Tears in Heaven

My teenaged cousin, a budding musician, played "Tears in Heaven" on the guitar for my family. It always makes me snicker because my roommate does a standup routine about the song, which Eric Clapton wrote after his toddler plummeted to his death. The punch line is basically that he's not accusing Clapton of pushing his kid out the window, but he does find it suspicious that he had a hit song about the incident ready to go so quickly. I shared the joke with my family, but, finding it distasteful, they just groaned.

It was frustrating because I wanted the joke to kill every bit as much as Clapton did. So when we were at the bowling alley later and "Wonderful Tonight" came on the speakers, I decided to bring it up again. "I can't believe they play that baby killer here." This time the joke received some chuckling.

Later another cousin of mine said he would never have more than two kids and if his wife were to become pregnant with a third, he would kill it. My aunt objected to the thought, but I pointed out that he could write a #1 song about the experience and become a big success. "You're not letting this one go, huh?" someone commented amongst the decent amount of laughter.

While browsing the dinner menu, I decided to go in for the final strike: "I heard Eric Clapton ordered the veal here." This time, everyone laughed heartily.

The moral of the story: Don't give up on a joke. Also, Eric Clapton killed his baby.