July 17, 2026 by willedare

My Sweet Honeydew (A Cappella)

I hope you are well as you read this blog post!

Today I have been inspired by the aphorism “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

You may have seen it on posters, coffee mugs, etc. — attributed to Albert Einstein.

But according to an online search, there is little evidence that Einstein ever said it.

Instead I learned that a writer — Rita Mae Brown — created this quotation and attributed it to a fictional character in her 1983 book Sudden Death.

Thank you, Ms. Brown!

I think about this aphorism when I am reminded that one is supposed to budget an equal amount of money to market/promote/advertise one’s product as one has spent creating it in the first place.

Yikes!

I have never done this.

Other than maintaining my website, pitching a few songs to music bloggers, and writing this blog, I have spent very little money to promote my music.

However, this particular piece of marketing advice comes up fairly often when I am reading books/articles and watching videos about how to navigate the business of making music in the 21st century.

Now I must pause for a moment for a digression…

Over the past thirty years, I have observed that the music business — like life itself — is always changing and evolving.

So it is virtually impossible to do the same thing over and over again for more than a year or two.

And as a result of personal computers entering our daily lives, we have to keep endlessly learning the latest versions of many different programs/applications — as well as updating our hardware and software.

So as much as I would love to be able to do the same thing over and over again — while drafting new songs using Apple’s GarageBand or making videos using Apple’s iMovie, for example — I am forced to learn the latest updates (and alleged improvements) in order to continue making music.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

This has always seemed to me to be a huge waste of time AND money in order to make a few tech company owners, tech company employees and tech company stockholders rich.

I keep hoping to find a research study which would document the billions of hours which we human beings have wasted in the process of learning — and re-learning…and learning yet again — how to use various computer programs.

I would also like to find studies which explore the cumulative toll on our mental health due to the Sisyphean frustration of having to update and re-learn so many basic tasks/skills on an ongoing basis.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

So I am happy to report that my friends Molly Ruggles, Ellen Epstein, Michael Cicone and I went in a pre-industrial — and some might even say late-Paleolithic — direction with our most recent song release which we recorded a cappella.

You may remember an earlier version of “My Sweet Honeydew” (recorded with pianist Doug Hammer) which I featured in a blog post from January 8, 2022.

You are welcome to click here and visit — or re-visit — that blog post if you are so inclined.

A couple of years ago singer/songwriter/pianist Molly Ruggles took my original version, added an entirely new section of music + lyrics, and then arranged it for four voices to perform a cappella.

Our new version is in the player at the beginning of this blog post.

You may recognize Molly as a vital part of my trio recordings with Carole Bundy.

Molly, Ellen, Will & Michael (Photo by Doug Hammer)

I have known the other two singers on this recording — Ellen and Michael — for decades.

If you are a fan of contemporary folk music, you may be familiar with them as part of a musical trio with singer/songwriter/guitarist Cindy Kallet for forty-five years.

Ellen and Michael have released three beloved CDs of music with Cindy as well as appearing on many of her solo recording projects.

So I feel very honored and excited that they agreed to be part of this recording!

Now I will circle back to the aphorism that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Molly and I are doing something new with this recording.

We have hired a fellow singer-songwriter, Erik Balkey, to help us promote it to folk radio programs/stations around the USA.

Erik puts together compilation CDs of new recordings every two months and sends them to a couple hundred folk DJs and program directors.

We were surprised — and pleased — to learn that he chose “My Sweet Honeydew (A Cappella)” to lead off the second CD in his July/August promotional compilation.

If you happen to listen to a folk program in your neighborhood — or maybe far away from your neighborhood via an internet radio station — please let me know.

Then I will check and see if Erik sent his July/August promotional CDs — including “My Sweet Honeydew (A Cappella)” — to your favorite station/program.

It will be interesting to see what does — or doesn’t — unfold regarding airplay for our song this summer…

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

Thank you to Erik Balkey for his radio outreach.

Thank you to Doug Hammer for his collaborative production skills (and spontaneous photographic impulses).

Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer for his graphic design gifts.

Thank you to Molly Ruggles for creating this new version of my song.

Thank you to Molly and Michael and Ellen for learning, performing and then recording it.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to yet another blog post from/by me.

