Revisiting the Partridge Family: Nostalgia, joy, and hidden metaphors

The first LP I ever bought was The Partridge Family Album. I was 11 at the time and felt like a grown-up when I presented it to my grandfather at the drugstore and told him that this is what I wanted for my birthday. Today, my friend Robin sent me a Partridge Family Christmas card. (She also told me I’m the only person she knows who has the original Partridge Family album…)

In my last post, I quoted James Joyce who wrote that any object could be a “gate of access.” Any object has a deeper layer of meaning and significance; we merely need to probe more deeply to find it. So in keeping with the theme of this blog, I think we should “deconstruct” the Partridge Family. (I personally think they’re due for a BIG comeback.)

The images that come to mind when I ponder the Partridge Family are psychedelic colors painted on their wonderful bus as they journey to their next gig as a family. Since all deeper wisdom lies in metaphor, let’s take a deeper look at these metaphors:

partridge: a game bird which provides nourishment to humans and sustains life.

family: they’re all stuck on the bus together, whether it’s a good trip or a bad trip.

bus: their songs are about traveling, being lost, being found:

Point me, in the direction of Albuquerque,
I want to go ho-me, help me get h-o-me.

I’m on the road….travelin’ free and easy
I can’t keep these wheels from rolling into one more town…

happy feelings: In the end, it’s all about being happy. The psychedelic colors are happy, the bus is happy, and they are happy. Listening to their songs, I’m happy too 🙂

So what about you? What do you see in the Partridge Family? What significance does it have for you? What comes to mind when you think about it? Remember: There’s always hidden meaning beneath the surface because as Joyce told us, any object, intensely regarded, can be a gate of access.

Hope you all have a merry Partridge Family Christmas…or whatever holiday you celebrate!

Come on world, here’s the song that we’re singing,
Come on get ha-ppy!….
Traveling along, there’s a song that we’re singing,
Come on get ha-ppy!…