'Tis a gift to be simple, but it don't cost enough, So you buy the complex, plastic wrappy stuff. And when you get it home you throw the toy away and then You play with the box and the paper it came in.
This is why I like to give people gift certificates from PaperSource. That way, if what they really like is pretty paper and boxes, they can choose their own. :)
It depends on how melismatic the tune of "Simple Gifts" that you grew up with is. The one I grew up with works better with the lyrics there, which I also learned as a small child.
Hey, Ian - Mom here. This posting was interesting enough to get me to reply and blow my cover as a lurker. #1 - you remember what I taught you as a boy! does my heart good. (you probably thought dad taught this to you because he still sings it. I learned it from Kathy and Betsy, taught it to him, and he has done his best to send it into the world.) #2 - you are doing *your* best to send it into the world. #3 - you are singing and laughing, a good combination for bringing joy into your life (you learned this from me, too.) #4 - you have changed the lyrics - now this is the most interesting of all because it makes me wonder what else has changed over the years, either through memory differences or hearing differently. Until you actually wrote the lyrics down, I didn't know that you were hearing them differently from the way they were originally written. Original lyrics for second line: "so you buy the complex, crappy plastic stuff..." Dad taught it to you this way: "so you buy the complex, plastic, crappy stuff..." You wrote it this way -- well, you get the idea. Anyone else as fascinated as I am by this real life game of telephone? Communication is an art and a science.
Still have the tape "Strong Singers" but I don't see the song on it. Interesting that you remember this as a children's album. It wasn't intended as such, but I did play it for you and Leila as children. So, I guess "Strong Singers" *is* a children's album. It was fun looking through the old albums - let's listen to "Strong Singers" and "Sweet Sorcery" when you visit. (And when might that be, dear son? Don't worry about me - I'll just sit here in the dark.) Kudos to you: you remembered that Cathy spells her name with a "c" - I did not. That deserves an extra Hanukkah present.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 08:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 09:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 10:51 am (UTC)And when you get it home, you throw away the toy
And play with the box, like you did as a boy.
Pretty good as is, though, and thanks for the inspiration.
best,
Joel
(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 11:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 12:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 05:29 pm (UTC)For the education of those lazier than I:
melisma, n: A passage of several notes sung to one syllable of text, as in Gregorian chant.
from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=melismatic
(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-30 11:05 pm (UTC)*applause*
song learned at your mother's knee
Date: 2004-12-01 06:20 am (UTC)Re: song learned at your mother's knee
Date: 2004-12-01 07:27 am (UTC)Re: song learned at your mother's knee
Date: 2004-12-01 11:58 am (UTC)