My Gen X Playlist: Down by the Water – PJ Harvey

I can’t wait for baseball season to begin. It really is a weird feeling because baseball wasn’t a big part of my life growing up. I never enjoyed watching it until recently.

My childhood primarily revolved around basketball since I was a kid. My siblings and I started playing at an early age and continued through high school and beyond. None of us went on to play college ball. We weren’t that good. But we always found ways to play and stay connected afterwards. Heck, my dad even played in basketball leagues well into his sixties. I only made it until my early thirties.

My parents also exposed us to other sports growing up. Each of us picked an additional one to play in high school. Mine was track. My oldest brother played tennis and my other brother played football and volleyball. My sister also joined the track and volleyball teams. Even still, our childhoods were anchored around basketball.

All of my nieces and nephews continued the basketball tradition. Like us, they all started playing at an early age. My oldest brother’s daughter even played in college. My parents loved going to all the grandkid’s games. It was like living a second life for them. Rooting from the stands kept them young at heart.

My sister’s daughter initially was lukewarm with the sport. When she was in elementary school, she confided to my mom. Grandma, basketball is just my hobby. I don’t really love it. My mom was privately heartbroken. I personally thought it was no big deal. She was a good softball player and she seemed to love that. But my mom quietly reminded me we were a basketball family. She was thrilled when my niece eventually came back to the fold on her own accord and played on the high school team.

When my brother was remodeling his house, he pointed to the area in the backyard where the basketball hoop was going to go. I assumed he’d just roll in a portable one for the kids to play with. Nope. He cemented in a pole instead. Damn, that seemed kind of permanent. Come to think of it, my oldest brother may have done the same thing. Even I think that’s crazy. He rationalized that when he has grandkids, they can come by and use it, too. And even though his kids’ true love leaned towards volleyball and soccer, he knew that somebody would always enjoy shooting some hoops together.

Me? Do I still love the game? Not really. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t think my family does either. We hung up our basketball shoes decades ago. But it was a big part of our childhoods. I do enjoy watching my college team play and had season tickets until we moved away. And March Madness is always fun to watch. That’s where it ends for me, though. My buddies still play in a league and recently invited me to join the team. I just laughed.

So I find it funny that I can’t wait for baseball season to begin. I only played until junior high school and later became reacquainted with it to connect with my parents. It seems my mom loves it more than basketball. She never watches the NBA, but she follows the Angels religiously. Party foul? Aren’t we supposed to be a basketball family? Then it occurred to me. She loved basketball not for the sport itself but because it was a conduit to bring our family closer together. Now it all made sense.

Maybe this whole basketball family thing is waning, and that’s OK. Everything evolves and nothing lasts forever. We’ll see what happens when I start having grand nieces and nephews. Maybe it might make a come back. Secretly, I’m rooting that it does. Until then, I’ll flip the ballgame on, sing along at the seventh inning stretch and hope one day the Angels finally make the playoffs.

I thought I’d pick a song from the 1995 Gen X movie, The Basketball Diaries. I don’t remember too many specifics from the movie, but recall it felt a little gritty. And even though the title alludes to a movie about basketball, it’s not about basketball at all. Kind of like my family being a basketball family. It was never really about the sport. I get that now.

The soundtrack had a cool PJ Harvey song, Down by the Water. Personally, I just liked her name. Anyone bold enough to go by PJ is pretty cool in my book.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

I lost my heart
Under the bridge
To that little girl
So much to me
And now I'm old
And now I holler
She'll never know
Just what I found

That blue eyed girl
(that blue eyed girl)
She said "no more"
(she said "no more")
That blue eyed girl
(that blue eyed girl)
Became blue eyed whore
('came blue eyed whore)
Down by the water
(down by the water)
I took her hand
(I took her hand)
Just like my daughter
(just like my daughter)
Won't see her again
(see her again)

Oh help me jesus
Come through this storm
I had to lose her
To do her harm
I heard her holler
(I heard her holler)
I heard her moan
(I heard her moan)
My lovely daughter
(my lovely daughter)
I took her home
(I took her home)

Little fish. big fish. Swimming in the water.
Come back here, man. gimme my daughter.
Little fish. big fish. Swimming in the water.
Come back here, man. gimme my daughter.
Little fish. big fish. Swimming in the water.
Come back here, man. gimme my daughter ....