According to Wikipedia, that font of all information, - "Forever Young" has become something of a pop culture standard. It has been performed by numerous musical groups and in different versions and has appeared in television series, movies, and advertisements. The song plays during scenes in the television series Passions, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (episode 103: "Underage Drinking: A National Concern"), the North American version of Queer as Folk (season 1, episode 18), One Tree Hill (season 4, episode 16), 30 Rock (season 4, episode 10), Greek (Cover version by the Youth Group in the Series finale) and Big Love. It also plays in the movie Listen to Me and during the school dance scene of the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite. In 2006 and 2007 the song was used in advertisements for the Scandinavian banks SEB in Estonia and Sweden, and Nordea in Denmark. It also appeared in prom-themed advertisements for Saturn Ion automobiles.
I had never heard of this song, until I was in 11th Grade Science Class with my friend, Craig Allerheiligen. I don't remember exactly what they taught us in this class, except for I think we cut up a frog. I do remember the teacher being constantly unhappy with Craig and I, because we always enjoyed talking with each other, instead of listening to whatever lesson was being presented.
Craig and I had been friends for a few years. I had been out on the sailboat with him and watched as his dad tried to haul him up the mast to undo some knots. That did not turn out well.
I had hung out with him at the library during endless sessions trying to do "research" for some report or the other.
I had spent the night at his house watching dumb shows on cable tv until late into the night.
I had hung out with him during parties he had at his house and ran down to the haunted house with him a block away where we would talk about the people that had died there and what went on inside of it.
We spent time together in youth group and choir class talking about God, girls and whatever else came to mind.
I even remember running back and forth to Derek's house across the street with him and Jody's house next door.
But most of all, I remember him singing "Forever Young" in the middle of science class in the 1lth Grade.
It was maybe a year after that when Craig was in a motorcycle accident that led to his death.
And now, whenever I hear that song, I think of Craig. He will be, to me, Forever Young.
Here's an article about the latest recipient of the scholarship named for him.
Here is the song, Forever Young. If you knew Craig, think of him while you give it a listen.
2 comments:
That's so sweet. I also think of him when I hear this song. RIP Craig.
Good to read about Craig after so many years. I remember him the best from Mrs. Weigel's choir class. He had a beautiful tenor and could hit some amazingly high tones, as I remember, the highest of all the guys.
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