All posts by Dona

44. Dawn Chorus

Birds, Song Blog

I had a great idea for a post while in Savannah. Every morning while we were at our Tybee Beach Cottage I’d wake up to lovely but loud birdsong, so I was going to get up a little earlier and record some birdsong from the beautiful wrap-around porch, post it online, link to it and write a post called Yardbirds or something like that.

As you can see, I didn’t do that. No excuse except laziness.

However I will post a link to a track from an album I bought many years ago. Our friends, Neal and Marie, told us about a public radio program that began with birdsong. We never got Morning Pro Musica down here in the DC area, but I was able to buy a copy of a record album with the bird song from Morning Pro Musica.

Whenever I am awakened, especially in the spring, to the music of birdsong, I think of this radio show that I never heard.

Listen to some dawn birdsong. It might have been from Savannah, but I suspect it was from Massachusetts.
One
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Four

43. See me, feel me, touch me, hear me

Song Blog

I thought that I first heard The Who’s Tommy, on my own, but just recalled that it was my cousin Pam who introduced it to me. I remember sitting in her bedroom listening to the album and crying over poor Tommy’s predicament. Her brother, Jeff, was annoying us by making fun of our tears.

The next time I remember Tommy was when I saw the stage play in London with Tim, George and Candy.

When I met my husband-to-be, he was also a fan of the Who – although not a fan of Tommy so much.

My daughter and I watched the movie on cable a couple of months ago. She loved it so much that we got out our Tommy albums (Dean, the purist, owned the Rock Opera and I’d bought the soundtrack to the film) and listened to them. Clare has since moved on to other music, but the brief interlude where our tastes meshed was sweet.

42. I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song

Song Blog, , ,

On the way back from Savannah last Sunday we listened to a rebroadcast of Prairie Home Companion. About half-way through the show a woman with a beautiful voice sang Red, Red Robin. She sang it in almost a melancholy way, much different from the song I’d memorized while listening to my parents Mitch Miller’s Sing-along album back in the 1960’s.

The Red, Red Robin I remember was a lively, cheerful song that would bring me out of the blues when I heard or sang it – which I did often, along with Mitch Miller’s chorus. The album even had the words for me to read and memorize.

I don’t remember much of the Mitch Miller Sing-along on television, but I do seem to remember that the words of the songs being sung were superimposed over the video, and a bouncing ball let the viewer know which word to sing at any given time.

Am I making this up? (A quick visit to Wikipedia tells me I’m not.)

In the car ride, after Ms Dworsky finished singing, my husband, Dean, and I sang it again, the way we remembered – all the way through. The kids said nothing – they were either speechless with embarrassment or just used to our silliness.

Just follow the bouncing ball:

WHEN THE RED ROBIN COMES BOBBIN’ ALONG
(written by Harry Woods )

When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along, along
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’ his old sweet song:
Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Get up, get out of your bed
Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red
Live, love, laugh and be happy

What if I were blue, now I’m walking through, walking through the fields of flowers
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours
I’m just a kid again doing what I did again, singing a song
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along

When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’
There’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts a throbbin’ his old sweet song
Wake up, wake up you sleepy head
Why don’t you get up, get up, get out of bed, cheer up
Live, love, laugh and be happy

What if I were blue, now I’m walking through fields of flowers
Rain may glisten but still I listen for hours and hours
I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along
Along, along, along, along, along.

The Internet Archive has two mp3 versions:

One by Al Jolson

Another by The Golden Gate Orchestra