#557 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Saturday January 14)
Good morning,
POETRY
“In my eyes [the train berth] is a perfect thing,
perfect in conception and execution, this
Small green hole in the dark moving night,
this soft warren in a hard world.
--E.B. White, “One Man’s Meat,” 1942
MUSIC
I’ve been listening to the recently released remastering of a concert by Barbra Streisand at the Bon Soir club in Greenwich Village, recorded in 1962. At the time, she was 20 years old. It has been a joy to behold the nascent talent that we all knew would take the world by storm with Funny Girl and many other projects over the years.
Not only is Streisand’s voice phenomenal, but her stage presence, particularly for a young person, is amazing. She had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. While some of the songs were unknown to me, many were familiar. She did a drop-dead version of “Cry Me a River,” that carried with it emotional depth a 20 year-old could hardly be expected to have experienced.
For me, “Happy Days are Here Again” was the show-stopper. It was the theme song for the Democrats in the days of FDR. As I listen to the lyrics, particularly the not-often-acknowledged opening, they are moving in a simple, clear way. Here is a more recent version. It’s worth a listen.
The audience at the Bon Soir was really into the performance, clearly aware they were witnessing something special, clapping regularly and occasionally letting out a “yeah” or other positive encouragement. It was a great night out and what must have been a surprisingly wonderful performance by a young, as-yet-unknown young star.
All those years ago, a roomful of people being sung to with lyrics of hope, their lives in front of them. Assume most were around 40 years old and do the math. An audio snapshot of the past…
HAPPY DAYS
In these early days of the new year, perhaps one can hope that happy days are, indeed, here again.
Have a great weekend,
Glenn