Today’s challenge from the Ultimate Blogging Challenge was to share the song that would be the theme song for your business, blog, or life… or all three. Who knows? I chose a song that I thought would share a bit of my yearning to experience the world. The world is a big, wide, and open place. It is filled with people who all have stories. But… I think that I would rather share two songs, both from the same musical, “Evening Primrose,” by Stephen Sondheim.
“Evening Primrose” was written for television and was aired on November 16th, 1966, as a part of the series ABC Studio 67. The director was Paul Bogart. The story was about a poet, Charles Schnell (played by Anthony Perkins), who decided to escape from the world by hiding out in a department store after it closed. There, he met a colony of people, including a woman named Mrs. Monday (Dorothy Stickney). She seems to be in charge. When she finds out that Charles is a poet, she permits him to stay in the secret colony. Charles falls in love with Mrs. Monday’s maid, Ella (Charmian Carr), a 19-year-old who has lived in that colony ever since she accidentally became separated from her mother at the age of six. She fell asleep in the women’s hat department.
Ella first sings a song about her memories of the beautiful outer world. The song is called “I remember.” But she acknowledges that her memories are fading. She yearns to be outside and to feel the world and to touch it and to see it.
The second song from “Evening Primrose” is also sung by Ella. She asks Charles to take her to the outside world, even knowing that it was very risky. She and Charles could be transformed by evil forces into mannequins that would decorate the storefront window. They would never move or feel again. The song is “Take Me to the World.”
I feel that these songs share my yearning to explore my big, beautiful world and to have everything that is good about the world within touching distance. The songs don’t discount the danger in leaving a safe comfort zone. The reward of exploring the world, however, make that risk well worth taking.
What are songs that speak to your feelings and to your hopes and to your dreams? Please share in the comments section.
I enjoyed this – had never heard of this play. I'm a little surprised this isn't more in the public view, given the connection with Stephen Sondheim. I enjoy these kind of stories as a reader of science fiction (not that this is "true" SF.) I don't have a theme song – I don't think of my ambitions in terms of music, although music triggers a lot of memories and feelings in me.
I would have to say that the song I identify with most is "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. I won't get into details, but let's just say that I heard the song for the first time when I absolutely needed to hear it. It speaks to me, resonates with me…
A little history about the song.
Norman Greenbaum set out to write a religious rock song, and he is Jewish. Instead of using a Jewish word for God, he used "Jesus" because he thought it would be more marketable. It took months for Greenbaum to finish the music, but the lyrics came really quickly.
The original inspiration for this was a song about a preacher by country singer Porter Waggoner. Greenbaum was also influenced by folk revival music and traditional southern blues.
Greenbaum told Mojo magazine September 2011 the song is "timeless." "Most everyone else sees it that way," he said. "It appeals to one's inner self and the need for redemption, plus, heck, who wants to go to hell?"
I enjoyed this – had never heard of this play. I'm a little surprised this isn't more in the public view, given the connection with Stephen Sondheim. I enjoy these kind of stories as a reader of science fiction (not that this is "true" SF.) I don't have a theme song – I don't think of my ambitions in terms of music, although music triggers a lot of memories and feelings in me.
I, too, thought I was familiar with the Sondheim songbook. Obviously, not!!!
Thanks for suggesting I consider my theme songs.
I would have to say that the song I identify with most is "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. I won't get into details, but let's just say that I heard the song for the first time when I absolutely needed to hear it. It speaks to me, resonates with me…
A little history about the song.
Norman Greenbaum set out to write a religious rock song, and he is Jewish. Instead of using a Jewish word for God, he used "Jesus" because he thought it would be more marketable. It took months for Greenbaum to finish the music, but the lyrics came really quickly.
The original inspiration for this was a song about a preacher by country singer Porter Waggoner. Greenbaum was also influenced by folk revival music and traditional southern blues.
Greenbaum told Mojo magazine September 2011 the song is "timeless." "Most everyone else sees it that way," he said. "It appeals to one's inner self and the need for redemption, plus, heck, who wants to go to hell?"
I Can Help, sung by Billy Swan.