I finished my Music Together classes at the end of June, and I only have one more gig this summer (at the retirement community, Longview, where my mother lives in Ithaca, NY).
So I have a little more time on my hands — hence my slightly more frequent blog posts…
Right now I am visiting family in upstate NY.
During my nocturnal walks around the countryside, I have been very happy to be reacquainted with the extraordinary magic of fireflies.
This summer they seem to be particularly healthy and active.
It was not easy finding a public domain photo of fireflies at night on the internet.
Thank you to Wikimedia Commons and a photographer named Tyler Savitsky for the image above.
As with so many natural phenomena, it is somewhat impossible to describe in words the majesty and miracle of a field full of fireflies at night.
To me it feels like I am entering nature’s (and/or G-d’s) brain — with each blink of a firefly corresponding to the firing of a neural synapse.
According to Wikipedia there are many different varieties of firefly‚ and most of them have the amazing ability to make some part of their body photoluminesce a.k.a. light up.
Among other things, this helps in the process of attracting and selecting a mate.
You can click the link two paragraphs above to learn a bunch of fascinating things about fireflies.
For example, in certain human cultures they are especially revered — such as in Japan, where there are parks created to watch them.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
A field of fireflies at night also reminds me of a sky full of stars, which is the theme of today’s throwback blog post.
One of the pleasures of doing a Throwback Thursday blog post — as you may well know — is rediscovering something one once wrote (which one may have completely forgotten!)
In the case of this Throwback Thursday, I also rediscovered a song by Stephen Sondheim called “Everybody Says Don’t” which I had forgotten I’d recorded.
A new biography of Mr. Sondheim came out earlier this year which my sister gave me for my birthday.
I just finished reading it and — not surprisingly — come away with renewed respect and gratitude for the wealth of songs and shows he helped to create over the course of a 50+ year career…
If you are not very familiar with his work, he wrote the lyrics for two blockbuster Broadway favorites — WEST SIDE STORY and GYPSY.
But what he really wanted to do is create both music and lyrics — which is what he finally got to do with A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, COMPANY, SWEENEY TODD, INTO THE WOODS, ASSASSINS, PASSION and other shows.
Mr. Sondheim experienced a few flops along the way, including ANYONE CAN WHISTLE and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.
But he continued to work on the latter show for decades until he (and various collaborators) finally arrived at a version which was one of the hottest tickets on Broadway — starring, among other talented human beings, Daniel Radcliffe (the original Harry Potter) — during 2023-2024.
A version of this production was filmed and can be watched via various streaming platforms.
And I learned from Wikipedia that Richard Linklater is filming his own version of it over many years (as he has done with other creative projects). Sounds like we may have to wait for a decade or more to see THAT version…
Mr. Sondheim did not have many of his songs become big pop hits, although Judy Collins recorded a lovely version of “Send In The Clowns” from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.
He crafted his songs to advance the plot of each show and often wrote them for particular actors to perform.
This specificity may have made it more challenging for pop musicians like Frank Sinatra or Barbra Streisand to pluck one of this songs out of the context of a particular show to become a more generic pop hit — although Ms. Streisand DID include many of his compositions in her two albums devoted specifically to Broadway songs.
And Mr. Sondheim, bless him, did agree to write additional lyrics for Ms. Streisand’s version of “Send In The Clowns” so that it made more sense for her to sing it (out of the context of the original show).
I think I may have featured photos of hydrangeas in a previous blog post, but they are what is blooming right now in my neighborhood as summer officially gets underway in the Greater Boston area…
And I LOVE them.
Happy summer to any and all readers in the northern hemisphere of planet earth!
Pianist/singer/arranger/songwriter Molly Ruggles and I performed “Alfie” recently at an assisted living community in Milford, MA, as part of an hour-long program of songs composed by Burt Bacharach.
Some of the folks in their memory care unit joined us, and one woman in a wheelchair appeared to be particularly zoned out when she was wheeled to her spot in the audience.
Then the music began… and she started to sing-along.
She was able to remember the lyrics to a bunch of Bacharach/David hits, including “Walk On By,” “Close To You.” and “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.”
