MUNCIE, Ind. — A group of Dickensian-garbed Father’s Day carolers were reportedly seen going door-to-door singing particularly beautiful covers of Thin Lizzy songs in honor of the holiday, misty-eyed sources confirmed.
“It was damn near one of the prettiest things I’ve ever heard in my life. I was just out back tossing a couple flank steaks onto the Weber, when the sweet strains of ‘Cowboy Song’ started calling to me from the porch,” said local dad Warren Szelkowski. “I don’t know if it was the charcoal or the memory of the great Phil Lynott, but I was bawling like a baby once they got to their ‘Johnny the Fox’ medley. I just hope the fellas from the block association didn’t see and bust my stones over it next meeting.”
Other family members were reportedly more puzzled, clashing with the enthusiasm of the neighborhood fathers.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad so moved. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me feel a little peculiar, him being so vulnerable for the first time in years and whatnot. Whatever makes him happy, I guess,” said Szelkowski’s 15-year-old son Reese. “At one point the group of carolers started walking away like they were finished, but they just hid in the bushes for a few minutes until dad asked for an encore. Then they sang the ‘Boys Are Back in Town.’ Seemed pretty obvious even to me that they were going to do that one, but dad seemed more surprised than he was at his last couple birthdays combined. It’s been a weird day.”
Head caroler Cassandra Windham explained the genesis of the idea.
“For professional carolers, things tend to get a little slow during those 11 non-Christmas months. We decided to give this a try, and boy, did it work! I wish we’d thought of learning a few Chicks numbers back in May for the moms. We’d do a sensational ‘Goodbye Earl,’ that’s a fact. But there’s always next year,” said Windham, as she shuffled sheet music for “Waiting For an Alibi.” “For now, if we can bring a quiver to the lip of just one dad in the tri-county area, it’ll make the payments I still owe on this petticoat get-up more than worth it.”
At press time, the carolers decided to up their dad appeal even more by incorporating a few Three Stooges routines into their choreography.