One final deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

P.S. You are welcome to stream “My Sweet Honeydew (A Cappella)“ on your favorite digital music platform by clicking here.

May 24, 2026 by willedare

This Heart Of Mine…

Thank you to everyone who continues to explore my blog even though I have not been posting a lot lately.

It is very exciting — and satisfying — to check my stats and see the many different blog posts people have visited during the past week.

One blog post which gets a surprising (to me) amount of traffic is about the composer Harry Warren.

He wrote the music for the song in the player at the beginning of this blog post along with lyricist Arthur Freed.

You can click here if you are curious to learn more about Harry Warren by reading my extremely loooong blog post from eight years ago (which also includes recordings of several of his hit songs).

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.”

You can click here to check out his Wikipedia page if you are curious to learn more about him.

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…

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

This reminds me of the ongoing conversations about Michael Jackson’s artistic and personal legacies…

Does one discard and avoid the music/art/products made by someone who does horrible things to other beings?

One of Mr. Freed’s most famous movies is SINGING IN THE RAIN, which re-used a bunch of his early hit songs.

Do we stop delighting in the the extraordinary dancing and singing of this movie because the producer was at times a perverse, abusive creep?

Perhaps this is something each one of us must decide for herself/himself…

I apologize for veering into this intense psychological and ethical territory.

I thought this blog post would be more light-hearted — to match the mood of the song.

However, human life is many-layered… full of contradictions, fallibility and mistakes.

Thank you to the (sometimes very flawed) songwriters who have given us wonderful music to lift our spirits year after year after year.

Thank you to pianist/producer Doug Hammer for his tremendous collaborative gifts.

Thank you to graphic designer Stephen C. Fischer for his ongoing work on behalf of my music.

Thank you to the photographers at Pixabay and to Diane Yoder for her composite image of Arthur Freed.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.

If you’d care to stream this song — and maybe even “like” it — on your favorite music streaming platform, you are welcome to click here.

And you are always welcome to visit my website — and sign up for my very sporadic and under-utilized emailing list — by clicking here.

May 14, 2026 by willedare

Boil A Frog Slowly…

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).

Astounding!

I learned from Wikipedia that “the spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a small chorus frog widespread throughout the eastern United States and Canada.”

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.“

Yowza!

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?

Who knows…

I also remain grateful to the wonderful and generous photographers at Pixabay for their beautiful images.

And to Doug Hammer for his musicianship, collaborative skills, careful archiving of past work, and technical savvy.

And to Stephen C. Fischer for his graphic design skills and patience.

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.

You can connect to a bunch of streaming links by clicking here.

And you are always welcome to visit my website, willsings.com.

March 10, 2026 by willedare

In Praise Of Pandora

I am a huge fan of Pandora.

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.

I wrote about them a little bit in a blog post last March.

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.

Deep sigh.

Thank you to Doug for recording it with me.

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.

As does the melting snow outside…

And the promise of spring flowers!

February 26, 2026 by willedare

Throwback Thursday #9

One of the great things about doing a Throwback Thursday is re-visiting old blog posts.

Today I am throwing back to January 15, 2014 — and a post about seeing Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting in person.

I had completely forgotten this visit to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC — probably made with my friends Steve and Kate.

I had not forgotten, however, Don McLean’s lovely (and long) song about Van Gogh.

Doug Hammer and I recorded a version of this song — which eventually I hope to release.

For the time being it is accessible via this 1/15/14 blog post.

I have also included a few iris photos from Pixabay in today’s post because Van Gogh painted iris on more than one occasion..

And I am eager for spring to arrive here in New England!

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

I have spent a lot of time shoveling snow in recent days.

Now snow is piled high on both sides of our sidewalk.

This limits one’s visibility when crossing the street…

It also makes parking a challenge for the folks who work in a nearby office building.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

So far this winter our furnace is behaving.

And I haven’t injured my back.

And I remain grateful for food, shelter, electricity, heat and a functioning internet.

All this snow may also help our reservoirs remain in better shape as the year unfolds…

We shall see!

Thank you to the wonderful photographers at Pixabay.

And thank YOU for checking out yet another one of my blog posts.

You are always welcome to visit my website — WillSings.com — by clicking here.

