Thank you to all the folks who continue to visit my blog despite the long gaps between new posts.
I just re-read my last one (written right after our most recent national elections).
It’s pretty grim.
Now we all bear witness to how the campaign promises — and threats — do or don’t become reality in the upcoming days, weeks, months and years.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
Today’s blog post aims to be a little lighter in tone and features a song for which Johnny Mercer wrote both the melody and lyrics.
Most of the time, Mr. Mercer wrote the lyrics to other people’s melodies.
For example, he co-created “Skylark” with Hoagy Carmichael, “Come Rain or Come Shine” with Harold Arlen, “Hooray For Hollywood” with Richard Whiting, “Jeepers Creepers” with Harry Warren, and “Moon River” with Henry Mancini.
Other songs he co-wrote include “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,” “In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening,” “Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home,” “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” “That Old Black Magic,” “On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe,” “Too Marvelous For Words,” “Autumn Leaves,” “Blues In The Night,” and “I’m Old Fashioned.”
And there are even more hits in his extraordinary catalog of songs — which you can skim by clicking here if you are curious.
Mr. Mercer was a Southerner, born on November 18, 1909 in Savannah, Georgia. From the 1930s to the 1960s he co-wrote over a thousand songs — for movies and for Broadway shows — and was nominated for 19 Academy Awards, winning four Oscars for best original song.
And if it wasn’t enough to write or co-write so many great songs, Johnny also had a successful career as a recording artist himself.
And he co-founded Capital Records.
Yowza!
According to some biographers, he could also be a very mean drunk who developed a reputation for sending beautiful — and apologetic — flower arrangements to people whom he’d insulted at parties the previous night.
He wrote “Something’s Gotta Give” in the 1950s for Fred Astaire to sing in a movie called DADDY LONG LEGS which co-starred a very young Leslie Caron as his eventual love interest.
I am not a fan of 50+ year-old leading men romancing much younger women in movies (or in real life for that matter), but this stereotypical, male chauvinist theme shows no sign of being banished from popular culture.
However, DADDY LONG LEGS did give us a very upbeat song with a few lovely turns of phrase — such as “some heavenly star-spangled night…”
And I realized — after I recorded it — that this song also reminds me of the likelihood that many somethings are gonna give in the upcoming days and weeks and months and years here on planet earth.
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I am planning to release a new recording — some originals and some covers — on a monthly basis for the rest of 2025.
And I am hoping to keep my blog posts shorter — and somewhat sweeter — than in previous years.
Here’s a lovely hyacinth bulb, which I bought at our local Trader Joe’s, blooming in my dining room.
I continue to be amazed at how an unpretentious, brownish bulb can — given some water and sunlight — differentiate itself into a vivid green stalk and lavish pink blossoms.
How is it possible?!
It is miraculous — and currently very aromatic!
Yet another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I will end with one more recent photograph — this one taken by my older sister of our younger sister’s culinary handiwork at a family gathering earlier this month.
Yum!!!
The eggs were provided by a flock of black Australorp hens whom my sisters take care of on their farm (along with Icelandic sheep, a dog and several cats).
It turns out that chickens are astoundingly attuned to daylight.
As soon as the winter solstice happens each year, egg production by my sisters’ flock begins to rise (having tapered off during the autumn…)
And as soon as the sun starts to go down each day, all of my sisters’ chickens troop back inside their coop and start to roost for the night.
You will probably not be surprised to learn that commercial egg-producing companies (if I am remembering correctly) take advantage of this sensitivity and manipulate the light their hens experience each day to maximize egg production.
One more deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
Thank you for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for his splendid piano accompaniment — on his glorious Schimmel grand piano — and for his expert musical production skills.
Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer for his graphic design (and to the professional photographer in NYC who took this photo of me many decades ago…)
Thank you to Johnny Mercer for writing this song — and to Fred Astaire for inspiring him to write it.
And thank you to anyone who is moved to stream my recording of “Something’s Gotta Give” on Youtube, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, etc. by clicking here.
Every stream — and especially every thumbs up — helps to improve the likelihood that the mysterious algorithms of these various streaming services will share my music with new listeners!
And as always, I welcome any comments below!
amusicalifeonplanetearth 
Hi, Will!
“Fight, fight, fight with all our might”–yes! I think you are doing with music what I am trying to do with words. That is, to resist the horror, and send out the light. I love your cover of this Mercer song.
And yes, let us celebrate the wonders of nature, and the way that bulbs know when it’s time to bloom, and hens to roost or lay their eggs.
You’ve mentioned your sisters’ farm before. It sounds wonderful (though I know they must work very hard).
I am so glad you reminded me of the “fight, fight, fight it with all of our might” portion of Mr. Mercer’s lyric. That, too, is very appropriate to the moment we find ourselves in… And you are correct — my sisters’ farm IS a lot of work. Having animals means that someone has to be there each and every day to feed them, water them, move their fences, repair their shelters, etc. etc. etc. They both seem to love living there, however, and are blessed to have a wonderful farm neighbor who uses some of their land to grow vegetables and also has a lot of farm machinery to help keep fields from being overgrown, deal with fallen trees, dig holes to bury large animals when they die, etc. etc. etc.
You’re welcome, Will.
The farm where we had a farm share had an open house during strawberry season, and we took a tour with the farmer. I’m glad your sisters love their farm and their life there.
