Two years ago my friend Lee discovered that she had a half-sister. Julie had been adopted as a child and tracked down her biological parents, which led her to Lee. They became Facebook friends and found a great deal of common ground. Last week they met in person for the first time and I stumbled into their family reunion. They quite graciously didn’t chase me away and even though I’m a cynical old man I found their story quite heartwarming. And so of course I had to turn it into a Cover Freak post.

Spooky Tooth “Son Of Your Father” (Elton John)
This isn’t one of Elton John’s most well-known songs but it’s one of my favorites. I like the admonition to treat me as your father would treat you. Depending on what kind of person somebody’s father is, that might not be the best thing to ask of a person. Both characters die by the end of the song, it’s a cautionary tale.

Lee and Julie are daughters of the same father and Lee certainly worked hard to treat her new sister as her own despite what must have been a very weird situation for her. There was no gunplay, for which I am glad. I’m sure the fact that her sister turned out to be Julie helped tremendously. We should all be so lucky to have such a thoroughly charming sibling as Jule pop into our lives unexpectedly.

Kaci Brown “I Think I Love You” (The Partridge Family)
There has been much discussion over the years about the effects of television on society. One of the most insidious in my opinion has been the popular perception of what family is, or should be. From the days of Father Knows Best up to The Cosby Show, television has presented an idealized vision of the American family. Real families are messy things sometimes, and often don’t resemble the Cleavers. More often than not family conflicts can’t be resolved in 22 minutes, allowing for commercial breaks. While you can’t pick your relatives, your family is what you make of it. Sometimes you have to accept your relatives for who and what they are and make the best of it.

And the thing is, even those TV families often fall short of their own standards. Mr. Brady was a closeted gay man living a lie, and those child actors are all messed up. Just look at Danny Bonaduce.

Randy California “Mother And Child Reunion” (Paul Simon)
I’m sure that Julie’s reunion with her birth mother was more difficult on a whole bunch of levels than her reunion with Lee. I can’t help but admire somebody who’s willing to get naked and jump off the cliff into the unknown like that. While that part of Julie’s search for her family may have been strange, from what I can tell it was not at all mournful. Which is a testament to how good everybody involved in the situation has been.

Jason Ringenburg “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe” (The Clash)
Things did not go at all well when Ivan met G.I. Joe. They went much better when Lee met Julie.

The Busters “Friday On My Mind” (The Easybeats)
The sisters met on a Friday. Friday the 13th to be exact. I like their collective contempt for superstition. And they did have fun in the city, heading downtown to do all the standard touristy stuff since Julie had never been to Chicago. I don’t know if they spent all their bread, but nobody seemed to lose their head.