PS: More snow (or possibly rain) is forecast in the Boston area for next week…

October 17, 2025 by willedare

Both Sides Now

What a song!

I, like many, have long loved Joni Mitchell’s original recording of “Both Sides Now” — as well her later version with an orchestra.

Pianist (and engineer and mixer) Doug Hammer and I recorded our own version to accompany one of my sweetheart’s annual ART/Word group exhibitions.

The theme that year was BALANCE.

I was not in the greatest voice when we recorded our version, but Doug was able to polish things to a lovely sheen during our fixing/mixing process.

This summer and fall I’ve been riding the train (actually the train + bus due to ongoing track repairs in Massachusetts to fix a sinkhole situation) a lot from Boston to Ithaca, NY — where a bunch of my family members (sisters, niece, grandniece, nephews, mother, and cousins galore) live.

This has given me plenty of time to gaze at passing scenery, and I have seen some extraordinary cloud formations.

At dusk they are often illuminated by the last rays of sun coming over the horizon, which makes them even more magical.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

I love that “Both Sides Now” leaves the listener with no concrete answers.

Ms. Mitchell writes, “I really don’t know clouds (or love… or life…) at all.”

And I also love Ms. Mitchell’s description of falling in love — “Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels — the dizzy dancing way you feel — when every fairy tale comes real — I’ve looked at love that way.”

It immediately reminds me of my own history with that feeling — and how intoxicating and exhilarating it was…

And I also remember how devastated I was when my various romances came to an end.

Ahh, love…

Ahh, loss…

Ahh, life…

Ahh, clouds…

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

What are YOUR associations with this wonderful song?

I’d be honored to read any thoughts and feelings in the comments section below.

Thank you to Doug Hammer for being such a great musical ally for three decades.

And thank you for his wonderful, well-tuned Schimmel grand piano…

Thank you to Stephen C. Fischer for designing this lovely graphic.

Thank you to the talented photographers at Pixabay.

Thank you to Gretje Ferguson for taking this photo of me many years ago.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to this blog post.

You are welcome to click here and stream/like/playlist/share our version of Joni’s song.

And you can click here to visit my website if you are curious to learn more about my musical life here on planet earth.

June 27, 2025 by willedare

Let The Day Unfold…

Greetings!

I first attempted to release this song several years ago, but complications at CD Baby — the company I use to distribute recordings to digital streaming platforms — led me to cancel that initial piano/vocal rendition.

Fast forward three years, and I am releasing a new version — this time recorded with my friends Molly Ruggles (playing piano and singing) and Carole Bundy (singing).

Molly also crafted our harmonies.

I co-write this song with two former bandmates, Scott Kowalik and Javier Pico, with whom I was in a pop-rock band a long time ago.

Here is a photo of us way back when…

Scott and Javier are on the right side, and I am leaning on Alan.

Robert sits in the middle.

That is when I still had a fair amount of hair.

I think Scott’s girlfriend at the time snapped this photo near the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I am saddened to realize that some of the lyrics in this song (“and so we set off to fight another war…”) areeven more compelling today than when Scott (mostly the chorus) and I (mostly the verses) wrote them.

G-d only knows what will continue to unfold in the Middle East… and Ukraine… and so many other active human war zones…

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

I do not want my blog posts to be too discouraging, overwhelming or unhappy.

There’s already plenty of that energy in circulation here on planet earth!

That’s partly why I started sharing shorter, flower-filled Thursday Throwback blog posts this year.

And “Let The Day Unfold” offers a bit of hope and maybe even a smidge of wisdom.

I DO feel that many of us are caught in a losing battle — armored “with the righteous power of the either/or” — about all sorts of very important topics.

For example, I can easily find myself hunkering down in a judgemental, self-righteous, bike-riding, public transportation-using stance regarding our over-consumption of fossil fuels (leading to the increasingly erratic and dangerous weather here on planet earth).

But life is always — or almost always — more complicated and nuanced than a purely either/or position.

That’s why I love the yin/yang symbol — it so beautifully illustrates the concept of “both/and.”

And it reminds me that compromise is not necessarily a horrible option.

Image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay

Sometimes it’s the only option.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

Thank you to the generous photographers and graphic designers at Pixabay.

