For many of the January 1st’s of this blog’s existence I offered up a New Year’s Day song or poem or song-and-poem that I thought might engender a few moments of repose, hope, gladness and gratitude for the life before us, in all its sometimes complicated-as-hell feeling states. But in reviewing my previous new year’s posts yesterday, I discovered, with no small degree of dismay, that the past two January 1st’s have been unaccountably and inexplicably quiet, dark, unexpressed, unlit.
Oh, dear……My very very verrrrry bad!
Lord knows I need me some of that repose, hope, gladness and gratitude after the year we’ve had, though verily I say unto you: When don’t we?
So in that spirit, a lovely five minutes of music-making below from a singer I’d never heard of, doing a song we’ve all heard of, but in such a pure, crystalline way as to make the very angels weep with joy.
A long You Tube scroll yielded her up to me, a little gift tucked into the side pocket of my holiday basket to perhaps put a little glow in your heart too. May it inspire us to acknowledge whatever good fortune and grace have made their way into our lives in the year past, with the not-unfounded hope that it will continue or even (dare to) be better yet in the year ahead.
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Rainbow by Andrew Hidas https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewhidas/
Thank you, Andrew, my friend! That is just what I needed this New Year’s Morning!
Thanks, Andrew. That was heavenly. Just what we needed today!
Beautiful rendition of a song that most of us as children, even as grownups, crooned in the privacy of a shower, car or hike. I’m sure Miss Garland would have applauded Stella’s performance. Incidentally, Cole isn’t a bad last name for a singer to own!
Quite lovely, thanks for sharing this.
I love that they include the rarely played introduction. It’s a lost art in today’s song structure. “When all the world’s a hopeless jumble……” There is a pause as the intro hovers wistfully before resolving into the lyrics and song everyone knows by heart. Like wrapping up in a warm blanket on a cold night. As happens in the movie, the world suddenly transforms from black and white to color. A metaphor for the times? One can hope. It’s impossible to ever get over that rainbow. We all know this. Still, a worthy aspiration. The searching is the thing. A well chosen New Years song, my friend.
What a beautiful way to start the New Year. So uplifting. Thank you.
Thanks all; am glad to have followed up on my sudden intuition yesterday that this song, sung and presented in this way, might help us meet the day. A kind of tasty hors d’ oeuvres to set the context for the long big meal to come!
Robert, you’re right, this is one tune that sneaks into my head unbidden at any given time of a day or year. Never far away, even if it’s been a long time in between rainbows…
Liane, yes! I was struck in the same way by her lack of “big song” theatrics; her phrasing, tone and volume dialed down in a way that left the spotlight on the song’s inherent emotionality and the purity of her own voice. Someone I want to hear more from!
Dennis, that intro/prelude is sung so infrequently that I’m still momentarily surprised and slightly disoriented when I hear it. Such a pity, given how well it sets the table for that rainbow…
Such a beautiful performance and voice from someone I didn’t know about, despite the fact that she is from Springfield, Illinois! I spent the first year of my career in Springfield, an historic Abraham Lincoln town not known for wordly sophistication, but stuffed with friendly, hardworking people. Her journey to Northwestern U and then NYC was a good choice, I will try to see her there someday! Yes, we need hope to keep us interested and motivated in this uphill constitutional crisis time we are living in. What is over the rainbow? No one knows, but I feel certain that it is inclusive, loving, and as inspirational as this song.