Kai, Musical Genius

A few mornings ago, waiting for Kai to finish his breakfast, I sat down with my acoustic guitar and practiced a few tunes. To my chagrin, Kai stopped eating and started fiddling around with his fingers.

"Why aren't you eating your breakfast?" I asked.

"I'm playing the piano," he explained.

I foresee great musical things from that boy—much as I do his sister, A.J. I don't peg Kai's particular gifts on his still-unproven piano playing, however. Rather, I credit his musical taste. Witness the evidence:

I asked Kai to not forget about his breakfast and went back to playing. I soon started riffing around some new chord progressions, and worked up the core of a twee song. Kai listened patiently. As we later prepared to leave the house, I returned to the tune and sang trial lyrics over and over the same, somewhat oversweet melody.

I love wakin' to another day in paradise.
A swell's comin' in; the weather is nice.
I love welcomin' another day to paradise . . . .

"Stop singing that, Daddy," Kai stated.

"You don't like it?" I asked him.

"No. You sing it too much," he explained.

I meekly stopped, not wanting to bruise Kai's delicate sensibilities. I didn't give up on the tune, though. I worked up some more lyrics. D politely informed me that they doubled up on the entendres a bit heavily, so I toned down the wink-wink stuff. (I think Kai gets his good taste from her.) And I have pretty well ironed out the lead guitar. Check it out in MP3 or AIFF format. I call it "Paradise." It runs only about a minute and a half, so you won't suffer much. Rest assured, I don't sing; it's just a buzzy guitar.

You other critics out there, please take note: Yeah, I know I need a drummer. Think of those pauses as dramatic devices (rather than as mad scrambles for the new fingerings.) And, yeah, it runs a little rough. Cuts the treacle, I figure.

[NB: Since posting the above, I've replaced the recording with a later, arguably better one.]