There's a hidden, wonderfully charming extra track on Charlotte Gainsbourg's 2017 album Rest. It appears at the end of the album, 30 seconds after the final track, "Les Oxalis". The track is a recording of Gainsbourg's daughter, at an age when she was learning the letters of the alphabet.
She sings the French version of the alphabet song, but she gets the letter order wrong. She has a beautiful voice and sings confidently but very wrong. It's delightful. Her mother's band kicks in, delivering a shimmering musical accompaniment. It's a charming, fun song that features an interpretation of the alphabet song that her daughter could've only performed at that moment of her life.
I sometimes thought of that song when I'd see my son at the time. At about that time, he was in our bed in about the same time, soon after waking from his room, nestling into my wife's and my bed and starting the day with a warm glass of milk and honey. It's something sweet and charming he -- and I -- loved at the time.