Thank you to Javier and Scott and Molly and Carole and Doug Hammer (who recorded us and then patiently helped to mix and master this new version of “Let the Day Unfold.”)

And thank YOU for reading and listening to yet another one of my blog posts and songs!

You can click here to stream “Let the Day Unfold” on your favorite musical platform.

And you can click here to visit my website if you are curious.

February 9, 2025 by willedare

When Your Heart Is Full Of Love…

Valentine’s Day is on the horizon.

I have chosen to honor it with a sweet song by Frank Loesser which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952.

Mr. Loesser wrote it for Danny Kaye to perform in a movie about the Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson.

According to Mr. Loesser’s daughter, he did not think highly of this song, and sometimes even used it as an example of songwriting to avoid.

But I love it.

Mr. Loesser began his songwriting career as a lyricist and co-wrote a bunch of great songs in the 1930s and 1940s including “Heart and Soul” and “Two Sleepy People” (both with Hoagy Carmichael), “I Don’t Want To Walk Without You” (with Jule Styne) and “See What The Boys In The Back Room Will Have” (with Friedrich Hollaender).

The first hit song for which he wrote both words and music was “Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition” during WWII.

Loesser ended up writing words and music for the songs in WHERE’S CHARLEY, GUYS AND DOLLS, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING (along with a few less successful undertakings).

Some hits from those shows include “Once In Love With Amy,” “Luck Be A Lady,” “I Love You A Bushel and A Peck,” “If I Were A Bell,” “I’ve Never Been In Love Before,” “Somebody, Somewhere,” “Standing On The Corner,” “Joey, Joey, Joey,” “I Believe In You,” and “Brotherhood of Man.”

Mr. Loesser also continued writing songs which were used in movies such as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Let’s Get Lost,” “Inchworm,” and “Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year.”

And he wrote a few songs which became pop hits without any connection to Broadway or Hollywood, including “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” and “I’d Like To Get You On A Slow Boat To China.”

Danny Kaye, his wife Sylvia Fine, arranger Billy May and Frank Loesser

I have long loved his song “Thumbelina” — and am very happy with this peppy version which Doug Hammer and I recorded quite spontaneously a few years ago when I was putting together an hour-long program of songs written or co-written by Frank Loesser.

I had been thinking I might use it in a Valentine’s-Day-inspired blog post, and then fellow blogger Jennie F. left the following comment regarding my blog post last month:

“Nature is as wondrous as music. Your (hyacinth) bulb flower(ing) says it all… Stay warm, and remember the words of Hans Christian Andersen, “Where words fail, music speaks.”

That coincidence/synchronicity sealed the deal.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

Barley (I think?) photo by Frauke Riether from Pixabay

I had forgotten the exact plot synopsis of THUMBELINA (which I first read as a child), but Wikipedia refreshed my memory:

“Thumbelina is about a tiny girl and her adventures with marriage-minded toads, moles, and cockchafers. She successfully avoids their intentions before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size.”

I had also forgotten that Thumbelina comes into being as a result of the actions of a woman who — longing for a child — plants a barleycorn seed.

Thumbelina then emerges from a barleycorn flower… and the adventure of her life begins.

As a Music Together teacher, I particularly resonate with Mr. Loesser’s lyrical admonition that Thumbelina dance and sing — since that is exactly what I do three mornings per week with a delightful crew of small children + the grown ups (parents, grandparents, and nannies) who love them.

Illustration by Thomas Vilhelm Pederson from original publication of THUMBELINA in 1835

By the time I bike (or take the bus) to class, vacuum the karate studio (the floor of which accumulates a surprising.amount of hair, clipped toenails, cookie fragments, dust etc. plus sand and salt during the winter months), hide the punching bags and karate trophies behind a wall of rolling screens, set up a boombox and instruments, change into my teaching — rather than biking/cleaning/snow shoveling — clothes, welcome families, lead a 45-50 minute class, chat with families after class, and then put away all the stuff I set up an hour earlier, I do not earn very much money per hour.

But the sweetness, playfulness, joy, humor, love and sense of connectedness I experience with my families each week is always a balm for my soul.

And there’s no way to put a price on that!

