One Song

Parent Cafe
81

<p>^Tom Rush’s cover of “Circle Game” is lovely, as well as his cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Urge for Going”:</p>

<p>"I awoke today and found the frost perched on the town
It hovered in a frozen sky, then it gobbled summer down
When the sun turns traitor cold
and all the trees are shivering in a naked row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go</p>

<p>I get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in</p>

<p>I had me a man in summertime
He had summer-colored skin
And not another girl in town
My darling’s heart could win
But when the leaves fell on the ground, and
Bully winds came around, pushed them face down in the snow
He got the urge for going
And I had to let him go</p>

<p>He got the urge for going
When the meadow grass was turning brown
Summertime was falling down and winter was closing in</p>

<p>Now the warriors of winter they gave a cold triumphant shout
And all that stays is dying, all that lives is getting out
See the geese in chevron flight flapping and a-racing on before the snow
They’ve got the urge for going, and they’ve got the wings so they can go</p>

<p>They get the urge for going
When the meadow grass is turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter is closing in</p>

<p>I’ll ply the fire with kindling now, I’ll pull the blankets up to my chin
I’ll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in
I’d like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so
But she’s got the urge for going and I guess she’ll have to go</p>

<p>She gets the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
And all her empire’s falling down"</p>

<p>I do have to confess that I’m a little bit partial to Joni Mitchell’s version, as it was her music (like Tom Rush’s for you) along with a few other other artists, that got me through the HS/College rough patches.:)</p>

82

<p>momonthehill</p>

<p>I really don’t think that there is a bad cut on that album…I think I wore out three copies before I was out of college…LOL</p>

<p>Another favorite is Joni’s “Songs to Aging Children Come”</p>

<p>Through the windless wells of wonder
By the throbbing light machine
In a tea leaf trance or under
Orders from the king and queen</p>

<p>Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one</p>

<p>People hurry by so quickly
Dont they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies</p>

<p>Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one</p>

<p>Some come dark and strange like dying
Crows and ravens whistling
Lines of weeping, strings of crying
So much said in listening</p>

<p>Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one</p>

<p>Does the moon play only silver
When it strums the galaxy
Dying roses will they will their
Perfumed rhapsodies to me</p>

<p>Songs to aging children came
This is one</p>

<p>There’s a haunting snowy hillside scene in Alice’s Restaurant where an exquisite version of the song is sung after the death of Woody Guthrie. The singer is credited as someone named “Tigger Outlaw” but is actually Joni Mitchell singing the song…had something to do with recording contracts back then so she made up the name.</p>

83

<p>eadad, I do remember that scene from Alice’s Restaurant, but I didn’t realize, until shortly after I saw the movie, that that was actually Joni singing.</p>

84

<p>A couple people mentioned Brudder IZ. . .I love his Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World–I used to live in Hawaii, and actually was working at Sea Life Park when they were filming “50 First Dates” there!</p>

<p>The first song that popped into my head was:</p>

<p>“If I had words to make a day for you
I’d sing you a morning golden and true
I would make this day last for all time
Then fill the night deep in moonshine.” from Babe</p>

<p>When one of my sons was born, it was a difficult delivery
and my husband didn’t support me in the way I wanted. (Frankly, he was a jerk…) At that time, my older kids got the video of Babe, and we all watched it at home. When I hear this song, I think of the farmer trying to cheer up the pig by giving him this “gift” of song and dance. At that time my husband couldn’t say/do anything to make me happy–(he gave me a pathetic and amusing little gift). When I heard this song, I thought of my husband not really being able to express himself–I felt if he had the right words, he would sing them to me. (Does this make any sense?)</p>

<p>Another song I associate with H is “Love Me Tender.” Back in the early 90’s, when we got our first answering machine, he called the machine when he knew I was at work–no “message”–he just recorded “Love Me Tender.”
So sweet!</p>

85

<p>atomom, Any man who sang “Love Me Tender” onto my answering machine would have a lifetime free pass for any inadvertent jerk-like actions!</p>

<p>I can’t imagine my husband ever doing anything like this (or me, either, for that matter). </p>

<p>I wonder how I can make my sons turn out to be the kind of men who would do this?</p>

86

<p>Speaking of Alison Krauss - my favorite love song is her version of “When you say nothing at all”. gives me goose bumps.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I hope all my girls find a love like this.</p>

87

<p>Another fan of “Inch by Inch.”</p>

<p>Also, Unwritten (Natasha Beddingfield) would be great for a kid heading out to college:</p>

<p>I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten</p>

<p>I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten.</p>

88

<p>OK, thanks a lot guys. I just went to iTunes and bought Suzy Bogus’s “Letting Go” and “The Garden Song” (aka Inch by Inch) by Peter Paul and Mary.</p>

<p>CC is getting expensive… ha ha.</p>

89

<p>Here’s another couple favorites of mine. I sometimes play them on the last day for seniors when I teach them.</p>

<p>Oh Very Young by Cat Stevens</p>

<p>Oh Very Young, what will you leave us this time
You’re only dancin’ on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your dads best jeans
Denim blue, faded up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will
(You know they never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still. </p>

<p>Oh Very Young what will you leave us this time
There’ll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
(You know you never will)
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still. </p>

<p>Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride, oh,oooooooooooooh </p>

<p>Oh Very Young, what will you leave us this time
You’re only dancin’ on this earth for a short while
Oh Very Young, what will you leave us this time </p>