Music has many mysterious powers!
A quick search on Google tells me that “listening to or playing music is a full-brain experience that engages nearly every region, creating a ‘total brain workout’. It activates a widespread network involving auditory, emotional, motor, and memory systems simultaneously, often synchronizing these areas to enhance cognitive function.
Auditory Cortex (Temporal Lobes): Processes sound, rhythm, and melody, converting sound waves into electrical signals.
Limbic System (Emotion & Memory): The amygdala (emotion) and hippocampus (memory) respond to music, explaining why specific songs trigger vivid memories or emotional responses.
Motor System (Movement): The cerebellum and motor cortex are activated, controlling involuntary tapping or dancing to the rhythm.
Prefrontal Cortex (Focus & Planning): Involved in planning, attention, and interpreting musical structure.
Neurotransmitter Release: Music boosts dopamine (pleasure/motivation) and serotonin, while lowering cortisol (stress).
Mr. Warren and Mr. Freed wrote “This Heart Of Mine” for a 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) musical called the ZIEGFELD FOLLIES which starred Fred Astaire.
I think I first heard it sung by Judy Garland, who recorded it the following year for Decca Records.
Arthur Freed also wrote the lyrics for a bunch of other hit songs — such as “Singing In The Rain,” “You Are My Lucky Star,” and “Make ‘Em Laugh.”
I haven’t read any biographies about him (yet) but according to Wikipedia, he lived a fascinating life.
Composite Images of Arthur Freed by Diane Yoder
He was born in South Carolina in 1894, and ended up attending a very prestigious prep school in New Hampshire — Phillips Exeter Academy. I am guessing he was probably one of very few Jewish students on campus — and according to Wikipedia, he became interested in writing poetry there.
After prep school Mr. Freed ended up in Chicago and performed with early versions of the Marx Brothers act (!!!) in vaudeville.
He also wrote special material for them, which led to co-writing enough successful songs that Hollywood beckoned…and he was hired to write songs for early MGM musicals.
After many years at MGM, Freed transitioned from songwriter to producer, working (as an uncredited associate producer ) on THE WIZARD OF OZ and then officially producing his first movie, BABES IN ARMS.
Both of these films, as you probably know, starred Judy Garland.
Mr. Freed went on to produce many more of Garland’s movies including LITTLE NELLIE KELLY, FOR ME AND MY GAL, THE CLOCK, and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS — which is where she met her second husband, the director Vincente Minnelli, whom Freed had brought from New York City to work at MGM.
According to Wikipedia, Freed hired great talent and then gave them free rein to do their thing — whether it was choreography, costumes, set design, songwriting, direction, etc.
He also gave himself free rein to do some very odd and abusive things, such as exposing his penis to a young Shirley Temple when she came for a visit to discuss doing a movie at MGM — and making sexual advances towards her mother as well.
Temple wrote about this incident in her autobiography — and apparently Mr. Freed experienced no censure as a result of his horrible behavior…
Spring has finally arrived — in fits and starts — here in the northeast United States.
And we have two days of (much-needed) rain forecast to start later this morning!
I’ve been sitting on this blog post for weeks because I want my posts to be uplifting.
Yet so much of what is happening here on planet earth continues to be the opposite.
I find myself returning to recent elections in Hungary for hope.
If I understand correctly, Hungarians had a president/dictator for 16 years who did his best to hamstring/contaminate/eliminate their democratic institutions such as freedom of the press and judicial independence.
And yet, after MUCH courageous struggle, their president/dictator was defeated in April with a record 80% voter turnout.
Hurrah!
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
I wrote the song included at the beginning of this blog post several years ago.
One of my favorite signs of spring is the hopeful sound of horny. peeper frogs who are looking for a mate and establishing their personal breeding territories.
In fact, I like this sound so much that I included it at the beginning and ending of “Boil A Frog Slowly.”
As readers of my blog are well aware, one of my main musical allies is pianist/composer/producer Doug Hammer, who lives with his beautiful French artist/graphic designer wife in a ranch-style dwelling on a suburban street in a city north of Boston.
