Sing A Song About Singing

A MELODY WHERE ALL'S ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

The Musicians, 1979 ~ Ferdinand Botero
"No human would enjoy my singing --
only maybe an old house that can't be choosy."
~ Jessamyn West ~
The Friendly Persuasion (50)
No doubt, it's best for me to take Jessmyn West's advice and constrain my singing to old houses and locked cars with the windows up. However, I did earn an unexpected compliment awhile back, when I was singing along with an old favorite from Marie Osmond -- "Paper Roses." Gerry called in from the other room to say that my voice was sounding really good that day! He was obviously a little confused, but I was honored that he thought Marie Osmond was me.

I'm hoping that in my next lifetime, the gods remember to endow me with
the gift of music as described in these rousing tributes to the meledious, harmonious, songful muse:

Thank You World ~ The Statler Brothers ~ 1973
I want to thank you, world, for lettin' me belong
I'm just one fourth of one small group that sings your songs
I know that there are others who have served in bigger ways
All I can do is sing your music all my days

It makes me grateful just to know, to know that I can be
Unique and fill a spot beside the other three
Without a place here in this world, I know that I'd be lost
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause

I may not ever stand like Stonewall Jackson stood
But standin' on that stage to me is just as good
Now I may never be a heavy or a great
But you've given me the strength, the strength to pull my weight

Oh for the part I sing is truly part of me
and it does its part to lock the other parts in the key
and it does its part to pull, to pull that sweet applause
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause

Oh world, you've given me a place that I call mine
Though I've stepped out of it & I've gotten out of line
Sometimes I sing the music slightly out of key
and I know I make it harder for the other three

I've always done my part the very best I could
and it's done the other guys a world of good
You've let me sing your praises, world, and harped about your faults
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause

It makes me grateful just to know, to know that I can be
Unique and fill a spot beside the other three
Without a place here in this world, I know that I'd be lost
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause
Without a place here in this world, I know that I'd be lost
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause
Thank you, world, for lettin' me contribute to the cause

Lyrics
Written by Don S. Reid, Lew Dewitt
• Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group, Music Sales Corporation
[and this retrospective of their early years with Johnny Cash]

1979
I Write the Songs ~ Barry Manilow ~ 1975
I've been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music and I write the songs
I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I've got my own place in your soul
Now, when I look out through your eyes
I'm young again, even though I'm very old

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

Oh my music makes you dance
And gives you spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock 'n' roll so you can move
Music fills your heart
Well, that's a real fine place to start
It's from me it's for you
It's from you, it's for me
It's a worldwide symphony

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I am music (music) and I write the songs

Lyrics
Written by Bruce Johnston
• Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

1991
Thank You For the Music ~ Abba ~ 1977
I'm nothing special, in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
Cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I'm so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
But I've often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I'm a fan

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

I've been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Lyrics
Written by Benny Goran Bror Andersson, Bjoern K. Ulvaeus
• Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Though I'm always inspired to sing along with the Statlers, Abba, and Barry Manilow, as they extol the great good fortune of their musical talent, I think a better message for me comes from the Carpenters: "Don't worry that it's not good enough / For anyone else to hear / Just sing, sing a song!"

"Sing" ~ Carpenters ~ 1973
Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not good enough
For anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Sing, sing a song
Let the world sing along
Sing of love there could be
Sing for you and for me.

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last
Your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not good enough
For anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song.

Lyrics ~ Portuguese-American composer songwriter and pianist,
Joe Raposo (1937 - 1989)
Naturaleza con mandolin ~ 1998

DON'T MISS

More Botero on Artsy

Women at Music

Piano Paintings

*******************

AND MANY THANKS TO MY BROTHER BRUCE
for these additional connections:

"I Believe in Music"
Mac Davis

"Where words fail, music speaks."
Hans Christian Anderson

"Music expresses that which cannot be said,
but upon which it is impossible to remain silent."
Victor Hugo

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
Berthold Auerbach

And the quote that most fits with our
online musicians in residence, Post Nuclear Trash:

"Can you imagine a world with no music? It would suck."
Harry Styles

Naturaleza muerta con Instrumentos Musicales ~ 1993
SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Thursday, September 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com

Inordinately Realistic

ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

A HAPPY SNOWY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Plow & Hearth Birdseed Wands
Not to be too cynical on Valentine's Day, but while driving along in the car one day last summer with the radio on, the irony of these lines from the ABBA song "Angel Eyes" caught my attention:

"And it hurts to remember all the good times
When I thought I could never live without him"
For months, my brain has been circling around these lyrics, and now seems a good time to take a closer look at the irony. The singer's fondest thoughts are of a time in her relationship when she "thought she could never live without him." I usually just sing along, but this time, I started to wonder, How good of a relationship was that? Or how bad? Bad enough to make me rethink the nostalgia that I have for some of my good / bad old days. What am I recalling with such fondness? The years when I thought that my heart would break in two? Well, if those were the good times, maybe they weren't so good after all despite the hazy romantic edges of memory. Perhaps the narrator is saying that it hurts now because those times were so great and now they are gone for good. More likely, I suspect she's recalling a time that may have seemed good enough but was also hurtful -- and that's why it hurts to remember.

Good times shouldn't hurt, yet sometimes from the very beginning, a relationship consists primarily of the kind of good times that it hurts to remember. Come to think of it, it can even hurt to have some of those good times in the first place. Kind of like -- in my chick flick choice for Valentine's Day this year -- Georgy Girl's relationship with Jos.

As Georgy learns, those are the kind of good times that you have to stay away from. Learn what you can and move on. I was pretty pleased with myself twenty - five years ago, when Gerry and I completed some personality profile questionnaires to help us understand our relational issues, compatibility levels, and marital readiness. When I scored in the range of "Inordinately Realistic," I was convinced that I had used all of my bad relationships wisely!

In honor of Valentine's Day, here are a few inordinately realistic proverbs that have spoken to my heart in troubled times:

"A long time ago I was desperately in love.
In fact, you could leave out the 'love'
and still get a pretty good picture."
from "True Romances #2"
in True Stories
by Margaret Atwood

" 'Love,' says Squire Allworthy, 'however much we may corrupt and pervert its meaning . . . remains a rational passion.' "
from Tom Jones
by Henry Fielding

"It is overdoing the thing to die of love."
~ French Proverb ~

"After awhile you begin to realize that lots of people have had
previous marriages that just never come up in conversation.
Especially if there are no children, then it's really nothing
more than a bad date, a long bad date."
~ A Wise Friend ~

"I can't believe we once threw dishes at each other, but we did.
I can remember which plates, which cups, which glasses,
and which ones broke."
~ Margaret Atwood / same story as above ~

"What can be broken, can be fixed, he thought.
What can be broken, can be fixed.
There was a dimension to all of this he had to ignore,
a reality, if you will.
But a balance wheel can be reattached,
a shaft can be machined, from scratch if necessary.
Still, it would be too late for him.
The normal, or maybe not the normal,
part of the doll still worked perfectly.
The other could be fixed.
But not for him, never for him, fixed or not, that was gone forever."
from "Moriya"
in By The Light of the Jukebox
by Dean Paschal

Inordinately realistic or not, I still adore a sentimental Valentine!
~ like this collage of vintage favorites from my friends Diane Cox
and Victoria Amador (whose name is perfect for Valentine's Day)!
SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS FOR MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, February 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogspot.com