MY TURN column
The Courier-Post
December 4, 2008
Forty years ago, Mary Martin introduced it on Broadway. A year later, John Coltrane reworked it into a complex, soprano sax harmonic. Julie Andrews sang it into popularity in a film adaptation.
I've always tried to figure out how "My Favorite Things" became a perennial Christmas song. This cheerful Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein showtune first appeared in the 1959 Broadway musical, "The Sound of Music." The lyrics are a reference to things the main character, Maria, selects to remember when times turn bad.
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
The original musical scripts the song just before Maria leaves the convent to serve as governess to the seven Von Trapp children. In the film, however, the song is repositioned so that Maria sings it with the children during an unsettling thunderstorm scene. The melody conveys terror, sung by a young woman eager to face new responsibilities. In both settings, the words of the song act as a confidence builder.
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
Coltrane transformed the song into a hypnotic, free jazz interpretation. His recording was a hit, becoming his most requested tune, a bridge to broad public acceptance of his move from bebop style. Perhaps its dark mood was a foreshadowing ode to troubled times.
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
In both the show and the movie, this song is sung during the summer. I guess the winter imagery of some of the lyrics makes it appropriate to sing during the holiday season; it often appears on Christmas-themed albums.
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
At this time of year, we have a fondness for making gift lists (and checking them twice). My wife says it makes us more efficient and helps aging baby boomers remember things. So, during this season of thankfulness and memory, I'd like to offer some of my favorite things. (Singing is optional):
- Sipping a glass of cabernet sauvignon while nibbling dark chocolate
- A chirping backyard chorus of late summer crickets
- Peeling back the cover of a new, unread book
- Sitting behind a large window, feeling the sun's rays in midwinter
- That rattling sound my golf ball makes when it finally hits the bottom of the cup
- The way my son ends every phone conversation and e-mail with "Love You, Dad"
- Any concerto by Vivaldi
- Wood smoke on a damp fall afternoon
- The pit-of-the-stomach thrill delivered by amusement park rides
- The words "thank you"
- Walking on an empty beach, day or night, anytime of year
- Fresh fallen snow, resting fluffy and white on every tree branch
- A laugh so hearty it brings tears to the eyes
- The interplay of light and shadow in an Edward Hopper painting
These small affirmations can become powerful grounding tools for the psyche. Calling on them often brings an appreciation and peacefulness to hectic modern lifestyles. When the weather outside is frightful (literally, figuratively and economically), it may be restorative to consider your personal favorite things. Because, as the song tells us:
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
Now, tell me, what's on your list of favorite things this holiday season?