Hidden in his basement is a recording studio with an impeccably maintained Schimmel grand piano and all sorts of recording equipment which Doug is constantly upgrading and updating, bless him.
And hidden behind his house is a little wetland which still manages to exist even though is has been surrounded by houses over the past few decades.
In the spring, melting snow and falling rain fill up the wetlands so that geese, ducks — including two wood ducks this year! —and other water-loving animals can do their thing.
And at a certain point, the peepers emerge from the earth/mud and start peeping!
It is such a lively sound — kind of like the aural equivalent of fireflies blinking on a summer night…
I spent a week in upstate NY last month, and most evenings I went for a long walk on country roads wearing a safety vest with ever-changing, multi-colored lights on it.
Whenever I passed a damp area — a pond or a stream or a drainage ditch — the sound of peepers filled the night air!
Somehow they manage to survive a changing mix of sun, rain, snow and hail with temperatures fluctuating from the 20s (overnight) to the 60s (during the day).
Peepers “prefer permanent ponds due to (their) advantage in avoiding predation; however, (they are) very adaptable with respect to the habitat (they) can live in.”
I was happy to read that they are not currently considered to be an endangered species — perhaps due in part to their adaptable natures (mentioned above).
I also learned that “in northern regions, the frog is able to endure below freezing temperatures due to the capacity of its liver to exude and flush the bloodstream with a glucose cryoprotectant which acts both as an anti-freeze in its blood, and allows organs like the heart to enter into a state of protected dormancy.”
Wow!
That certainly helps to explain their resiliency during our weather/temperature swings.
Wikipedia continues: “The peeper earns its name from its chirping call, which marks the beginning of spring.”
And its formal name, Pseudacris crucifer, “is derived from the Latin root meaning “cross-bearing”— a reference to the cross-like pattern on the spring peeper’s (back).”
Their “chirping calls are significant for communication…as females choose their mates based on the frequency and volume associated with them.”
Yes, indeed… the passionate songs of spring.
Chirp, peepers, chirp!
I released “Boil A Frog Slowly” two springs ago, and I have been collecting information since then about how out of balance, out of touch, and out of control our billionaire class —what some are now calling “The Epstein Class”— has become.
For example, the Americans For Tax Fairness Action Fund recently reminded me that:
“The United States was founded on a rejection of monarchy ie: no tiny elite ruling over everyone else. However, our current president “has embraced a governing philosophy that rewards extreme wealth and concentrates power in the hands of the richest people in the country: America’s roughly 1,000 billionaires” — which includes himself as well as many of his friends and family members.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
This statistic is particularly shocking to me: “During (our current president’s) first year back in office, U.S. billionaires increased their wealth by an astonishing $1.5 trillion, pushing their combined fortunes to more than $8.2 trillion.“
As I am sure most of us are well aware, billionaires and giant corporations hold enormous influence over our economy AND over our political system…
It was this emerging realization which inspired me to write this song.
But now as I listen to it, I am also reminded about our ongoing climate challenges which our current president plus all of the greedy and cowardly media/entertainment conglomerates (which continue to provide an awful ot of people with theira daily dose of “news”) are now downplaying and/or ignoring even more than in recent years.
Recently I watched a weather report on the CBS morning news/entertainment show.
As part of their reporting of record-breaking levels of heat in the west and southwest of the USA, there was NO mention of steps each and every one of us could take to decrease our carbon footprints.
Instead there were many segments on things to buy, places to fly (the most carbon-intensive way to travel) and ways to continue to consume more than our fair share of the natural resources on this amazing little planet which we all call home.
The message seemed to be “Keep living your consumerist lives exactly as you have been doing for the past few generations” — which, of course, is how we have ended up in our current terrifying environmental disaster situation.
Yet another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
But back to the billionaires…
As I wrote above, I do not want my blog posts to increase anyone’s daily burden of hopelessness.
So I will end with two bits of positive news.
In 2022 Massachusetts voters — of which I was one — approved a “millionaire’s tax,” and since then it has added more than a billion dollars per year to our state budget.
Revenue from this surtax is mandated to go toward education and transportation initiatives — including more free lunch programs, implementing “clean energy” in schools, making community college free for students 25 and older, and increasing the number of child care slots for low-income families.
