Best Baseball Songs Ever – Jonathan Richman – The Fenway
April 3, 2011
Jonathan Richman Saw Ted Williams Go Yard
Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers – The Fenway
To my great shame, I’ve never been to Fenway Park, but I am grateful to Jonathan Richman for taking me there in song. Jonathan sings that he was born near Fenway and ever since it has been a place “where I dream my dreams.” While Richman is famous for invoking nostalgia for a time that perhaps never was – more an indictment on the nature of nostalgia than on the authenticity of Richman’s recollections – in baseball he’s found a subject that transcends such silly hair-splitting. When he sings “there’s an echo from an era that’s already past and gone,” he might as well be singing about himself.
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I am lucky enough to have grown up a short short ride on the red and green lines to Fenway Park, and within walking distance of the Cambridge Common, where Jonathan and his pals (including John Felice, who would eventually lead his own group, the legendary Real Kids) could be seen for free on occasion. How can I not be nostalgic for the days when a teenager working for minimum wage in a stereo store could scrape up enough money for a six pack and a ticket to that night’s game?