<p>In Tall Buildings John Hartford</p>

<p>Someday, baby, when I am a man,
and other’s have taught me
the best that they can
they’ll sell me a suit
and cut off my hair
and send me to work in tall buildings</p>

<p>and it’s goodbye to the sunshine
goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers
and goodbye to you
I’m off to the subway
I must not be late
going to work in tall buildings</p>

<p>now when I retire
and my life is my own
I made all the payments
it’s time to go home
and wonder what happened
betwixt and between
when I went to work in tall buildings</p>

<p>and it’s goodbye to the sunshine
goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers
and goodbye to you
I’m off to the subway
I mustn’t be late
going to work in tall buildings</p>

90

<p>Hmmmmm. I’ll play. My ringtone (and song) for the week is “Amazing Grace”.</p>

91

<p>Marnik: Have you heard the version by Wintley Phipps? Pretty impressive.</p>

92

<p>Thanks for sending me to listen to Youtube and Amazon to listen to some great stuff.</p>

<p>They remind me of others that keep popping into my head.</p>

<p>Wedding Song by Paul Stookey reminds me of why I got married.
also, Give Yourself to Love by Kate Wolff.</p>

93

<p>One song that I have shared with many friends is one that was written by a wonderful, and inspiring friend, Steve Schalchlin who is a composer/singer/songwriter who has been living with AIDS for a long, long time. He was a blogger before the term was coined, and still writes regularly at Living in the Bonus Round. I love many of his songs but Going It Alone is probably my favorite. It’s a wonderful song of love and the power that having someone with you through rough times can bring. I kept meaning to post in this thread and kept getting distracted by the political forum, until I checked my email tonight and there was one from Steve sending a link to a performance he gave last week and there was my favorite song! So, if you have a minute, check youtube for Going it Alone at Kulak’s Woodshed, and enjoy my friend Steve. :)</p>

94

<p>To my wonderful Husband and partner of 25 years, struggling through the end stages of a horrid disease-</p>

<p>“Perhaps Love” Placido Domingo and John Denver</p>

<p>Perhaps love is like a resting place
A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home</p>

<p>Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don`t know what to do
The memory of love will see you through

Oh, love to some is like a cloud To some as strong as steel For some a way of living For some a way to feel And some say love is holding on And some say letting go And some say love is everything And some say they don`t know</p>

<p>Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it`s cold outside
Or thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you</p>

95

<p>okay, you two, alwaysamom and sistersunnie, I have had my morning dose of tears. Very nice indeed.</p>

96

<p>When my D was a baby I made her a cassette. Side 1 was the “Sleepy Side” for bedtime, Side 2 the “Awake Side” for dancing and running around. The song i have the fondest memory of was a Patti Smith track call “The Jackson Song” Just Patti and a piano.</p>

<p>The lyrics still are applicable. The chorus goes:</p>

<p>May your path be your own
But I’m with you
And each day you’ll grow
He’ll be there too
And someday when you go
We’ll follow you
As you go, as you go</p>

<p>My poor wife gets my ironic singing of “Feelings” by Morris Albert, a mid 70s smaltzfest. Or the cover version by Beaker, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s nonverbal assistant on The Muppet Show. Both versions are on youtube…</p>

97

<p>sistersunnie, so sorry about your husband. Wondeful song to share. All the best.</p>

98

<p>Wow, I love ‘Perhaps Love’, thanks for suggesting it.</p>

99

<p>When DW and I met in college at age 18 in the early 70’s, our song was “Danny’s Song” by Loggins & Messina. I have intense memories of the two of us together with that song playing in the background.</p>

<p>"People smile and tell me I’m the lucky one,
And we’ve only just begun.
Think I’m gonna have a son.
He will be like she and me, as free as a dove,
Conceived in love.
Sun is gonna shine above.</p>

<p>And even though we ain’t got money,
I’m so in love with you, honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning, when I rise,
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.</p>

<p>Seems as though, a month ago, I was Beta-Chi,
Never got high.
Oh, I was a sorry guy.
And now, I smile and face the girl that shares my name.
Now I’m through with the game.
This boy will never be the same.</p>

<p>And even though we ain’t got money,
I’m so in love with you, honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning, when I rise,
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.</p>

<p>Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign,
Strong and kind,
And the little boy is mine.
Now I see a family where there once was none.
Now we’ve just begun.
Yeah, we’re gonna fly to the sun.</p>

<p>And even though we ain’t got money,
I’m so in love with you, honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning, when I rise,
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.</p>

<p>Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup.
Drink it up.
Love her and she’ll bring you luck.
And if you find she helps your mind, better take her home.
Don’t you live alone.
Try to earn what lovers own.</p>

<p>And even though we ain’t got money,
I’m so in love with you, honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning, when I rise,
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright."</p>

<p>The best part about our song: it began as a dream, but the dream became reality. We were married eight years later, after grad school (the girl that shares my name). Several years after that we had our wonderful son. Sweet Baby James was his “rocking chair” song. No child has ever been more loved. He’s now a junior at MIT. </p>

<p>We celebrated our anniversary yesterday.</p>

100

<p>When my kids were little I would sing each of them a lullaby every night, their choice. Many of them were songs I learned as a girl at summer camp. My favorite would be “Seven Golden Daffodils” – </p>

<p>I haven’t any money,
I haven’t any land,
Not even a paper dollar
To crinkle in my hand.
But I can show you morning
On a thousand hills
And kiss you and give you
seven daffodils…</p>