Happy Almost Thanksgiving Eve, Dearest Ones!
In a time where gratitude can be hard to come by I am enormously grateful for you, for random acts of kindness, and for glorious music! More specifically for this song. I did not write it, John Bucchino did that, but I love to sing it. It is a perfect song in an imperfect world.
Wishing you a day filled with love, loved ones and the perfect slice of pumpkin pie.
With love & Music,
Amanda
JUNE …
..is busting out all over, as Mr. Hammerstein once wrote, and so do we seem to be…in every way…out of doors…out of houses and apartments that have been too small or too comfy for too long… out of pants that used to fit…
…OUT into whatever this new world, with all its new twists and turns offers or demands or threatens.
I am tentatively sticking toes out of the house and garden and into tomorrow. I must admit I have been lucky enough to have a comfy home, a loving husband, several furry children, and a big old garden to make this past isolation sweeter. So I sneak out rather than leap, reluctant to let go of the quiet time. But so happy to reconnect with beloved pals IN THE FLESH!
And I am constantly reminded that HUGGING is THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD!
My BURIED TREASURE this month is a song I love that I had the honor to write with that most wondrous songwriter from Nashville, Mike Reid.
(You probably know one of his huge hits…I CAN”T MAKE YOU LOVE ME IF YOU DON’T. Bonnie Raitt had a #1 hit with it.)
I have a passion for country music. It’s the lyrics, baby, the lyrics!
The stories they tell. This one is called KEEP ON WALKING.
I dare you not to dance around the room!
I have not been a complete sloth during my time of isolation. A little bit of song writing here and there with my brilliant pals Ann Hampton Callaway and Michele Brourman. I thought I would share with you the lyric to the latest Mc/Brourman creation.
HEY THERE NIEGHBOR, HOW YOU DOING
NOW THAT ISOLATION’S DONE?
DID YOU GAIN A HUNDRED POUNDS?
WASN’T IT A LOT OF FUN?
ME, I’M FEELING BRIGHT AND CHEERY
HEAR ME SING A LOUD TRA LA
MASKS ARE NOW MY FAVORITE FASHION
AND I EVEN FOUND MY BRA
I HAVE LEARNED THE ART OF ZOOMING
SOMEDAY SOON MY PANTS WILL FIT
NO MORE STARS SING THEIR BEDROOMS
BELTING SONGS THAT SOUND LIKE SHIT
THERE WERE THINGS I LEARNED TO LOVE WHEN
CHARDONNAY BECAME MY PRAYER
HOW TO PLAY THE FLUTE IN SPANISH
THE TRUE COLOR OF MY HAIR
WHAT WAS ALL THE FUSS I WONDER
WITH THE PANIC AND THE FEAR
ART AND THEATRES ALL WENT UNDER
BUT THE SKIES WERE REALLY CLEAR
POLITICS IS SO MUCH BETTER
NOW THE COUNTRY’S SPLIT IN TWO
WITH THE KINGDOM OF THE RED
AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE BLUE
YOU KNOW THOSE SHOES I ALWAYS WANTED
YESTERDAY I WENT AND BOUGHT ‘EM
HAVEN’T SEEN MY HUSBAND LATELY?
HONEY, THAT’S BECAUSE I SHOT HIM
During my year of DOWN TIME, I like so many, have been cleaning out my closets, my drawers, my music files.
I have been traveling back in song-writer time to some of my oldies-but-goodies., looking for more BURIED TREASURES. And I came upon this one, which I had forgotten about, and upon listening, realized how very fond of it I am.
It is called THE OTHER SIDE OF MY HEARTBEAT.
A love song, of course.
Written and recorded in the 80’s…ye Gods…
and wonderfully sung by a very dear and talented friend of mine named Mara Getz.
It is a demo. The arrangement is definitely 80’s, (which, I have to admit, was my favorite music period.)
I challenge anyone out there, who likes this song, to re-make it and bring it into the 21st century!
