My mom used to sing a song from Porgy and Bess: “Summertime, and the living is easy. Fish are jumping and the cotton is high. Your daddy’s rich and your ma is good looking, so hush, pretty baby, don’t you cry. One of these mornings you’re going to rise up singing. You’re going to spread your wings and take to the sky. But till that morning, there ain’t nothing can harm you with your daddy and mammy standing by.”
I love that song. I’ve sung it for auditions, sometimes accompanied by my dad on the guitar (okay, in fairness, it was more than 20 years ago the last time that happened, but still… it happened). And I was thinking about the sentiment. The peacefulness of the ideal summer, the plenty, and the promise of edges — a precipice just beyond the edge of what the singer can see, where the pretty baby spreads wings and flies away… into implied danger, yes, but FLIES AWAY. And who doesn’t want that? Even with the possibility of harm, there’s the promise of flight. And until that morning, you, pretty baby, are safe here in the protection of your wealthy and handsome parents.
That. All of that. It fills up my heart today. Thinking of my lovely mama, my pretty babies. The edges. Flying.
Happy summertime.
(4) Comments for this blog
Let’s sing it again. Soon.
Let’s sing it again. Soon.
I love this, Becca!
(Jayne’s Mom)
I love this, Becca!
(Jayne’s Mom)