Leading Music Together classes helps me get out of bed in the morning AND reassures me that the human world is not an irredeemably f–ked up mess about which I can do nothing to help.

And sometimes one of the small humans in my class is inspired to give me a hug at the end of class.

Illustration from a 1914 edition of Han Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales

When this happens, I feel like I am being visited be an angelic being who is offering me unadulterated love, comfort and gratitude.

It is such an honor to receive one of their hugs.

And sometimes I am offered a hug by one of the grownups in class, too — which I also appreciate and savor.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

These little children are a big reason why I ride my old and raggedy-looking bike rather than drive a car, why I rarely buy new clothes, and why I never travel (especially via airplanes) simply for the sake of going someplace new or warm or trendy.

I live a downwardly mobile life so that the children in my classes might be able to live an ever-so-slightly less chaotic and terrifying life due to the myriad ways that climate change is affecting all of us here on planet earth.

Yet another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

Another radiant hyacinth bulb from Trader Joe’s

I end this blog post with some of my favorite quotations by the Dalai Lama.

“Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

“In our present circumstances, no on can afford to assume that someone else will solve their problems. Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient; we must become actively engaged.”

“When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, “Oh, yes — I already have everything that I really need.”

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without affection.”

“The problems we face today — violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger and so on — are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of sisterhood and brotherhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and for the planet we share.”

“As people alive today, we must consider future generations. A clean environment is a human right like any other. It is therefore part of our responsibility towards others to ensure that the world we pass on is as healthy, if not healthier, than we found it.”

“This generation has a responsibility to re-shape the world. Start the task even if it will not be fulfilled in your lifetime. Even if it seems hopeless now, never give up. Offer a positive vision, with enthusiasm and joy, and an optimistic outlook.”

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

THANK YOU for making it to the end of another one of my blog posts.

Thank you to Doug Hammer for his spritely piano accompaniment and 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 Hans Christian Anderson for creating the story of Thumbelina and to Frank Loesser for creating his song “Thumbelina.”

Thank you to the wonderful photographers at Pixabay.

Thank you to the Dalai Lama for his wisdom and inspiration.

And thank you to everyone who has streamed my music on Youtube, Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, etc.

Every stream — and especially every thumbs up and/or inclusion in a playlist — helps to improve the likelihood that the clever algorithms of these streaming services will share my music with new listeners.

And you can click here to stream “Thumbelina” if the spirit moves you.

And as always, I welcome any comments below!

November 10, 2024 by willedare

The Power Of Love?

I hope you are well as you read this blog post.

Outside where I live in Massachusetts, leaves are changing color and falling to the ground.

Inside I am sitting on our couch under a layer of blankets and writing in the middle of the night.

I woke up to go to the bathroom and now am unable to fall asleep,

All my brain wants to do is think about potentially catastrophic things which may start unfolding in 2025 as a result of our recent national election.

Before I continue this blog post, I am going to pause and acknowledge any readers who may be excited and happy about recent election results.

I do not want to rain on your parade, and I hope that you are savoring your victories.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

However, if you are a reader who is feeling less excited and hopeful about the future as a result of last week’s election, my heart goes out to you.

Although I have decided not to read about politics and interact with the media for the time being, my brain — especially when I am lying awake in the middle of the night — keeps remembering things that are likely to be impacted in the next four years:

NATO — and the safety of all the countries bordering Russia…

The health of women I love — and the health of women I will never meet — due to new restrictions about what decisions they and their healthcare providers are allowed to make about their own bodies…

Social security — which I have paid into since I was three years old and which I was planning to start collecting in three years time…

Medicare/Medicaid and other health insurance options — for millions of Americans and for me.

The cost of anything we don’t make or grow in the USA — due to potential new tariffs.

The cost of anything we DO make or grow in the USA — due to the potential prosecution/expulsion of many people who currently harvest our produce, work in our slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants, labor in our restaurants, work on our construction sites, landscape our properties, mow our lawns, blow our leaves, etc. etc. etc.

My two nephews — one approaching draft-age and the other one still eligible to be drafted if we find ourselves in a situation where we need to expand our (already vast) military capabilities.

