and Music
Posted on 16. Apr, 2009 by Deb in Observations
For some reason, music is on my mind tonight.
Maybe, it was the discovery of sheet music in the garage this past week. Today, as I took out the garbage, and went to shut the garage door, I decided to take the discovery into the house; garage air isn’t exactly a preservative for paper. Out of the Sweet Dreams songbook, flew two xeroxed pieces of music, both in Italian, from the last time I took voice lessons. Caro Mio Ben was one of the pieces; for the life of me, I still recall the words to The Skylark, which I didn’t find. I had forgotten that I had been capable of singing notes so high and melodies so complex. At almost 41, I am both more confident, yet less confident, than I was at 19. In some ways, the time of voice lessons, which I haven’t taken since 1989, seems like yesterday; but in other ways, it seems like another lifetime – and another person – ago.
Maybe it is the showing of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on TCM tonight. My high school did musicals every year, and that was the musical of my Sophomore year. I was Millie and it was probably the most fun of all the theatre I did in high school and college. The music was fun, but the cast was large and we were close. In fact, of the folks from High School I have reconnected with, at least five of them were either “brides” or “brothers”. The most challenging play, however, wasn’t a musical, but Greek. Trojan Women was a great ensemble piece and I was fortunate to have a nice role (that came with a fabulous costume). But I digress. I’ve mostly been thinking about music.
Maybe, instead, it is the addition of more music into my household. The boyfriend to the oldest plays Bass and is teaching the oldest to play. At times, the kids have friends over, and there are evenings when there are a couple of bass guitars, an acoustic guitar and/or more. While the blaring of some of the heavier rock music can be grating, the sounds of live music are actually quite soothing. On a recent Sunday, a friend tuned the guitar while we were chatting and I was mesmerized. I believe the addition of instruments in the household is a wonderful bonus. Except, maybe, the recorder; it’s a little screechy.
We are mostly a digital family now. Computer downloads and the IPods are the main source of music, but we do have older media. There are CD’s in stacks, LP’s (though no turntable) and an 8-track player with a few 8-track tapes. Three, to be exact, if we are counting. One of those is a Willie Nelson 8-Track from 1978. Which brings us full circle to the music of my past that I mentioned the other day. When I was searching for a little something to share, I chose Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground. It’s one of the songs that resides on my IPod, and a song that I do love. This version is just lovely; an acoustic rendition done live during an early 80’s interview with Barbara Walters.
I’m a tad disjointed today. It is a Thursday, but for some reason, it seems like a Wednesday. I visited with my hair dresser today and we put the first step in motion to change my hairstyle. Which is huge, because, according to the youngest child in my house, I have had the same hairstyle, for all of my life. Not really, honest. I mean, I wasn’t born with bangs. I guess, however, after at least ten years, a change would do me good. And once again, I digress. But as I mentioned, I am a tad disjointed today. I’m sure you will forgive me.
Happy Thursday; it’s almost Friday!