Papa Was A Rolling Stone

It's the third of September and, for the first time in all the years I have been writing this blog, I have finally remembered to post my favorite song by The Temptations to celebrate.

What I can't understand is why all these people felt the need to talk smack to the song's protagonist(s) about the dead father he (they) never knew and thereby forcing him (them) to confront his (their) mother with questions. The man is dead, what possible good does it do to tell his kids that their father never worked a day in his life? I mean, if their father was so notorious, wouldn't the kids have met his three outside children and other wife already? Shouldn't Mama have had the privilege of crafting the narrative for her children about their father without outside influence?

Sure, Papa may have been a rolling stone, but maybe he was a late bloomer who died before he found his niche. He was a jack of all trades and, as the song suggests, maybe the constant stress of having to beg, borrow, and steal to pay the bills is what killed him and shouldn't the man get some credit for paying his bills? Papa may have left his family alone, but he didn't leave them in debt. Maybe if Papa had a few more years, his kids would have had a chance to see him, would have heard more than just bad things about him, and, subsequently, they would have been left with something more than loneliness when he died.

So much as I love this song, I kinda wish Mama had just replied to all the queries and gossip with this truth, since they are depending upon her to tell it: Haters gonna hate.