It was just about a year ago that the telephone rang at around 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday.  A little bit tipsy, slightly shaken, but mainly angry (oh boy was he pissed!) our son was on the line.  A student at Tulane in New Orleans, he’d just been mugged on Bourbon Street in the middle of Mardi Gras and he wanted me to cancel his bankcard at once.  “Oh and don’t tell, Mom” …who was obviously sitting up in bed, wide-eyed, right next to me… “It’ll only upset her.”

In cases like this it’s effortless to jump into action and the card was cancelled within minutes.  But then a little later while mulling it over (and over), when imagination had a chance to assert itself, the chill trickled down my spine.  He’d become separated from his friends in the crowd and felt someone grab his wallet.  Without thinking he gave chase down a side street. While one guy grabbed him around the neck from behind and the thug who took his wallet taunted him, a third punched him in the head.

What if they’d hit him with something other than a fist?  What if they’d continued to pummel him? What if there had been a knife?  What if ..?

I think we all learned a lesson that night. The big, strapping lad learned that he’s not quite as invincible as he thought, and maybe a little more wariness is in order. And 1,500 miles and a time-zone away, his parents learned that the “what if” game is a foolish waste of emotional energy.  A year later it seems a distant memory. You might say that in the end it was right.

Formed in Berkeley, California in 1987 and a major part of the resurging American punk rock scene at the time, Green Day has sold over 65 million records.  Still touring and having recently recorded its ninth studio album, the band has won five Grammy Awards, including one for Best Musical Show Album for a stage adaptation of its rock opera, “American Idiot.”

Lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong wrote today’s selection in 1994, although it wasn’t released until the band’s fifth album, “Nimrod” in 1997.  With its melodious, acoustic music and reflective lyrics “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” is an uncharacteristic song for Green Day.  As bassist, Mike Dirnt put it “the release of this song was probably the most punk thing we could have done.”

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SONG – Monday 5 March 

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

 Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why

It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time

 It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

 So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial

For what it’s worth it was worth all the while

 It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

 It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right.

I hope you had the time of your life.