I have a hunch that farm-share-supported farms might be very important in our collective futures — so hurrah that you are already patronizing one in your area. My older sister has a farm share with a place that specializes in amazing greens (all year round) and another with a farm + bread enterprise which manages to grow all of its grain organically in the hilly, stony, multi-soil-typed (due to former glacial activity in the Finger Lakes region of NYS) fields of upstate NY…
Hi Will. This post came at a good time, as the events of recent weeks have been getting to me. Let’s try to embrace the positive and appreciate the beauty all around us.
And now I have a hankering for some eggs benedict. 💚
I almost always have a hankering for eggs benedict… Yum!
I’m grateful and glad to see you back sharing your beautiful voice and knowledge of music. Thank you Will. Yes to miracles, deep breaths, friends, and holding hope while we keep moving forward. Big hugs…
Thank you, dear Brad. It is extremely comforting to be able to share thoughts, feelings, words, music, photos, poems, and comments/feedback with fellow bloggers such as YOU!
The feeling is mutual Will.
Great post, Will! Listened to your recording of “Something’s Gotta Give” on Spotify and YouTube and “liked” it there. I missed your last blog post, ’cause of close-to-home craziness, but glad I had a chance to open this one for a listen and read.
So, Happy New Year!
I was just talking to a longtime friend of mine about the political atmosphere and doing my best to help ease some of her despair. I hope we get to see each other this year. We re-connected by phone several years ago after living most our lives in divergent directions for so many. Hoping this year brings us together in the same place. ~:0) I am making 2025 my year of CONNECTION!
I hope 2025 is a good year for you and yours!
Wow. THANK YOU, Karen, for giving “SGG” a listen + like on Spotify and YouTube! May their mysterious algorithms be positively impacted by your generous engagement with my music. I like CONNECTION as a theme for 2025. In an original song I hope to release later this year, I mention how social fabric can start to fray when our hearts become numb to the world around us. May we make and renew many connections in 2025…
An uplifting performance Will, just what we need at the moment!
Thank you, Andrea! I plan to feature another upbeat song in my February blog post… which I need to start working on!
Will, every post, no matter how few or far between, is a joy. Really. I had no idea Johnny Mercer wrote so many songs, and I know many if not most. This is the music that makes me think of you. Last week I was humming a song in the bathroom helping a child at school, much like “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”. The child and I ended up discussing humming and singing, and of course songs. You were ‘there’, Will.
Nature is as wondrous as music. Your bulb to flower says it all. I’m so glad you had a wonderful family visit. Stay warm, and remember the words of Hans Christian Andersen, “Where words fail, music speaks.”
Wow. How did you know that my next blog post is likely to feature a song written by Frank Loesser for the Hans Christian Anderson movie starring Danny Kaye? May I use that quotation (and maybe some of your wise words, too)? I love thinking about you and your beloved students humming and strumming and singing together. I had a super-sweet Music Together class this morning with lots of ideas, input, and participation from children and grownups alike. Deep breath of gratitude in. Deep breath of gratitude out. Johnny Mercer had a long and creative life. And he managed to have hits in the 1960s — such as the exquisite “Moon River” co-written with Henry Mancini — unlike many of his songwriting peers. He also had an on-again-off-again romance with Judy Garland for decades, and he returned to spend time with family and friends in Savannah on a regular basis (via the train, which perhaps explains how often train references pop up in his lyrics!) While I am savoring the hyacinth bulbs from Trader Joe’s, I have started a couple of narcissus bulbs which hopefully will bloom later this month in order to keep the parade of indoor, early-spring beauty going for another few weeks at least! Thank you, Jennie, for listening and reading and leaving a comment!
Hi Will! Of course you can use that quote and any of my words! How did you know I love Danny Kaye, and that movie? I still remember the part when he sang “Inch Worm” to the little girl, and I continue to sing that song to children. If I came back as a different person, it would definitely be Danny Kaye. He is ‘me’, all over. Thank you for teaching me more than I ever knew about Johnny Mercer. I still get chocked up when I listen to “Moon River.” I look forward to your next post! I’m so glad your Music Together classes are doing well. Music brings us so much joy.
It is wonderful how music can touch our hearts … and even travel all around the world! I remember hearing a solo Chinese saxophonist playing “Moon River” in a park in Shanghai when I was visiting a jazz pianist friend who lived there for almost a decade with his family…
Yes, it is wonderful! What a moment for you to hear that saxophonist when you were in Shanghai. I’ve always thought the saxophone was the most important instrument in R&B music.
It can be very lyrical and also very rowdy…
True! When I went to the audiologist for my hearing test, I commented that my mother said my poor hearing was due to all that loud rock and roll music. He said, “She was right.”
Your singing and post are both balms for the spirit at this deeply worrisome time, Will. I loved the passages about the hyacinth and hens “a-laying.”
The whole concept of farm shares seems very encouraging—reminiscent (to me, with limited knowledge of them) of the food coops I recall from decades ago.
Those deep breaths are more essential than ever—as is hope for better days.
I’m always delighted to see your blog posts…no pressure, of course!
Thanks for leaving such a warm comment! Your kind words put a little bit of wind into my sails regarding my next blog post… Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
My pleasure, Will!
Beautiful thoughts, inspiring music. As always. Hope you’re planning another visit for your fans.
Thanks for listening and leaving a comment! I think Jill has scheduled me and Joe for a musical visit to NC in the spring time…