This is my 150th post on this blog. So the subject is music which is closest to my heart.
And in music, lyrics are extremely important. Someone wrote, "Without words, it is just a nice tune. Add words - now you've got a song. And songs can change your world."
When it comes to words, Oscar Hammerstein II, named after his grandfather, was one of the best. If in the credits of a musical you read, "Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II", you knew you could sit, dream and romanticise listening to the lyrics.
More than just a lyricist, Oscar was a librettist who revolutionised American musical theatre by integrating all aspects of a musical with the songs and dances arising out of the plot and contributing to the story line. Just over a hundred years ago, in 1922, came his first success, "Wildflower". Another success followed, "Rose Marie" in 1924, and then the great hit, "Showboat" in 1927 in partnership with composer, Jerome Kern, which firmly put Oscar in line to become one of the most famous and popular musicians ever.
He wrote for movies as well and won two Academy Awards for Best Original Song, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from "Lady Be Good" in 1941 and "It Might As Well Be Spring" from "State Fair" in 1945. But his heart was in Broadway musicals. In early 1940s, composer Richard Rodgers was looking for a collaborator to adapt the play "Green Grow The Lilacs" into a musical. He persuaded Oscar to join him and in 1943, they brought "Oklahoma" to Broadway and one of the most famous musical partnerships was born. For the next 17 years, till Oscar's passing away in 1960, the two produced hits after hits winning numerous awards. Apart from "Oklahoma", their most famous musicals included "Carousel", "State Fair", "South Pacific", "The King And I", "Flower Drum Song" and finally, "The Sound Of Music" in 1959. The last song Oscar wrote was "Edelweiss" for "The Sound of Music."
Hammerstein has been the only Oscar to win the Academy Award of the same name and was nominated for three more 'Best Songs' including "A Kiss To Build A Dream On" sung beautifully by Louis Armstrong. He won two Pulitzer prizes for writing "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific", two Grammy Awards, one for the 'Best Show Album' for "The Sound Of Music" and the second as 'Trustees Award'. He won five Tony Awards, three of them for Best Musical with Richard Rodgers for "South Pacific", "The King And I" and "The Sound Of Music".
A number of plays were made into movies which most of us would have seen. They were also outstanding successes such as "The Sound of Music", "South Pacific", "The King and I" and "Oklahoma". "The Sound of Music" is the third highest grossing movie of all time and the most successful musical ever filmed.
In reverse, "State Fair" was first made as a movie and then adapted as a play.
Oscar was a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame and won many citations and other awards, many of them combined with Richard Rodgers. Musicians and critics called him 'the man who owned Broadway'. And the title song from "Oklahoma" was adopted as its state song by the state of Oklahoma.
Now let us come to the exquisite lyrics and songs which contributed towards Oscar becoming a giant in the musical world. As always in such matters, it is not an easy task to shortlist but I shall attempt to write about the ones I love for the appealing lyrics in chronological order.
"Ol' Man River" from "Showboat" is not only the oldest but one of the early ones I learnt in 1951 almost immediately after I started listening to Western music. I can picture Irish Father MacKessack singing it in our music class after school in his baritone voice a la Paul Robeson. In the song, a black slave describes his hapless plight while the river Mississippi keeps rolling along unconcerned. The words would move even the coldest of hearts-
"Dere's an ol' man called the Mississippi, dat's the ol' man I'd like to be!
What does he care if de world's got troubles, what does he care if de land ain't free....
Ol' man river, dat ol' man river, he must know sumpin', but don't say nothin',
He jes keeps rollin', he keeps on rollin' along.
He don't plant taters, he don't plant cotton, and dem that plants 'em, is soon forgotten,
But ol' man river, he jes keeps rollin' along.
You and me, we sweat and strain, body all achin', and racked with pain,
Tote dat barge! lift dat bale! Get a little drunk, and you land in jail.
I gets weary, and sick of tryin', I'm tired of living, and scared of dyin',
But ol' man river, he jes keeps rollin' along!"
Next we have the Oscar winning "The Last Time I Saw Paris". The song was used in the movie "Lady Be Good" even though it was not written for it. I first heard it and loved it when I saw the 1954 movie starring Van Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor in which it was the title song. Set in Paris, it is a tragic story of a marriage gone sour because of a misunderstanding. The song in which Paris is spoken of as a young lady was sung captivatingly by the French-American singer, Odette, and repeated a number of times touching deep emotions in the viewer/listener-
"The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay,
I heard the laughter of her heart in every street cafe.
