DAY 93 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

Good Morning, Class of '64

Daisies - Leonid Afremov

Daisy Time

 

Marjorie Pickthall 

 

See, the grass is full of stars,

Fallen in their brightness;

Hearts they have of shining gold,

Rays of shining whiteness.

Buttercups have honeyed hearts,

Bees they love the clover,

But I love the daisies' dance

All the meadow over.

Blow, O blow, you happy winds,

Singing summer's praises,

Up the field and down the field

A-dancing with the daisies.

"Daisies infinite Uplift in praise their little growing hands,

 O'er every hill that under heaven expands."
Ebenezer Elliott
("The Corn Law Rhymer")
 

"The Rose has but a Summer reign, 

The daisy never dies."

 James Montgomery
 

"Bright flowers, whose home is everywhere

 Bold in maternal nature's care 

And all the long year through the heir 

Of joy and sorrow, 

Methinks that there abides in thee 

Some concord with humanity, 

Given to no other flower I see 

The forest through."
William Wordsworth
To a Daisy

 

Oh, to have an exceptional voice and be able to present a song as more than just notes and words but a musical event like some singers can do! There are songs that can be sung by just about anybody and be a joy to listen to. There are other songs that become totally owned by the one who presents it, and nobody else can quite match it.

To make the words "broken hearted melody", from the song by the same name, more than lyrics to be sung but a thrilling auditory delight - not everybody can do that. Try singing that song, and those words in particular, without attempting Sarah's marvelous warble, if you can.

On first hearing Della Reese singing Don't You Know, it was wished that time would stand still, that the world would stop spinning so the song could go on and on and on. The song turns out to be a waltz from Puccini's La Boheme that was given a modern arrangement. But the song is more than the music and the words. It's Della. Her sincere, husky voice gave it soul.

What a Difference a Day Makes (Made) was written in Spanish by a Mexican songwriter in 1934. Given English lyrics, and Dinah Washington to sing it, well, it made all the difference. That little hum, uuuuumm, with the lyrics "where there used to be rain" is goosebump good.

 

There are times when the thought comes that maybe you should have lived in another generation. Another time and place might have suited your personality or beliefs much better. But then you'd never have heard the songstresses; Sarah, Della and Dinah. That would have been too regrettable.

 

 Broken Hearted Melody

Peaked at #7 in the Billboard Charts
 and #5 on the R&B charts.
  Gave Sarah Vaughan her first gold record.
 Vaughan initially didn't like this song.
 She described it as "corny."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_Hearted_Melody
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=16325 

Sarah Vaughan - 1959

Br-oooo-ken hearted me-eee-lo-dy
Ooooonce you were our song of love
Nooooow you just keep taunting me
Wiiiiith the memory of (ba-da-da)
His tender love
 
Ooooh, broken hearted melody
Must you keep reminding me
Of the lips I long to kiss
And the love I miss
 
Since he went away
Night and day they play
That broken hearted melody
That he used to sing to me
 
When our love was young and bright
As he held me tight
Suddenly I found
I was heaven bound
 
Brooooken hearted melody
Ooooonce you were our song of love
Nooooow you just keep taunting me
Wiiiiiith the memory of (ba-da-da)
His tender love
 
Ooooh, broken hearted melody
Won't you bring him back to me
Sing to him until he yearns
For when he returns no more will he be
A broken hearted melody
 
Oooooooo, oo-oo
Oo-oo, oo-oo, ooooooooo
Oooooooo, oo-oo
Oo-oo, oo-oo, ooooooooo

 

 

 Don't You Know

Don't You Know was adapted from an aria 
("Musetta's Waltz") from Puccini's La Boheme.
It became Della Reese's biggest hit, reaching 
number two on the U.S. Pop chart and 
number one on the U.S. R&B chart.
It helped Reese get a nomination for a 
Grammy Award for Best Female Vocalist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_You_Know%3F 

Della Reese - 1959

 
Don't you know?
I have fallen in love with you
For the rest of my whole life through.
 
Don't you know?
I was yours from the very day
That you happened to come my way.
 
Can't you see
I'm under your spell
By the look in my eyes?
Can't you tell? Can't you tell?
 
Now, don't you know
Every beat of my heart keeps crying out
I love you so?
Don't you know?
 
Don't you know
Every beat of my heart keeps crying out
I love you so?
Don't you know?

 

Puccini

La Boheme

Musetta's Waltz

Toscanini conducted a performance

 of La Boheme on radio with the 

NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1946. 

It has been released on records 

and on Compact Disc.

 It is the only recording of a Puccini 

opera by its original conductor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_boh%C3%A8me 

Puccini
Musetta's Waltz
La Bohème
Anna Netrebko
(with lyrics)

What a Difference a Day Makes
Originally written in Spanish By María Grever, 

a Mexican songwriter, in 1934.
Dinah Washington won a Grammy Award in 1959
for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance with this song.
Her version was also inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
She also earned her first top ten Pop hit,
reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 with this song.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Diff%27rence_a_Day_Made
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Diff%27rence_a_Day_Makes!
http://www.allmusic.com/album/what-a-diffrence-a-day-makes!-mw0000188913
Dinah Washington - 1959

What a difference a day made
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain
 
My yesterday was blue, dear
Today I'm a part of you, dear
My lonely nights are through, dear
Since you said you were mine
 
What a difference a day makes
There's a rainbow before me
Skies above can't be stormy
Since that moment of bliss, that thrilling kiss
 
It's heaven when you find romance on your menu
What a difference a day made
And the difference is you
 
What a difference a day makes
There's a rainbow before me
Skies above can't be stormy
Since that moment of bliss, that thrilling kiss
 
It's heaven when you find romance on your menu
What a difference a day made
And the difference is you

Daisies in Vase - Jan Berry

“If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.”
Nadine Stair

Daisies - Dimitri Nalbandian

“Buttercups and daisies,
Oh, the pretty flowers;
Coming ere the Springtime,
To tell of sunny hours.”
Mary Howitt

English Daisies - Deanna Jaugstetter

"The splendor of the rose and the whitness of the lily
do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy
of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted
to be a rose, spring would lose its lovliness."
Therese Of Lisieux