Grand Rapids....come for the churches, stay for the Nascar and Deer Hunting.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Show tunes and the Cruise.
So this morning I was driving into work and this song from the Broadway Hit "Oklahoma" pops into my head. First off, let me explain that my mom was a dancer and my dad was an opera singer, so I've had my share of Man of LaMancha's and Swan Lakes and Brigadoons and Oklahomas and Three Penny Operas and Pirates of Penzance. Not to mention West Side Stories and Carousels and Singin in the Rains. Yes, I spent many a road trip as a kid singing The Sound of Music with my folks and two sisters. Yes, I am just insecure enough to have to explain WHY I have knowledge of showtunes so that you don't all think I prance around the house in a pink mumu when I'm not kneeling in front of my Judy Garland altar.
Anyway...back to the tune. It's the classic "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" and it starts like this:
There's a bright, golden haze on the meadow There's a bright, golden haze on the meadow. The corn is as high as an elephant's eye And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky.
Now...this tune from oklahoma pops into my head....probably because I drive through farmland in the morning and the sun was rising...but the lyrics were something entirely different. You see, when I was a kid I used to have several "Mad Magazine Paperbacks" that did parodies of stuff. One of those parodies popped into my head this morning. The Parody was something like "If Marcus Welby M.D. were sung to the tunes of Oklahoma"
so the lyrics that popped into my head that I can't get out of my head this morning are:
There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow
I don't remember the rest but it had to do with pus and lances.
I searched on the web for that paperback this morning but unfortunately, there were a lot of "sing along with Mad" books produced and I can't find the one with Oklahoma on it.
I did however find out the following:
"In 1961 Irving Berlin sued Mad magazine for parodying his classic songs, "Cheek to Cheek" and "Easter Parade" in a special issue, "Sing Along with Mad." Only a cranky old man and his high-priced lawyers could fail to see that chasing Alfred E. Newman around the Hall of Justice was the best vaudeville show of all.
The suit dragged on for several years, then went against Berlin. The composer was strongly rebuked from the bench on the importance of parody and satire in social affairs by Judge Irving R. Kaufman, the dour jurist who had sent the Rosenbergs to the electric chair."
Apparently, Rodgers and Hammerstein, who composed Oklahoma, had better senses of humor than Irving Berlin.
Friday I head to Miami, get on a big ass boat, and then head for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. Back home Christmas Eve.
Raising my hand as another mad mag maniac here. My mom was a singer, talented, not professional. My brothers were subjected to the lyrics of those same musicals, can’t help but absorb.
My daughter would have loved to have had your parents, she is a singer and dancer too. She is a show tune, musical maniac, my oldest son was a mad mag maniac like me.
Sounds like you are going to warm you bones in the sun. Good on ya!
I've got Oklahoma in my head now, but that's Okay.
THANK YOU, Secret Santa!!!
I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. I'm superly impressed/feeling special that you got a gift out to some strange woman you've never met while planning all the other stuff.
*I dig the snow globe. **People used to call my brother Alfred E Newman...and ME, Alfred E. Newman's twin sister...but we loved the magazine, anyway.
I was sitting in front of my computer this evening and the words to "Theres a bright golden Cyst" popped in my head. My dad was addicted to the movie Oklahoma back before videos so he bought the soundtrack LP and played it CONSTANTLY. I had that tune etched into my brain when my favorite humor magazine "MAD" came out with the parody. It was an instant hit in my book. I memorized much of it. This evening when I thought of the old tune I got curious about what I might find on the internet about it so I googled it and I found your December post. You mentioned that you had forgotten the words: There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow. There;s a bright golden cyst on his elbow. His pulse is as weak as a dried up old creek, and it looks like his elbow's beginning to leak! Oh what a bad operation! I wish that it wern't true. I tried my darndest to save him. Looks like he didnt pull through! Happy Easter Miguel
I was sitting in front of my computer this evening and the words to "Theres a bright golden Cyst" popped in my head. My dad was addicted to the movie Oklahoma back before videos so he bought the soundtrack LP and played it CONSTANTLY. I had that tune etched into my brain when my favorite humor magazine "MAD" came out with the parody. It was an instant hit in my book. I memorized much of it. This evening when I thought of the old tune I got curious about what I might find on the internet about it so I googled it and I found your December post. You mentioned that you had forgotten the words: There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow. There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow. His pulse is as weak as a dried up old creek, and it looks like his suture's beginning to leak! Oh what a bad operation! I wish that it wern't true. I tried my darndest to save him. Looks like he didnt pull through! Happy Easter Miguel
I was sitting in front of my computer this evening and the words to "Theres a Bright Golden Cyst" popped in my head. My dad was addicted to the movie Oklahoma back before videos so he bought the soundtrack LP and played it CONSTANTLY. I had that tune etched into my brain by the time my favorite humor magazine "MAD" came out with the parody. It was an instant hit in my book. I memorized much of it. This evening when I inadvertantly thought of the old tune I got curious about what I might find on the internet refering to it so I googled it and I found your December post. You mentioned that you had forgotten the words: There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow. There's a bright golden cyst on his elbow. His pulse is as weak as a dried up old creek, and it looks like his suture's beginning to leak! Oh what a bad operation! I wish that it wern't true. I tried my darndest to save him. Looks like he didn't pull through! Happy Easter Miguel
Sir, the same problem has often afflicted me: "There's a bright golden cyst on my elbow," my memory has it. Thanks for giving me a little relief with this post.
Name: Jonathan Home: Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States About Me: Just a guy who trying to eek out a living as a graphic designer in SW Michigan. See my complete profile
Name: Jonathan
Which Virgin Islands? British, per chance? You've got to get the captain to make a stop at Virgin Gorda and head to the Baths.
Love the snow globe art! Pus and lances -- love those, too, but not as much as the snow globe art.