So sit back, relax, and enter my WAY BACK MACHINE.
I think I shall become a rose
Velvet-crowned
Scarlet headed
A ball of silent fire suspended
Mummy-taut
Between sun and soil
Lanced to earth on emerald spear
Pulled to the eye-clear air-pure void of sky
By iron webs of light
Spun and spinning
From groin and beak of star spider
Sun sparrow
Stretched to screaming silent expectation
Leaves outstretched
Thorns tip-tilted
Waiting breathless
For Dawn’s hot tongue
Moon’s cool finger
To touch and stroke
To make my skull explode
In shrieks of color
Wails of perfume
Shameless
Silent shouting
I am no more a thing tight-closed
A promise in Springtime bud
I am at last a truth
Red loud, blood vulgar
Full-blown at last
I am become a rose
Happy May!
With Love & Music
Amanda
MARCH!!!!!!
Is it coming in like a BIG , fierce lion or a cub?
One year almost to the day since the doors slammed shut to just about EVERYTHING! ONE YEAR!
And, to mis-quote Mr. Sondheim, we’re still here! (Most of us.)
I don’t make light of all the tragedy and madness that has surrounded us, how can any of us?
But I continue to look for the blessings inside the curses…blessings like creative innovation on so may levels…
taking time to slow down and look deeper, breathe slower, connect, appreciate what IS rather than what DOES, to strengthen our Good Deed and compassion muscles. It is still a long slog, I know, bugt I feel like I am at least wearing some new emotional shoes.
( I TRIED putting on a pair of my concert high heels and walking around the house. Just to see. OMG! 365 days of sneakers has ruined my ability to glide on graceful, catlike, tiptoe across the floor. (Was I EVER catlike?) I am going to have to practice , practice, practice, so I will be ready when concert season reappears…whenever THAT may be. Visions of Jimmy Choo’s under sweat pant pajamas …the fashion look for 2021!)
I must admit I am more hopeful. The changing of the guard makes me NOT dread reading the paper in the morning over my multiple cups of coffee. There appears to some good news making the front pages, if only at the very bottom.
My Buried Treasure for this month is a brand new one I wrote with my beloved bestie, Michele Brourman. It is called MY HEADLINE FOR TODAY. I wrote the lyric after waking up happy on a Sunday morning. I sent the lyric to Michele, who created the perfect melody. I hope it brings some pep to your step!
WAVING
I wave at men who mow the lawn
and children with their backpacks on
and passing dogs with laughing tails
and people who deliver mails
And UPS trucks grumbling down
my street in shades of poopful brown
Though now my arms, like flags unfurled,
Are flapping soft and flying-squirreled
No longer lean. No longer lithe
As when they once would wrap and writhe
And fan mad flames of lost desires
That kindled in some frantic fires
And still I wave with all my might
In hopes of bringing some delight
Or even just a tired smile
To those who trudge each hard-fought mile
And those there are who pity me
For them I wave most splendidly
In hopes that they may someday see
Beneath the folds and furls and fears
Of endless days and aching years
The promise of our history
The children we will
Always be
With Love & Music
Amanda
The song I have chosen for February is a new one called THIS FAR…lyrics by me, music by my pal Michele Brourman. She was asked by a dear mutual friend to write a song celebrating their long –term love. It is one of my favorite new songs. And this is its debut.
We asked several of our pals who have had long-term relationships…Michele calls them OLDIE WEDS… to contribute some photos to be included with the song.
MANTRA
I love you
Is a mantra
It’s meaning shifting
With the menu
Of the day
It can mean
You’re mad at me, aren’t you?
Or
Tell me I’m beautiful
Or
Honey, I wrecked the car
Or
Shut the hell up
Or
Good morning, the sky is glorious
Or
I’ll kill you if you leave me
Or
You are my prisoner
Or
You show me what I am
That I am
All I am
All that is pure and perfect
And unutterable joy
I love you
-Om-
For concert bookings please contact garrygeorge@pacbell.net.
