Summmmmmmertiiiiiime
And the livin’ is eeeeeeasy. Fish are jumpin’ (doo doo da doo, doo da doo), an’ th’ cotton is hiiiiiiigh (doo doo da doo da doo da doo). And the old song diverges just a bit at this point because, don’tcha know, Mama Mooma ain’t rich and, as much as I like to harass the old GG, he ain’t no good and that’s a double negative, I think, but in the case I’m wrong, what I mean is that my kids have a good dad.* (Definitely have had those lyrics wrong for umpteen years, see below.) But then the the song dovetails back into familiar territory with: So hush little babeeee, do-oh-oh-oh-oh-on’t yoo-oou cry-y. La-de-da-de-dah-lou. La-de-da-de-dah-lum.
One of the lullabyes that I used to sing the beach urchins to sleep with. Oh, not that they always went to sleep necessarily but, for the most part, they did listen and settle down somewhat. I am a born musician. I am a trained flutist but I am not a trained singer. I could bore y’all with the details of trying to be a musician, especially one who played a wind instrument in a rugged outpost like Sault Ste. Siberia in the 1960s. Knowing that I needed a *real* teacher and not having one and doggedly forging along *anyway* through whatever interesting virtuoso classical flute music I could get my hands on could be frustrating.
Going to summer camp at Interlochen was the only way I got decent flute lessons when I was in high school. And it was there that we played a Gershwin medley, which is where I learned Summertime. I am not a trained singer but I don’t think my voice is all that bad and I think it could have been trained. I think I might read as a mezzo-soprano if anyone ever tried to figure me out but they won’t because, at this point, I don’t care.
In my adult life, I have used my voice to try to sing my baby girls to sleep. And that’s pretty much all that counts.
* Ha ha. Maybe I had that part wrong. Daddy’s rich (er, not) and Mooma’s good-looking (um, roight). Anyway…
P.S. To get the tune, check out YouTube. I couldn’t find any renditions out there that I liked. In iTunes, I have three: The Essential Gershwin, Janis Joplin, and Billy Stewart. Grok grok. I’ll sing that stooopid ol’ song! Grok grok!
June 21st, 2010 at 7:37 pm
It is, indeed, summertime. Er…except HERE.
I can carry a tune, but I’ve always been an alto (even more so now that I’m older), so choir was not my forte. I LOVED playing the clarinet and sax, and I was decent, but not exceptional. But I loved it. My fondest ever memories of high school, and especially being in the jazz band. As a group, we were stellar. For me, it’s what made high school endurable.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I’m terrible with lyrics! I would probably recognize the song if I heard it. Our summer is more like fall/winter. Brrr. I love to sing and have a decent voice. I’m a contralto though which means I sing like a man! 🙂
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 am
Tonya, Margaret, you are more than welcome to take some of our summer! Heat alerts all this week. I’ll be very glad to be heading to points North on July 3rd!