The last time I saw Paris, her trees were dressed for spring,
And lovers walked beneath those trees and birds found songs to sing....
The last time I saw Paris, her heart was warm and gay,
No matter how they change her, I'll remember her that way."
On to "Oklahoma", the first musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein (R&H) and an instant success. The setting is the countryside in Oklahoma and is a story of two romances, the main one between cowboy Curly and farm girl Laurie. The musical has 14 numbers, all great, so I shall pick up three of what I consider the best-
"Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" comes in the opening scene sung by Curly going to meet Laurie. He is cheerful, optimistic and certain that things will go his way. "Oh, what a beautiful mornin', oh, what a beautiful day. I've got a beautiful feelin', everything's goin' my way.'
Next, "People Will Say We're In Love". Shy, reserved, not wanting people to know they are in love, Laurie warns, "Don't sigh and gaze at me, your sighs are so like mine, your eyes mustn't glow like mine....Don't dance all night with me, 'til the stars fade from above, they'll see it's all right with me, people will say we're in love." But Curly shouts, "Let people will say we're in love. Who cares what happens now, just keep your hand in mine, your hand feels so grand in mine. Let people say we're in love."
In the song by the other couple, Annie demands total commitment from Will, "All Er Nuthin'". "With me it's all er nuthin', is it all er nuthin' with you? It can't be in between, it can't be now and then, no half-and-half romance will do."
"Oklahoma" was followed by "Carousel" two years later. A carousel barker Billy Bigelow falls in love with millworker Julie Jordan and, in order to provide for Julie and an unborn child, takes part in a robbery and is killed. Fifteen years later, he is given a chance to go back to earth for a day to set things right. The two outstanding songs which are sung more than once in the play are "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone."
Billy and Julie love each other but are too shy to openly express themselves. So they qualify their feelings by the word 'if'-
"If I loved you, time and again I would try to say all I'd want you to know.
If I loved you, words wouldn't come in an easy way, round in circles I'd go.
Longing to tell you but afraid and shy, I'd let my golden chances pass me by,
Soon you'd leave me, off you would go in the mist of day,
Never, never to know, how I loved you, if I loved you."
The song is regarded as one of the best love songs ever.
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is sung twice, firstly by Julie's cousin, Nettie, to comfort and support the former when Billy is killed. Then, by the invisible Billy permitted to return to earth for one day to set things right and attend the graduation ceremony of his daughter-
"When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark,
At the end of the storm there's a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a lark....
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...you'll never walk alone."
The song has been used by many agencies including religious ones as a support song. Recently, it was used in UK and Europe to encourage medical staff and patients under quarantine during Covid.
R&H's next box office bumper on Broadway was "South Pacific" in 1949. Many of us would have seen the movie adaptation released in 1958. The plot was based on a number of stories from the book "Tales of South Pacific" by James Michener. It has 15 songs covering a variety of emotions from happy to sad, funny to romantic. "Dites-Moi" is a delightfully sweet song sung by two Polynesian children. The heroine, nurse Nellie, reiterates that she would remain "A Cockeyed Optimist" no matter what; in today's world, remembering one line would do us all a lot of good, "I hear the human race, is falling on its face, and hasn't very far to go.... But I'm stuck like a dope, with a thing called hope, and I can't get it into my head!" Then we have sailors who have everything on the island but girls,"There Is Nothing Like A Dame". But Bloody Mary, a fat, native middle-aged woman who chats and flirts good-naturedly with American sailors, sings of the island's irresistible attraction in "Bali Ha'i" which has its 'head sticking out from a low-flying cloud'. Nellie, who has fallen in love with a much older Frenchman, Emile, desperately wants to forget him, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair." Emile, however, would not let Nellie go and sings that unforgettable number, "Some Enchanted Evening", which in my book is on par with "If I Loved You" as a love song-
"Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger, you may see a stranger across a crowded room,
And somehow you know, you know even then, that somewhere you'll see her again and again....
Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love, when you feel her call you across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side, and make her your own, or all through your life, you may dream all alone.
Once you have found her, never let her go, once you have found her, never let her go."