Image by Wolfgang_Hasselmann from Pixabay

Long term — and potentially irreversible — environmental consequences due to potential deregulation of rules which currently protect the entire web of life here on planet earth.

Our access and ability to vote, our access to education, our access to public healthcare in the event of another epidemic…

The list goes on and on.

I don’t understand how love and respect factor into any of the above.

I don’t understand how love and respect can withstand — much less overcome — the forces which spread disinformation, which lie, which aim to divide us, which value power and money over honesty and decency.

I hesitate to call those forces evil, but I have been reminded more and more in recent months about a book I read a long time ago by M. Scott Peck called THE PEOPLE OF THE LIE.

As the group mind at Wikipedia summarizes:

“According to Peck, an evil person:

is consistently self-deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self-image of perfection
deceives others as a consequence of their own self-deception
projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets (scapegoats) while being apparently normal with everyone else
commonly hates with the pretense of love, for the purposes of self-deception as much as deception of others
abuses political (emotional) power (“the imposition of one’s will upon others by overt or covert coercion” (Peck, 1978/1992, p298^[7]))
maintains a high level of respectability, and lies incessantly to do so
is consistent in his or her sins.
is unable to think from the viewpoint of their victim
has a covert intolerance to criticism and other forms of narcissistic injury

Most evil people realize the evil deep within themselves, but are unable to tolerate the pain of introspection, or admit to themselves that they are evil. Thus, they constantly run away from their evil by putting themselves in a position of moral superiority and putting the focus of evil on others. Evil is an extreme form of what Peck, in THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, calls a character and personality disorder.”

The group mind of Wikipedia also describes Peck’s understanding of love in his previous book, THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED:

“Love is not a feeling, it is an activity and an investment — ‘The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth’ (Peck, 1978/1992, p85). Peck expands on the work of Thomas Aquinas over 700 years ago, that love is primarily actions towards nurturing the spiritual growth of another.”

I welcome any insights into the power of love and how it does — or doesn’t — impact our current political situation here in the USA (as well as how love and respect may impact other patterns unfolding here on planet earth).

Please leave a comment if you are so inspired.

I end with a link to this heartful song at the beginning of this blog post in case you might like to listen to it on a streaming platform, add it to a playlist, or share it with a friend.

It was written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, a delicious songwriting team who helped to create the musicals RAGTIME, SEUSSICAL, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND and A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (which is where “Love Who You Love” comes from) among many other projects.

I initially featured this song in a blog post I wrote in August 2015 which you can read by clicking here if you are curious.

Thank you to Ahrens and Flaherty for writing “Love Who You Love.”

Thank you to Doug Hammer and Mike Callahan for playing so beautifully on this recording of it.

Thank you to Gretje Ferguson for taking this photo many years ago.

Photo by Gretje Ferguson + Graphic Design by Stephen C. Fischer @ DigitalFisch

Thank you to Stephen Fischer for creating this graphic design using Gretje’s photo.

Thank you to the wonderful and generous photographers at Pixabay.

Thank you to all of the folks who helped to create the internet and WordPress so that I can share my thoughts and music with you.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.

I welcome any comments below.

May 11, 2024 by willedare

Cry If You Want To

I first heard this song performed twenty-plus years ago by my friend Erica Leopold.

It was written by a woman named Casey Scott, and I am guessing that Erica heard the song when it was recorded by a jazz singer named Holly Cole — although I read in Casey’s bio that she used to live in the Boston area in the 1980s…so maybe Erica heard Casey busking in Harvard Square!

I have found a lot of comfort over the years re-visiting Erica’s version of this song — which she recorded with pianist Doug Hammer and included on her debut CD.

Erica used to attend lots of music festivals and concerts in order to find great songs from all genres — folk, jazz, pop — that she could weave into her own musical performances.

I produced a couple of her performances when I oversaw events at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Harvard Square. I also performed with her several times in a winter holiday benefit series.

She was a generous collaborator, and she “cleaned up very nicely” when it came time to perform — wearing beautiful outfits with elegant hair and makeup.

Erica moved from the Boston area to western Massachusetts, and her singing activities slowed down as she focused on mothering a wonderful daughter who became very involved with horses.