And rather than decreasing the number of millionaires and billionaires wanting to live in MA — as nay-sayers and their lobbyists had warned — that number continues to rise..
Adding an extra 4% tax on annual income exceeding one million dollars CAN be accomplished!
And in New York City, newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani — along with governor Kathy Hochul — has recently proposed a pied-à-terre tax which would target luxury secondary homes worth over $5 million which are NOT primary residences.
This annual surcharge would raise $500 million annually to fund public services and bridge budget gaps.
And it would also begin to chip away at our much-lobbied tax code which currently allows super rich individuals and corporations to pay few — or no! — taxes while using all sorts of public services such as public education, drivable roads, tunnels and bridges.
Although “Boil A Frog Slowly” was written from a place of concern and despair, I do find ways to experience little patches of hope and optimism these days (such as the recent election in Hungary mentioned above).
The most recent “No Kings” day lifted my spirits and reminded me that there are millions of other human beings in the USA — and abroad — who are stepping up to help tip the balance of power/life back in a more healthy direction.
And the smaller political races around the country — in which Democratic candidates continue to over perform when compared with our most recent presidential election results — also give me hope.
People ARE daring to step up!
May each of us continue to find (and re-find) a healthy balance of active engagement — demonstrating in person, writing postcards/letters, giving money, volunteering on phone banks, etc. etc. etc. — with restful, rejuvenating, joyful activities.
And may the resiliency of the spring peepers give us hope and inspiration!
Thank you for reading this blog post.
We’ll see if I can increase the frequency — and upbeat tone — of them in the weeks/months to come.
Although I have not been very active as a writer, I DO continue to read many of my fellow bloggers’ posts.
And people continue to visit my site in increasing numbers — although my rising traffic statistics may be the result of bots having invaded WordPress?
If you have time/energy/willingness to play “Boil A Frog Slowly” on your favorite music platform — and then “like” it — that will help increase the likelihood of it being shared with new listeners by the mysterious algorithms which influence/control more and more of our online lives.
Not the woman in Greek mythology whose wedding gift/jar/box released evil sprits upon the world — along with Elpis aka Hope (“a single blessing to ease mankind’s suffering” according to a Greek mythology website I found online).
And not the jewelry company.
I am a fan of the music streaming company named Pandora.
However, I am also aware that the mythology of Pandora IS quite resonant right now.
Some days it does indeed feel like a bunch of evil spirits are ravaging our neighborhoods, our country, other countries, and our planet.
Thank goodness for Elpis ie: hope!
I had completely forgotten this crucial part of the myth — that the gods give us hope as an antidote/counterbalance to all of the evil spirits released by Pandora.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
According to the Greek mythology website mentioned above, Elpis/hope is often depicted as a young woman carrying flowers — hence the flower images in this post.
And music can inspire a sense of hopefulness in many of us — so maybe Pandora isn’t a horrible name for a music streaming company after all.
Now you may be wondering why I am choosing in this blog post to praise the music streaming company named Pandora?
It is because they have been the most consistent beacon of helpfulness and humanity I have encountered during my five-year foray into the business of streaming music.
Although they are currently part of a larger company, Sirius/XM, their cultural norms of accessibility and friendliness have not (yet) been contaminated/eliminated in a short-sighted quest for increased profit.
I love that all of the Pandora staff members with whom I have interacted are themselves musicians — and many of them use Pandora to share their own music with the world.
I have been told that Pandora listeners are located only in the USA.
But apparently some people around the world are clever enough to use a VPN — a virtual private network which, according to NordVPN “protects your internet connection and privacy online (by creating) an encrypted tunnel for your data.”
If you use a VPN, you can stream music via Pandora from anywhere there is internet service on planet earth (if I am understanding this VPN option correctly).
I think using a VPN also allows for some privacy regarding one’s internet history — which might be wise for more of us to consider using?
Anyways, back to Pandora…
The Pandora staff have created a bunch of free promotional tools which musicians like me can use — such as creating personalized audio messages to share with one’s listeners.
