Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection: Mood Music

Philip Hodge
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Palo Alto, CA

 

[Cap on — sung with a snarl:]

My name is Samuel Hall, Samuel Hall
My name is Samuel Hall, Samuel Hall
Oh my name is Samuel Hall,
And I hate you one and all
Aye, I hate you one and all
God damn your eyes.

[Cap off — spoken with a smile:]

My name is really Philip Hodge, and I’m really a nice guy. I’m a generally happy person, but there are rare occasions when I feel temporarily down in the dumps. I don’t like this feeling, and I find that music helps me change it.

I go for a solitary walk where no one can hear me, and I start singing. In keeping with my black mood, I start with “Samuel Hall.” Years ago I had a wonderful 78 album of Carl Sandburg songs, and I do my best to imitate my memory of his rendition. He really put feeling into the words, sometimes almost speaking them rather than singing, and freely varying the tempo. In some verses the final line comes out in a venomous whisper: “God damn your eyes.”

Usually singing all the dozen or so verses once is enough, but if my mood is sufficiently black, I may sing it through again. I don’t recall ever having to sing it three times.

Eventually I realize that I don’t really want to damn anyone’s eyes, and I start singing various ballads such as “Abdul the Bulbul Ameer,” “Frankie and Johnie,” or “Clementine”, all of which have a death theme.

With each song my mood lightens, and now I am ready to move on to more cheerful ballads such as “A Capital Ship”, “The Road to Mandalay,” or “Short’nin’ Bread.” Then come some of the popular songs of the 30’s: “Stardust”, “Red Sails in the Sunset,” “In the Still of the Night,” “The Music Goes Down and Around”, to name just a few. Would you believe that I still know the words to most of them?

By now I am my usual optimistic self, and I’m ready for the finale. The body of my “concert” may vary from one time to another. I may include some Gilbert and Sullivan. Or songs from that wonderful old Golden Book I had in grade school: songs such as “Annie Laurie”, “Believe me if all those endearing young charms”, “A Spanish Cavalier”. In season, I may even sing Christmas Carols. The songs don’t really matter — the singing is important.

The body may vary, but the concert always begins with “Samuel Hall” and it always ends with all three verses of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” from Oklahoma.

And so, as I return homeward,

[Singing]

I’ve got a beautiful feelin’,
Everything’s goin’ my wa — ay,
Oh, what a beautiful day!

[Aside, while leaving podium:]
You can see why they don’t ask me to join the choir.

 

Reflection: Bhagvad Geeta by Kay Brown