At the tender age of 8, I wrote a brilliant little ditty about the pirate Long John Silver. I remember the moment of inspiration very clearly - I was swimming in the pool, when all of the sudden, this tune popped into my head. I dashed into the house, dripping water everywhere, and sat at the piano, painstakingly plucking out notes (I hadn't started lessons yet, but my older sister had shown me a thing or two). I wrote the tune and lyrics out as best I could, in whatever notation made sense to an 8-year old with no formal training. I was beaming with pride and probably drove everyone in the house crazy with my nonstop renditions of "Long John Silver" (My mother never complained about the singing, or the fact that I had ruined her piano bench with my wet suit. I realize now that the woman had the patience of a saint).

A year or two later, after some formal training, I realized that my "orignal" tune sounded suspiciously similar to Erie Canal (Mule named Sal). That crushed my short composition career.

Thanks to McGrath's comments, now, I realize I was an underappreciated musical prodigy, shaping tunes to fit my poetry (including such immortal lines as "I'm Long John Silver and I'm brave and bold, I've got many treasures in my hold. I'll rob and kill and steal your gold, and I'll kill any man, young or old."). Alas, if only I had known then what I know now...

Jigger