Yacht Rockin' on Friess Lake
An unexpected memory of the summer after eight grade
Eric Clapton, Let It Rain. Sitting out on the end of our pier in a light rain, watching the raindrops break the surface of the unnaturally calm lake, singing that song. . . Yeah, I know Yacht Music.
My family is not a family of yachters. Our idea of paradise is a lake of working class cottages 45 minutes northwest of Milwaukee, about seven of which have been owned by various family members over the years. If you ask me where home is, it is my parents cottage on the south shore of Friess Lake. Built by my grandfather’s brothers for him and his bride, as they expected their first child, my mother.
A bench at Glacier Hills County Park on Friess Lake. Photo by Kimberly Mackowski from her blog, The Park Next Door
I proudly identify as a Midwesterner. Four generations on Friess Lake, six in Madison: my blood is thinned with Huber Beer and thickened with Merkt’s cheese. My dad had to take a job in Northern New Jersey as I went into eighth grade. Those five years of exile were sweetened by summer trips back to Wisconsin.
That first summer, the summer after eighth grade, was the summer that Breakfast in America by Supertramp came out. Rick Henckel, my second cousin Brian, sometimes my other second cousin Bryan, and myself; we cruised around the lake in Brian’s grandpa’s motor boat. It was a nice boat when it was new, I am sure. It was still clean and in good shape. The electric starter usually didn’t work, so you had to put a pull chord on it. Only Brian was strong enough to get it going, but he could. Rick had a tape player (not even a boom box) and that magical tape. We played it over and over and over and over again. We never tired of it.
There is a story that Roger Hodgson of Supertramp lived in his van outside of the studio in Santa Barbara, listening to the tracks again and again, trying to get the order right. He nailed it. The songs flowed perfectly.
The album started with the stacatto keyboard riff of “Gone Hollywood.” The quiet vibration of the outboard motor kept time with it perfectly. It really worked. The song ends, “So keep your chin up boy, forget the pain. I know you’ll make it if you try again. There’s no use in quitting when the world is waiting for you.” I can’t speak for what Rick and Brian were thinking, but that was exactly the message that I needed: right there, right then, in the friendly confines of Friess Lake, gearing up for freshman year of high school in that strange and foreign land of New Jersey.
The next words, “when I was young. It seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle. Oh it was beautiful, magical… But then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical.” Ah yes, The Logical Song. They would never tell me who I was. The silly ending to the song made perfect sense in the sunshine, out on the water…
The third song starts out much more focused. “It was early morning yesterday. I was up before the dawn.” New Jersey was not going to be home. “Goodbye Stranger” is what it would be. I could take solace in it. Ricky and Brian didn’t have to get it. Just being together was enough.
“Breakfast in America” brought me out of that personal space and back together with the guys. If you know it, sing along!
“Ba-ba-ba-dow, ba-bow-dum-doo-de-dow-de-dow
Hey oh, hey oh, hey oh, hey oh, Hey oh, hey oh, hey oh, hey oh
Na na na, nana na na na nana...”
The last song on that side was “Oh Darling” which had really fun lyrics to sing, too. This was Rick’s favorite.
“I'm gonna be around you, All about you, Always by your side
I'm gonna dream about you, Scheme about you, Love you all the time
I'm gonna catch you, lady
Catch you, lady, yeah”
The Henckels had twelve kids and drove a 15 passenger Dodge Ram van. During the school year, I would watch for that van all the time, wishing that they had decided to join us in New Jersey.
There was a movie that came out about that time, “Escape From New York.” Wisconsin had a bumper sticker at that same time that said, “Escape to Wisconsin.” That said it all, for me.
In the end, New Jersey was a good experience. There was no use in quitting. The world was waiting for me. I did find my corner of the sky. It took a long time, but eventually people got me. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for putting us through it. You were right to do it.