Summary: Going through my parents' stuff 10 years after their deaths, I found a box of cassettes of my father interviewing me when I was a kid. Simple and sweet.
Trip down memory lane with found audio from save-everything family. I always wondered what it would be like to see videos of myself when I was young, or tapes. I actually have a few old cassette tapes my Mom recently gave me.
But I find out, and confirm by listening to this piece, is more important than hearing me, it's going to be hearing my Mom & Dad. They are still alive right now, and I cherish the times I see them and hear them. But there will be a time. I reflect on it when I see my Grandma Gert on old videos where she's holding my newborn son.
For a while during the 1990s Father's Day played second fiddle to Mother's Day. By now we've entered an era of good feelings about Dad. Liberated by generations of people we once called Women's Libbers, we realize that Big Daddy needn't be a patriarchal jerk.
Once again journalist Jake Warga has spliced together slices of life seamlessly, with lots of wisdom yet with the illusion of artless audio verite. This drop-in has already been praised by three reviewers, and it has been licensed by no fewer than seven radio stations from New Hampshire and Austin, Texas to Idaho. It has been aired by at least two stations every year since Warga produced it in 2004. Buoyed by the lilt and loving remarks of his father's voice, as well as the squeaks of Warga, an "overly documented only child" at ages two-and-a-half, four, and seven, from its inception this piece was an instant success. It has gone on to become a kind of radio classic, in part because of such questions young Warga asks his father as "What is poo-poo made of?"
Far be it from me to urge PDs to bend their tired ears yet again. Still, I'm hoping that at least a couple of our overworked, unacknowledged legislators of public radio license this piece in 2008. Listening to Jake Warga's dead father's tape-recorded voice chatting with his young son -- now perhaps as old as his dad when the tapes were made in the 1970s --- may be one sure-fire way of paying homage to Papa on Father's Day.
The human voice can evoke so many more emotions than an image. Does the ear have a direct line to the heart? It must because this piece is an emotional one. This is a well-done piece featuring a little boy and his father, narrated by the little boy all grown up. Perfect for Father's Day. Warning: it's a tear jerker.
Two voices on a series of tapes from the past evoked more emotion in me than I'd expected. This piece is an example of simplicity at its best. What a wonderful bookend with two sections from tapes recorded five years apart from each other. Pitch perfect and brilliantluy edited. This is, to me, the prose equivalent of 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens. If I may share, I do have personal reasons for this piece to resonate with me at this level. Lost my dad at 13, some 16 years ago, and his voice is also alive in a few cassette tapes. The piece is a must must for Father's Day.
This was such a delicate piece, that I felt like Jake was sitting next to me and pushing the 'stop' and 'play' buttons as the archival tape played.
Going back through tape that his late father kept over the years, he blends thoughtful reflections with the simple beauty of the tapes. As his talks about the reasons his parents were so keen on keeping his remnants of youth, the weight of Jake collecting and listening to the tapes becomes heavy and made my throat fell twice as big.
It makes me think - these recordings don't really seem so amazing when they are being made. It takes years and age to make us realize how important they are, how much they hold within them, how they put an extra dimension in our lives that we never could imagine would develop or exist.
This is done in such a remarkable way, especially taking the 'stop' and 'play' sounds of the tape deck to create such a wonderful effect, picking up and pushing off of reflection and realization. And the most pretty thing about this is that as a listener, it's being told to you in the best way possible - in such a way where you feel as if Jake is actually sitting next to you, playing the tape for you. Sharing it with you. I am grateful for that.
Comments for Father's Day
Produced by Jake Warga
Other pieces by Jake Warga
Rating Summary
5 comments
Hans Anderson
Posted on June 08, 2009 at 01:12 PM | Permalink
Happy Father's Day
Trip down memory lane with found audio from save-everything family. I always wondered what it would be like to see videos of myself when I was young, or tapes. I actually have a few old cassette tapes my Mom recently gave me.
But I find out, and confirm by listening to this piece, is more important than hearing me, it's going to be hearing my Mom & Dad. They are still alive right now, and I cherish the times I see them and hear them. But there will be a time. I reflect on it when I see my Grandma Gert on old videos where she's holding my newborn son.
James Reiss
Posted on May 27, 2008 at 06:16 PM | Permalink
Review of Father's Day
For a while during the 1990s Father's Day played second fiddle to Mother's Day. By now we've entered an era of good feelings about Dad. Liberated by generations of people we once called Women's Libbers, we realize that Big Daddy needn't be a patriarchal jerk.
Once again journalist Jake Warga has spliced together slices of life seamlessly, with lots of wisdom yet with the illusion of artless audio verite. This drop-in has already been praised by three reviewers, and it has been licensed by no fewer than seven radio stations from New Hampshire and Austin, Texas to Idaho. It has been aired by at least two stations every year since Warga produced it in 2004. Buoyed by the lilt and loving remarks of his father's voice, as well as the squeaks of Warga, an "overly documented only child" at ages two-and-a-half, four, and seven, from its inception this piece was an instant success. It has gone on to become a kind of radio classic, in part because of such questions young Warga asks his father as "What is poo-poo made of?"
Far be it from me to urge PDs to bend their tired ears yet again. Still, I'm hoping that at least a couple of our overworked, unacknowledged legislators of public radio license this piece in 2008. Listening to Jake Warga's dead father's tape-recorded voice chatting with his young son -- now perhaps as old as his dad when the tapes were made in the 1970s --- may be one sure-fire way of paying homage to Papa on Father's Day.
Deborah Astley
Posted on June 13, 2005 at 11:59 AM | Permalink
Review of Father's Day
The human voice can evoke so many more emotions than an image. Does the ear have a direct line to the heart? It must because this piece is an emotional one. This is a well-done piece featuring a little boy and his father, narrated by the little boy all grown up. Perfect for Father's Day. Warning: it's a tear jerker.
Emon Hassan
Posted on June 10, 2005 at 08:55 PM | Permalink
Review of Father's Day
Two voices on a series of tapes from the past evoked more emotion in me than I'd expected. This piece is an example of simplicity at its best. What a wonderful bookend with two sections from tapes recorded five years apart from each other. Pitch perfect and brilliantluy edited. This is, to me, the prose equivalent of 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens. If I may share, I do have personal reasons for this piece to resonate with me at this level. Lost my dad at 13, some 16 years ago, and his voice is also alive in a few cassette tapes. The piece is a must must for Father's Day.
Sara Wood
Posted on February 23, 2005 at 10:15 AM | Permalink
Review of Father's Day
This was such a delicate piece, that I felt like Jake was sitting next to me and pushing the 'stop' and 'play' buttons as the archival tape played.
Going back through tape that his late father kept over the years, he blends thoughtful reflections with the simple beauty of the tapes. As his talks about the reasons his parents were so keen on keeping his remnants of youth, the weight of Jake collecting and listening to the tapes becomes heavy and made my throat fell twice as big.
It makes me think - these recordings don't really seem so amazing when they are being made. It takes years and age to make us realize how important they are, how much they hold within them, how they put an extra dimension in our lives that we never could imagine would develop or exist.
This is done in such a remarkable way, especially taking the 'stop' and 'play' sounds of the tape deck to create such a wonderful effect, picking up and pushing off of reflection and realization. And the most pretty thing about this is that as a listener, it's being told to you in the best way possible - in such a way where you feel as if Jake is actually sitting next to you, playing the tape for you. Sharing it with you. I am grateful for that.