Play Always Be My Baby

7th Grade was a good grade
It was the year we were all fighting
Over which couple
Would get 'Always Be My Baby'

Mike and Kerri wanted it
Because they had been dating the longest

Two weeks

And as such, they were the official school couple
The Luke and Laura of my junior high school

Little did we know that Mike and Kerri would defect
A few days later
When one of Mike's friends said Kerri looked like a giraffe
And after he beat him up
Mike agreed with him
And out with Kerri

That meant 'Always Be My Baby'
Was in play

I wanted it to be mine
Specifically belonging to me
And Stephanie Aranaho

I wanted us to be the two kids
In the Mariah Carey video

I wanted to sneak her out of a cabin
At some summer camp
For underprivileged pre-teens
Then take her to a lake
And swing on a tire swing
And adore each other

But before we could have the song
I'd have to convince Stephanie to love me

In the meantime, Zach Trailer
Or, Trailer Park, as we called him
Tried claiming the song
For himself and Patti Dooley
But that was a little like two Texan tourists
Trying to claim the Taj Mahal
On a visit to India

It was good for a laugh
But nobody took them seriously

Mariah could not go to just ANYONE
After all

A more legitimate claim to the song came
When Joe Ryan kissed Annie Blodano at lunch
And, like a young Arthur stepping to the stone,
All assumed they would be dating by third period
And take 'Always Be My Baby' as their inauguration march

As it turned out, however
Annie had no plans on dating someone in her own grade

She was a real woman, after all
She had gotten breasts in October
A good four months
Before all the other girls
And this meant she could and would
Only date 8th graders

That left the song wide open

Alas, it was not to be

Stephanie ended up being
Joey Ryan's consolation prize
Landing her the name
Sloppy Seconds Stephanie
Until she reached high school
And transferred out of town

It broke my heart
To think of her and Joe
Sitting in his room
With the door wide open
So his mother could walk by
And check on them

Staring at each other
Telling each other how cool
The other one was
Listening to 'Always Be My Baby'

But as it turned out
The song was old news to them
Instead, they claimed 'Lovefool'
By the Cardigans
Which isn't even really a relationship song
As much as it is a song of yearning

So I was free to keep 'Always Be My Baby'
In a little pocket in my soul
Just waiting for the day
When I could bestow it upon someone
Perhaps while laying with them in a hammock
Or pushing them on a tire swing