...do I dare to eat a peach? - isn't up and isn't down

No Great Matter

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."
~ Edgar Allan Poe

"Never stay up on the barren heights of cleverness, but come down into the green valleys of silliness."
~ Ludwig Wittgenstein

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
~ C.S. Lewis

And Make Our Visit

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in_omnia

19 July 2009 @ 01:31 am

isn't up and isn't down

My parents and I have spent the last 45 minutes or so watching sad songs on YouTube and ~~trying not to~~ crying. It's all my fault, I guess, since I started the discussion---five hours ago---about the challenge of creating art while fearing what others expect of you. This reminded my father of a song he couldn't quite remember about a small-town singer who is crushed by the critics. And since my family is...well, my family...this meant that for the next four hours---amid other discussions and entertainments---we attempted to discover the title and artist of the song.

After much googling and gnashing of teeth, we stumbled on "Mr Tanner" by Harry Chapin. Which we watched. And cried over. And that led us to a few more Harry Chapin songs, including "Taxi", which in turn led us to "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg. Which we watched. And cried over. And the loss of that great talent reminded me of another similar loss. Enter "A Boy and His Frog" by

filkertom. Which we watched. And *sobbed* over. After that, there was only one thing to do: we watched the Jim Henson memorial medley. Which actually cheered us up. Considerably.

Never a dull moment in my parents' house, I tell you.

.........................

Love Song: Robin the Frog - Halfway Down the Stairs

Prepare a Face:

chipper

6 scenes | swell a progress

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ludzu-alus.livejournal.com on July 19th, 2009 03:36 pm (UTC)

You've just named some of my favorite songs. I've been a Harry Chapin fan since I was a wee wee lass. And A Boy and His Frog makes me cry every time.

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in-omnia.livejournal.com on July 20th, 2009 11:25 pm (UTC)

My youngest sister sat and watched "A Boy and His Frog" with us and didn't shed a tear. I couldn't believe it. Of course, she might have been slightly distracted by the sight of her parents and sister---typically an extremely level-headed bunch---sobbing, but still....

And I've always liked "Cats in the Cradle" and "Taxi" by Harry Chapin, but I'd never really explored his other work. So this was an enlightening excursion indeed, if a rather sodden one. :)

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ludzu-alus.livejournal.com on July 21st, 2009 03:50 am (UTC)
I'm about to sound like a Chapin family fanatic.... :)

I really like 'Cats' and 'Taxi' too. Some of my other favorites are: '30000 Pounds of Bananas' (which I actually shared with my 8th grade English class when we did a short study of story songs), 'Flowers are Red,' 'I Wanna Learn a Love Song,' 'Circle,' and 'Mr. Tanner.'

'Circle' is sort of the Chapin family's anthem. I got to see Tom Chapin (Harry's brother) and family (including Harry's children) in concert at the Newbery Opera house a couple of years ago. They sang a beautiful version of 'Circle' in a round.

Jen Chapin, Harry's daughter, is also a noted musician and activist (continuing Harry's campaign to end world hunger - for which he won an posthumous Congressional Gold Medal) who I have also heard live. If you go to her website (jenchapin.com), you can listen to some of her music (warning: it loads automatically). I love her voice.

I grew up listening to Harry Chapin. Whenever we took road trips to Chicago to visit family, Greatest Stories Live was always listened to at least twice through. Harry Chapin also serves as one of my little tests to see if someone I've just met might be a kindred spirit (why, yes, I have read Anne of Green Gables!). Do other people have those sorts of little tests - where you work something into casual conversation and if the other person responds favorably, then you know that, indeed, this might be someone to keep around? Or is it just me? At the bookstore, this little testing is all but moot - book lovers have to do something to actively deter me from friendship. :)

Ah, but I ramble. :)

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in-omnia.livejournal.com on July 24th, 2009 06:07 pm (UTC)
Re: I'm about to sound like a Chapin family fanatic.... :)

I'm going to have to listen to these, Lissa, although I might wait until I'm in an endorphin-craving mood again. :) As for the little tests, I don't really have any that I use on everyone, but what's kind of strange is that for a long, long time, my close friends were all x-philes. Hmmm. As Mulder says, "If coincidences are just coincidences, why do they feel so contrived?"

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mneme-metis.livejournal.com on July 22nd, 2009 03:13 am (UTC)

I can totally see you and your parents doing this and at the same time it seems strange.

I'm not familiar with the songs you mentioned. I'll have to listen to them, but I think I'll wait until after the bar. I don't know I'm in the right mental state for sobbingly sad songs right now. :)

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in-omnia.livejournal.com on July 24th, 2009 05:58 pm (UTC)

I completely understand about not listening to them right now. I'm not entirely sure why my family ended up listening to them at all: we're *not* the type of people who seek the "sobbingly sad" and yet there we were, clustered around my computer, completely sober and weeping. Such a peculiar evening. But if you ever need a good cry, these songs'll probably do it. :D

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