Dana Mathewson

A while back we played music for a "church" that seems pertinent to today. I use quotes around the word "church" because it was First Universalist -- a bunch which I currently refer to as "pagans" and which, especially these days, resembles more closely a congregation of some ancient Gaia cult -- or perhaps a meeting of the DNC.  I used to refer to them as the Druids until I decided that that was being disrespectful of the ancient Druids.

We don't play at that place very often anymore -- they now have a parishioner who plays pretty good piano, and she can cover for the music director when he's away, and he's under pressure to use her whenever he can.  But we get in there once in awhile.  Last time, we took a friend along -- we'd been doing some stuff with her, and she said "I've got a song that might be right up their alley."  Boy, was it!  It could have been an Obama campaign song -- we laughed about it.  The lyrics are:

One day the fields will be greener,
One day the skies will be bluer,
One day the rivers will be
bright silver ribbons running 'round the hills, quiet hills,

You'll see, One day the rains will be softer,
One day the winds will be sweeter, sweeter than springtime,
And the whisper of lilac, apple, pine and pear will fill the air.

And One Day a child full of wonder
Won't fear the dark sound of thunder,
No dreams of danger when a soldier's a stranger from a distant time, distant world!
On the morning you stand with tomorrow safe in your hand,
That will be the day!

If the melody (Michel Legrand) hadn't been so gorgeous, we probably wouldn't have done it, but it's a wonderful melody.  I worked up a supporting clarinet part, and we knocked 'em dead.  We all think we'll wait about doing it again, though, till Bam-Bam's safely out of office -- and, one hopes, the AGW crowd has been silenced.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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