Day 8: The Release
“Just when the fun is starting
comes the time for parting,
But let’s be glad
for what we’ve had
and what’s to come...”
Today’s Song:
Some Other Time
Leonard Bernstein,
Betty Comden & Adolph Green
1944
It’s behind you now.
You’ll miss the “more” you could have shared together,
but you are different now than you were all those nights ago.
If you see them out and about by coincidence,
you make small talk,
maybe even share an embrace,
or an inside joke,
a sideways smirk-
It still hurts a little, and still you wonder
about the question mark left on your heart.
But there is more love to be shared,
there are more songs to sing,
more toasts to be raised…
Today’s Cocktail:
Champagne
Reason:
Truly, today’s cocktail isn’t a cocktail (though feel free to add any juice for a celebratory spritzer or morning mimosa).
As we embark on a new chapter, we can lift our glass and bless what has come before, and look toward the future with smiling eyes.
Recipe:
Fill your glass with this bubbly beverage, look back with gratitude, and start contemplating your next adventure…
For a non-alcoholic variation, sparkling apple cider or sparkling water with any juice or beverage syrup will do!
“For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For days of auld lang syne...”
Some Other Time
Where has the time all gone to?
Haven’t done half the things we want to.
Oh well...
we’ll catch up some other time.
This day was just a token,
too many words are still unspoken.
Oh well,
we’ll catch up some other time.
Just when the fun is starting
comes the time for parting,
But let’s be glad
for what we’ve had
and what’s to come...
There’s so much more embracing
still to be done, but time is racing
Oh well.
We’ll catch up some other time.
SONG ORIGIN
Some Other Time is a gorgeous song originally from the 1944 broadway production On the Town, with music by the legendary Leonard Bernstein with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
If none of those names sound familiar to you, I’d love to “re-introduce” you to some works you’ve likely heard before:
Leonard Bernstein was a musical force of nature for most of the 20th Century, and, among many other baffling and persevering accomplishments, composed the music for the 1957 show West Side Story (and, of course, its film adaptation in 1961, above)
The first broadway production for Betty Comden and Adolph Green actually was “On the Town,” though they collaborated as a songwriting duo for many many years.
Almost all of the songs from the 1952 movie musical Singin’ in the Rain were MGM studio-songs written in the 1920s and 1930s, but Comden-Green wrote the screenplay and also had some musical contributions, like this one - which just so happens to be my favorite dance number from this film. These guys (Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor) are absolutely mesmerizing here (and their outfits are kinda droolworthy, imo).
Apparently Judy and Mel Tormé (two of my favorite vocalists of all time) didn’t get along all that well, but Mel served as Music Director for Judy’s TV program “The Judy Garland Show” in the early 1960s. I love watching these two masters sing together (even when you can kinda tell that they don’t know what’s going on…)
This is another Comden-Green tune, as are the following two.
How can these two be partly or wholly responsible for so many of the 20th Century’s most beautiful songs? It boggles the mind…
Here’s a recent live performance I managed to get “taped” earlier this year - my masterful friend Art Carvajal is playing guitar here…
too many words still unspoken
In these “good old days” I’ve outlined here, there were many many mid-night-hours spent with the two Bill Evans/Tony Bennett records on the hi-fi.
This recording was probably my first introduction to this gorgeous song, which I have come to love more and more over time.
The lyrics, at first, seem almost flippant, but the melancholic music belies the resignation and disappointment that lies just beneath the surface…
Is there ever enough time?
We make promises and plans, and sometimes we make promises and plans that we know won’t ever come to be.
Life is short, seasons change.
People come in and out of your life.
You love some, you lose some.
And some leave a question mark on your heart.
For this reason, I personally feel this is one of the most beautiful songs ever written: it holds the space for that feeling - of life, of love, being ephemeral and fleeting - so very well.
So, friend, with that I say: Cheers.
May your life be long, and your loves be great,
and may your glass never be empty!
Thank you for listening.
Download the Full Album
Please click the “download” button and enjoy the complete collection in both WAV and MP3 file format. This ZIP folder also includes a gorgeous PDF booklet with credits and thank-yous designed by graphic artist Ian Branch, who created all the album artwork for the physical record and compact discs.
ALBUM COMPLETE!
If you enjoyed this experience,
I have a special surprise for you…