One can also feature a particular song for up to two months at a stretch (six times per year…)
And every month Pandora offers two free training sessions via Zoom, which allow independent musicians to learn how to use their promotional tools and — more importantly — to build relationships with real human beings.
This is the crucial piece that so many companies seem to have completely devalued in recent years.
Many (if not most) of us human beings want to build relationships with the people in our daily lives — whether it’s our mail carrier, or a teller at our local bank, or the staff at our local grocery store, or the folks who run our favorite restaurant, or the doctors/nurses/staff at our local hospital, etc. etc. etc.
Chatbots may save money, but they do not help to build actual human relationships.
And it’s actual human relationships which tend to create a foundation of customer loyalty.
Another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
As regular readers of my blog are well aware, there is a steep learning curve when one starts releasing music to be streamed via companies like Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, etc.
In addition to recording a song, mixing it and then mastering it, one also needs to get a graphic designed for it, select a company to distribute it (I use CD Baby), register it with the Copyright Office in Washington DC, and then enter it into one’s account at various organizations which collect money for the use of one’s song — including ASCAP, SoundExchange, Songtrust and the Mechanical Licensing Collective.
CD Baby used to have wonderful customer service until it was bought by another company which made a lot of changes…
And now the company which bought CD Baby — Downtown Music — is being sold to Universal Music Group (one of the three largest music conglomerates) after they were given permission from a European tribunal weighing the anti-trust implications of such a purchase.
G-d only knows what changes this purchase will bring into the lives of tens of thousands of independent musicians like me who currently use CD Baby to distribute our music…
Maybe UMG will use some of their enormous clout on our behalf?
Maybe they will improve customer service at CD Baby?
Or maybe they will find new ways to cheat, fleece and otherwise take advantage of us?
Time will tell…
Yet another deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
I can attest to the effectiveness of Pandora’s promotional tools.
My total streams on Pandora recently surpassed 200,000.
So I will continue to use these promotional tools AND will continue to remain grateful for Pandora’s terrific staff.
The song I included at the beginning of this blog post was written for a show called FUNNY FACE which starred Fred Astaire and his older sister Adele in the1920s.
I attempted to release this version, which I recorded with pianist Doug Hammer, last year.
But CD Baby mysteriously messed up the metadata attached to the recording — listing Doug as a primary artist rather than a featured artist — and he asked me to remove it from distribution so that it wouldn’t confuse the fan base (much larger than mine) he has built for his solo piano compositions.
Sadly, I have been unable to get any definitive answer from the customer service staff at CD Baby about how this mistake happened in the first place and whether I’ll ever be able to re-release it with the correct designation (featured artist not primary artist) for Doug.
Thank you to the Gershwin brothers for writing it in the first place.
Thank you to Pixabay for the lovely photos of spring flowers.
And thank YOU for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.
You are always welcome to visit my website — willsings.com — if you are curious to learn more about my musical life here on planet earth.
I’ve begun a new postcard-writing campaign with a bunch of people in my neighborhood.
We are reminding Wisconsin voters that they have an important Supreme Court election coming up on April 7th.
It’s a small task.
But doing something — anything — to withstand/offset the chaotic cyclone of destruction being unleashed by our current political leadership helps me stay connected to a tiny sense of Elpis/Hope.
Hoagy Carmichael — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This month’s song is a minor hit from what is sometimes called the Great American Songbook.
Composer Hoagy Carmichael and lyricist Johnny Mercer created it for a Broadway show — I WALK WITH MUSIC — which did not prove to be a success.
But it did give us this sweet song.
I discovered it when I was putting together an hour-long program of songs by Hoagy Carmichael — who also wrote the music for standards including “Georgia on My Mind,” “Stardust,” “The Nearness of You,” and “Skylark” (another song co-written with Johnny Mercer).
Pianist/producer Doug Hammer and I had a lot of fun recording it.
I learned that — later in his life — Hoagy appeared as a songwriter character on THE FLINTSTONES animated TV show and also participated in a TV special with Fred (Mr.) Rogers.
