#SongoftheDay Can I Borrow a Feeling? (Kirk Van Houten)

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 One of my absolute favourite Simpsons episodes is called A Milhouse Divided.  It's the episode where Milhouse's parents get a divorce. I'm watching it right now, trying to figure out why I love it so much.

Maybe I love it because my parents got divorced when I was just a tad older than Milhouse.  Kirk is a sadly familiar figure. My father lived in motels and rooming houses, but that was mostly because of his poor life choices.  When he was fired by his employer for theft, he vowed never to work again--and, true to his word, he never did. He actually tried to get alimony out of my mother, who was raising four kids on a secretary's salary. With zero child support, obviously.

I think one thing that always drew me to The Simpsons was the feeling of recognition in all that dysfunction. My household was not a funny one to grow up in, but if you made us into cartoon characters, maybe other people would laugh. 

Maybe. 

I can understand why REAL adults (ie. people who are older than I am) are shocked and appalled when they see Homer strangling Bart, but if you grow up inside domestic violence (remember, I am speaking from my own experience, here!) and every family you see on TV is the Cleavers or Little House on the Prairie or the Full House people, you do feel like a bit of an alien. Like, even as a kid I KNEW Leave It To Beaver was just TV, but still... it's wildly different compared to the childhood I was experiencing. 

Seeing an extremely flawed family with an abusive alcoholic father on television was kind of a godsend, for me. I would have been nine years old when The Simpsons premiered (I remember watching the very first episode!), and I needed that show at that point in my little life. Because there was such genuine love in their flawed family, and I had to believe there was in mine, too.  Even if we couldn't stay together. Even if it was best for our family to fragment and fall apart, I had to believe it was once, long ago, rooted in love.

If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music.

Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my AudioErotica endeavour on Patreon would also help me hugely!

I'm also an Amazon Influencer, so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through my affiliate links.

But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back.

Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page so you won't miss a song!

See you tomorrow!
Giselle

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