Okay, here's the last song I'll be playing in our Take Me Along fest. Through the decades, there have been a handful of songs from musicals that, for whatever reason, I've just always loved. They may not be the best song in the show their from, but they just always have made me smile whenever I hear them. One, for example, is "I'd Do Anything" from Oliver! Another is "I'm Going Back" from Bells are Ringing. And this is another in that same category. I simply plain-out have always just loved listening to this song. And it's not the best song from Take Me Along. Just the one that most makes me smile. The song is "But Yours." It's the last song in the show, sung by the irresponsible, former drunk Sid (played by Jackie Gleason) who has finally decided to stop his wandering ways and settle down with Lilly (Eileen Herlie, here), because he realizes he's in love with her. Hmm. Well, I did say that was the last song I'd play here. But then I also said this is "the Finale." So, here then is a bonus. The actual finale.
Sid, it turns out, just isn't really ready to settle down. He's been too much of a drifter all his life, And so, in the end, he realizes he has to leave this small Connecticut town. And everyone sees him off at the train station. Hey, you've put up with all of these posting and songs of charming, wistful, evocative, lovely and fun Take Me Along, you deserve the finale. Here's how it ends.
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Whenever I watch TED lectures, I'm always deeply impressed by how thoughtful and entertaining they are. This one is only the final nine minutes, so it largely centers on the entertaining part. Though there's enough of the thoughtfulness in the opening few minutes. The whole thing was a talk on human behavior by master pickpocket Apollo Robbins. But this is largely the pickpocket part. As I've mentioned a few times around these parts, I was recently in Berlin for the IFA tech trade show. I just finished my looooooooong write-up of the show, and put it on the Huffingotn Post. What I've noted in the past is that the reasons I post my "The Writers Workbench" columns on the Huffington Post rather than here is because they require a lot of individual coding, and it's just a real pain to do it twice. So, to make life oh-so-much easier, I just provide the link here. (By the way, for those wary of such things, just know that almost the first half of the article has to do solely with the oddity of the general show itself and such home-friendly products as coffee machines, refrigerators, and vacuum cleaners. And even in the supposedly "techie" part, it starts with a long look at Samsung's SmartWatch. So...I think the water is fine, at least for dipping in your big toe and testing.) But as a bonus for your fine folks, I'll include a couple of photos and very brief tales that didn't make it into the loooooooooong article. (Yes, I know it will shock you that I actually edited that epic and left things out.) This below is at the booth for Miele, a major German home appliance company. And in it, you'll see one of the fine past times of IFA -- taking photos and sucking up to the company executives. This picture was taken on the Press Conference Days. That's before they open the door to the general public. You can tell this because there is actually a lot of room to walk around. And this below doesn't do justice to what was probably the strangest, bordering-on-creepiest press conferences at the show. Or any that I've ever been to.
It was for Sony, and the room was jam-packed to the point of uncomfortable. As you stood in line to get in and neared the door, you could hear this maniacal, rhythmic clapping and cheering. I had no idea what in the world what was going on. It turned out that when you entered, the entranceway was lined with probably at least 100 Sony employees, periodically breaking into this clapping and cheering when people arrived. It was like being at a cross between a religious revival meeting and a gathering of Amway salespeople. The enthusiasm was certainly endearing -- except that forced enthusiasm is anything but, and it sort of made you feel like if you said the wrong thing (like "Toshiba") you might get attacked and beaten to death. But since that didn't happen, it was nice to be welcomed. Anyway, again, the full article is here. Okay, we have a new standard for a Whoo-hoo moment. Today was the first time ever for 1,500 strolling by here to see what all the commotion was about. (Apparently, I should write about saving money more often.)
The management is now officially retiring 1,000 as the official celebration. However, those of you already with party hats and favors from previous galas are welcome to use them at future fests. And as they said at Bartles & Jaymes -- thank you for your kind support, Oh, and...Whoo-hoo! This is just too funny and too clever an effort by parents to get their little child to clear her room.
Today's selection from Take Me Along, with a score by Bob Merill, is one that I include for a couple reasons. The first is that I simply like it on its own merits, for it's charm and sweet lyricism. But I also decided to embed it here because it's one of those handful of songs (the kind that we all have) that are part of a "life philosophy" I happen to believe in, and I've always loved it for that reason.
To be clear, this isn't My Philosophy of Life. That would be far too simplistic. But we all have a bunch of songs, I think, that each individually are able to express a different aspect of something that's always been at least a part of our personal make-up. This song is one of those that crowd my portfolio. It just holds great resonance for me. "Promise Me a Rose" is sung by the character Lily (sister of Walter Pidgeon's Nat), whose relationship with the irresponsible Sid (played by Jackie Gleason) is one of the core plots of the show. He's returned to the quiet town, but his wanderlust ways have never meshed with hers. And that leads to Eilieen Herlie here (pictured below) describing how she's always seen her life, in "Promise Me a Rose. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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