Two more years down the line, R&H brought "The King and I" on stage. In 1956, it was adapted into a film. This was a story of the experiences of a British governess, Anna, hired by the King of Siam for his children in the early 1860s. From different cultures, Anna and the King are in constant conflict but also in love with each other that neither could admit. Recalling its popular songs, the first one is "I Whistle A Happy Tune" which Anna sings to comfort her son-and herself-while approaching Bangkok to take up her assignment, "Whenever I feel afraid, I hold my head erect, and whistle a happy tune, so no one will suspect I am afraid." In "Hello Young Lovers", Anna reminisces about her love for her late husband, "Hello young lovers, whoever you are, I hope your troubles are few....Don't cry young lovers, whatever you do. Don't cry because I'm alone, all my memories are happy tonight, I've had a love of my own." Then in "Shall We Dance", Anna asks the King for a dance to celebrate a successful dinner for the British envoy. They begin tentatively but then dance a polka wholeheartedly without inhibitions-
Anna: "Shall we still be together with our arms around each other, and shall you be my new...
King: "Romance?"
Anna: "On the clear understanding that this kind of thing can happen."
Both: "Shall we dance? Shall we dance? Shall we dance?"
So we come to their final play, blockbuster "The Sound of Music", which opened on Broadway in 1959. It was an instant hit and one wonders if even R & H would have been able to repeat anything like it if Oscar had not passed away eight months after its opening. While a lucky few might have seen the musical on stage, I wonder if there is anyone who has not seen the movie adaptation which was released in 1965. Delightful and heartwarming are some words which come to mind just thinking about it. The film and its songs have retained their magic even after nearly 60 years and continue to enthral everyone aged 2 and above.
Just to refresh, the story, set in Salzburg, Austria, is about a young lady, Maria, who is studying to become a nun but because of her free nature, the Mother Superior doubts her capability to become a nun and instead, sends her to the villa of naval Captain von Trapp, a widower, as governess to his seven children. Captain has kept his kids under tight naval discipline but Maria treats them gently and they start loving her. She takes them around Salzburg and teaches them how to sing. Eventually, Captain and Maria fall in love and marry. Meanwhile, Nazi Germany captures Austria and the von Trapp family escape to Switzerland during a music festival in which they are participating.
I may add that the film was shot in and around Salzburg and there is a dedicated Sound of Music tour that takes you to all the sites where the movie and its songs were filmed. I have been fortunate to have done the tour twice, once when I went to nearby Munich on work and again when Akhila and I spent a few days in Salzburg. The sites are breathtakingly spectacular and I wonder if Oscar visited them for inspiration for his brilliant lyrics!
Both the play and the movie have about 20 songs and most were super hits. Here are some of them.
The title song in the beginning has Maria bursting through the hills savouring the outdoors with arms wide open and singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years....I go to the hills, when my heart is lonely, I know I will hear what I've heard before-my heart will be blessed with the sound of music, and I'll sing once more." The song is in the top ten of AFI's 100 years....100 songs.
To the children, Maria sings "My Favourite Things" which has become one of the most loved songs the world over- "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens....Cream-coloured ponies and crisp apple strudels, doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles....these are a few of my favourite things....When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel so sad."
Then Maria sings "Do-Re-Mi" to teach the children musical notes. This is another song which has become hugely popular all over- "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start, when you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with Do-Re-Mi....Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti....When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything."
Maria and the children do a puppet show for the Captain, his woman friend Elsa and a close pal Max. They sing and yodel "The Lonely Goatherd" as the theme for the show-"High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, layee odl, layee odl, layee oo. Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd layee odl, layee odl, layee oo."
The Captain throws a party and before the guests sit down to dine, the children, told to go to bed, take their leave one by one in a number which is unmatched for its sweetness- "There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple too. And up in the nurs'ry, an absurd little bird is popping out to say 'coo-coo, coo-coo, coo-coo'. Regretfully they tell us, but firmly compel us, to say goodbye to you. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good night."
At the music festival, as the family is preparing to escape, Captain von Trapp sings a passionately patriotic number "Edelweiss" which is a musical tribute to his homeland-
"Edelweiss, Edelweiss, every morning you greet me,
Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever-
Edelweiss, Edelweiss, bless my homeland forever."
This was the last song Oscar Hammerstein II wrote. With it, he said, "So long, farewell.... good bye" to the world but couldn't say "auf wiedersehen!"
