February 22, 2023
Most evenings, as my day
reaches that point where I’m thinking about going to bed, I surf the world wide
web one more time and arrive at my usual final destination of the day: YouTube.
Now, don’t fear, dear reader,
that I might be venturing forth along strange turns of exploration. Or that I
might veer off onto heretofore unheard-of paths of darkness and mystery. The algorithms,
whatever they are, ensure that when I return to that site, I’m greeted with
more of the same, day after day, that’s only perhaps a little different than
the day before.
And some of what that same has
been lately as been of a musical bent. There are actual sites that dedicate
themselves to top ten and top twenty presentations. The videos are anywhere
from ten to thirty minutes each, and can be on all sorts of different themes,
some of which, obviously for me, are appealing.
Earlier this week, I found one
video that was called the “20 Greatest Broadway Singers of All Time.” Now,
there are basically two kinds of compilations, that I have found so far; those
that give you only about eight to ten bars of a song—and those are usually
called “the best 100 hits” of… whatever year they’re the hits of. Those are fun,
and I find I have to really be on my toes as I listen. If, for example, I hear
a song that I kind of remember, I have to pause that video and write the title
down, and then, after watching the compilation video, I might go and search for
the original song itself.
Then there is the kind of
compilation where they give you a bit more of the song, along with some facts
to go with it. But since the focus of this sort of video was on the singer, you
may get other bits of other songs they have sung, too. I will tell you
honestly, this particular video, the 20 Greatest Broadway Singers of All Time,
was very interesting to watch. Why? Because it reaffirmed for me, once more,
how little I know about any given subject. There were several artists
highlighted on this nearly thirty minute long video that I had never heard of.
There were also, of course, a few glaring omissions. How could they not have
included Barbra Streisand? I will concede that she’s only been in a couple of Broadway
shows. But still—she’s Streisand!
Back to my point. I wasn’t
surprised that the list included Angela Lansbury. I was aware that she’s had a
fulsome Broadway career. She’s one of the few artists I can think of who’s
managed to excel in three mediums—stage, movie screen, and television. Each
of which by itself would have been considered a good lifetime’s career for
anyone.
Then came the moment that I
experienced on Monday, a moment where I perked up, and said, “oh, oh!” and then
I began to sing along! Of course, I had to pause the video so I could keep singing
when they switched to her in another song…and then I had to search out the
lyrics to the song, so I could do a proper job of it. And, yes, to do a proper
job, I realized I needed to hear that particular song in its full glory because
there is a bit of a melody switch or whatever you call it in the middle (I
think they call it the bridge. But I can’t say for sure because while I love
music, I am not at all skilled in it.)
And while I was singing along on
the heels of the discovery that here was a song I knew, a song I hadn’t heard
for a long, long time….I was back there. In my mind, and in my mood, I
was back to being a young girl, sitting with my mother on the living room sofa,
watching The Judy Garland Show, or Dinah Shore, or Ed Sullivan, or Dean Martin….my
mother watched those, along with dramas, and of course, whatever program
Lucille Ball was in at the time. And in those days if Mom watched it, I watched
it, too.
I can’t recall which program I
first heard this song on, but I do recall being drawn in as Ms. Lansbury, in her
wonderful vibrant voice, invited me to open a new window, open a new door,
travel a new highway that’s never been tried before….
For those few moments, as I rediscovered
this new old song, I began to understand why it is we use music as therapy for
so many ailments. And why so many of us will use music as our own personal
escape valves.
That’s what music has always
done for me. It’s always taken me out of the moment I’m in, and put me
someplace other, someplace safe and wonderful, just on the edge of
heaven.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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