Some things you learn from your friends older brothers are absolutely correct.  Other things, not so much.

I remember being in Middle School, at the lunch table, and for no reason one of the kids at the table (the guy at the beginning of this story) had been humming this song.  Then he turned to me and said:

"Do you know what Deja Vu means?  It's French for 'Shit On A Brick.'"

He had learned this from his older brother.

We all marveled at the cleverness of Dionne Warwick, and how she had this hit song that folks were singing along to, when they were really saying, in a foreign language, "Shit On A Brick."

Several years later, when my folks had transferred me to a Catholic School, and I actually took French classes, I realized that our information was inaccurate.

I'd totally forgotten this story, but seeing my old classmate brought the memory right back.  "Deja vu" all over again.


Hear the song on Youtube.