Photo from: https://www.katieashby.co.uk/the-d-day-darlings/
A True, Golden Oldie
Do you ever find yourself thinking about music? I don't just mean music from this era; I mean music from way back. You know, from the olden days.
When I was a very young teen, my sisters and I would gather around the piano and sing songs from an old book of "popular", "modern" songs. Recently when I was with two of my sisters in Arkansas, we had great fun singing together. My brother-in-law and his wife are fine musicians and singers, so he sang and played guitar, while we sang along.
We started out with hymns and. I was happily surprised when my youngest sister began singing some of the old songs we'd learned in music class in our little country school. We had great fun with hits like "Me and My Shadow", "The Happy Wanderer", and a song where each of us sang the part of different instruments (violin, clarinet, horn, and drums). We even did Christmas songs, since we hadn't been together at Christmas in decades. The rendition of Silent Night was great fun to sing with the special descant I'd learned in seventh grade.
But, the one that keeps coming back to me is the one my (late) sister, Lynn, and I loved to sing. She had an amazing, smooth alto voice, and, believe it or not, I used to sing high soprano - with a range of three octaves, but that's long gone.
As I contemplate our singing together, and think of the words of the old song, I realize that probably nobody knows this song (from World War I), probably nobody is interested in the close harmony, and even as you read the words below, it won't mean much to a younger generation. Saying goodbye to a young soldier marching off to fight in the "war to end all wars", doesn't seem so poignant in a world where children are being shot right here at home.
I attended a funeral this week of a man who had retired from the Air Force several years ago. The photos of him with his beautiful young wife and children made me think of earlier times. As I looked around at the mostly older choir, the elderly priest officiating, and the mostly older attendees, I remembered what my husband had said earlier: "Young people go to weddings; old people go to funerals."
That being said, I am going to share the song with you. Sometimes it's good to think back on the older times, the older ways, the older music. To listen and/or sing along, click on the YouTube video for the original 1919 rendition with actress Mary Pickford. Later, Doris Day revived the old song, though it was a shorter, version. (Sing along! )