And I was reminded that Johnny Mercer was a bit of a Jekyll/Hyde personality — beloved during the daytime and then drunk at parties saying mean things during the night — after which he would send flowers and an apology the next morning.
Johnny Mercer (from the Johnny Mercer Foundation website)
In addition to being successful songwriters, Hoagy and Johnny were also successful performers.
Later in his life, Hoagy worked as an actor in movies and TV shows, while Johnny recorded many hit singles over the years — of his own songs and as well as songs written by other people.
Johnny also was one of three men who founded and ran Capitol Records very successfully for many years.
He was mentored early in his career by Yip Harburg (the lyricist who co-wrote “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?” “Over The Rainbow,” “How Are Things In Glocca Morra?” and “It’s Only A Paper Moon” among many other hits).
And near the end of his own life Mercer became a fan of singer-songwriter Barry Manilow.
In fact one of my favorite Johnny Mercer songs — “When October Goes” — was created after Mr. Mercer died with music by Barry Manilow and unpublished lyrics given to Mr. Manilow by Mercer’s widow, Ginger.
Both Mercer and Carmichael kept writing songs even after rock-n-roll had significantly altered the landscape of popular music — which meant that their work was less and less in demand…
Me (photo by Stephen C. Fischer)
I take inspiration from their creative perseverance as well as from the rich legacy of hit songs they left for all of us to savor.
On a personal note, I have begun attending several open mics on a regular basis, sharing my original songs while accompanying myself on ukulele.
Performing like this has been a good workout for my brain because I now have to remember both lyrics AND chords.
It has also been interesting to see how other regular open mic attendees do (and don’t) welcome one into each musical micro-community.
The key, I think, is simply continuing to show up.
Gradually we reveal ourselves to each other through our song choices and through the things we say between songs (the open mics I attend allow a person to perform 2-3 songs per night).
And trust begins to form…
Graphic Design by Stephen C. Fischer
And curiosity begins to arise…
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
All of the venues are also registered with ASCAP, the performing rights organization I joined several years ago.
So after each open mic, I log onto my ASCAP account and enter which of my original songs I performed.
In theory this is supposed to generate a tiny stream of income for me, but I haven’t seen anything yet…
One final thing I have been appreciating about attending open mics is that they give me a chance to fine-tune the lyrics of songs I haven’t yet recorded (but plan to record with Doug Hammer later this year).
The only flowers remaining these days in my neighborhood are chrysanthemums and asters.
They are a hardy bunch, bless them.
We’ve had a few frosts; so most bees and butterflies are gone…
I’m already counting down the days to the winter solstice, when daylight in the Northern Hemisphere will again start to lengthen!
In recent weeks I’ve re-discovered the pleasures of tea — my current favorite being Celestial Seasonings’ Bengal Spice with some honey — and soup (today chicken, squash, carrot, potato, onion, garlic and ginger, are simmering together on the stove…)
Partly this is because I do not like the shorter days.
And partly this is because I do not like being reminded that everything dies in the end.
I do however like being reminded of how amazing mother nature is — creating a system of fully recyclable and compostable solar collectors in the form of LEAVES!
I wrote the first version of “Under My Umbrella” while camping in North Truro on Cape Cod.
Then my friend Molly Ruggles wrote a new bridge section — which is the version she and I and our friend Carole Bundy recorded (in the player above).
You can click here to read — or re-read depending upon how long you’ve been following my blog — a short post from 9/10/24 which features the earlier (pre-Molly) version of this song.
And here is a link to the Molly, Will & Carole version in case you might be willing to play/like/share it on your favorite music streaming platform.
We recorded it with me, Carole and Molly singing plus Molly playing Doug Hammer’s Schimmel grand piano in his studio north of Boston, MA.
Thank you to Doug for his excellent engineering and music production skills.
Thank you to Molly for writing a new bridge and also a bunch of lovely harmonies for all of us to sing.
Photo by Rada Ruggles
Thank you to Molly for playing piano AND for designing our graphics.
Thank you to the gifted and generous photographers at Pixabay.
And thank YOU for reading and listening to another of my blog posts!
I remain very grateful for our wonderful WordPress community.
amusicalifeonplanetearth 