Then (ARGH!!!!!) Erica discovered that she had brain cancer — which she fought with grace and humor for several years.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

I biked to visit her when she was getting care in an excellent rehab facility in the Boston area after a big operation. I brought my ukulele and a songbook, thinking that she might like to make some music together.

But after a few songs, I realized that she just wanted to be quiet, make eye contact and hold hands.

So we did that for a while.

“Cry if you want to, I won’t tell you not to, I won’t try to cheer you up… I’ll just be here if you want me.”

Erica hung in there for a long time, with a dedicated network of friends and family visiting her on a regular basis.

She died near the end of 2022…

Here’s a link to her obituary if you are curious to learn a little more about this lovely soul.

And here’s a link to her Facebook page — which offers a beautiful glimpse into her life.

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

A few years ago I learned “Cry (If You Want to)” so that I could perform it with pianist Molly Ruggles during a UU church service in Medford, MA.

And then I recorded it with pianist Doug Hammer last year — in honor of one of my nephews, whose father had recently died.

“It’s no use in keeping a stiff upper lip, you can weep, you can sleep, you can loosen your grip. You can frown, you can drown and go down with the ship… you can cry if you want to.”

The graphic design for my recording of this song juxtaposes a photo taken by my sister Christianne of this nephew walking in a stream on their farm in upstate New York with a professional photo of me when I was about the same age as this nephew (who is covered up by my head to preserve his privacy…)

He will probably be grieving the loss of his dad — in obvious and not-so-obvious ways — for the rest of his life.

“You can stare at the ceiling and tear at your hair, swallow your feelings and stammer and swear…”

Yet another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

I spent many hours this week putting together a Spotify playlist of songs for a baby shower in honor of my niece and her husband.

You may remember them from a blog post I shared in November 2019 about their wonderful wedding.

At the suggestion of her mother I included a lot of songs which our family used to listen to and sing when we were children and teenagers.

Some of them — such as “Stewball” by Peter, Paul & Mary, “I’m Gonna Be A Country Girl Again” by Buffy Sainte-Marie, and “Our House” by Crosby, Still, Nash & Young — moved me to tears.

My Niece and Her Husband (Photo by A Couple of Dudes Photography)

Music can be a very powerful connection to past events, past loved ones, past memories.

One more deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

I wish more of us would set aside time to listen to music and have a good cry.

I have a belief that much of the dysfunctional — and at times horrifically destructive — choices that my fellow human beings make on a daily basis are due to past injuries, past humiliations and past losses which have never been properly acknowledged and grieved.

For example, here’s a blog post I wrote back in 2019 about a very damaged — and damaging — human being who is still in the news these days.

When was the last time HE had a good cry?

Does anyone ever offer him an empathetic shoulder to cry on?

I am guessing, “no.”

I have long been fascinated by the way that tears come out of our eyes, which are located near the front part of our brains.

And I often wonder if crying might be part of how our brain processes/grieves/heals itself following an injury, insult or loss…

What do YOU think?

I hope that this song — which offers such a comprehensive, open-hearted, and non-judgmental invitation to cry — might touch the hearts of a few of my fellow human beings who may be feeling a bit shut down and overwhelmed by all that is happening these days here on planet earth.

One more deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

Thank you to Casey Scott for writing this song.

Thank you to the photographer who took the photo of me as a teenager — when I was still working a little bit professionally (doing voice-overs, commercials and subbing on the soap opera ANOTHER WORLD).

Thank you to my sister for taking the photo of my nephew in the glen and to Stephen Fischer for incorporating it into a graphic design for this song release.

Thank you to Doug Hammer for his sensitive piano playing and nuanced engineering/producing chops.

Thank you to the photographers at Pixabay for their beautiful images.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to another one of my blog posts.

If you like this song well enough to listen to it again, you are welcome to stream it by clicking here.

And you are always welcome to visit my musical website by clicking here.

amusicalifeonplanetearth

Music and the Thoughts It Can Inspire

writing

My Sweet Honeydew (A Cappella)

This Heart Of Mine…

Boil A Frog Slowly…

In Praise Of Pandora

Throwback Thursday #9

Both Sides Now

Let The Day Unfold…

When Your Heart Is Full Of Love…

The Power Of Love?

Cry If You Want To