Hammerstein

Earlier today I was listening to some music from Broadway shows and I was struck by the fact that Oscar Hammerstein II was responsible for so may of the songs we consider standards or are so ingrained in our culture we forget that someone had to actually sit down to write them.

Oscar was the man who introduced us to the "possible" love song. In "Show Boat" he gave us "Make Believe" and in "Oklahoma" he  gave us "People Will Say We're In Love" and we can't forget "If I Loved You" from "Carousel". The man could take the yearning for love in a human heart and put words to it. How gifted he was.  

The last song he wrote was for "Sound of Music" and it was "Edelweiss". Most people actually believe it was an old Austrian folk song when in reality those words came from the fertile imagination of Mr. Hammerstein.

The next time you listen to any music think about the work of the people who sat down and figured out how to get the words and the notes you're hearing melded to make a song. And it makes no difference the type of music. Opera or Rap someone has to come up with an idea and then get it down on paper or the modern equivalent thereof.

Oh, and if you have any doubts about the the man's talent just read the words. The music is beautiful but the lyrics stand on their own. Here is some of "If I Loved You". The man knew the human heart.

                                                                  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!

Longin' 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.