A FLIGHT FROM THE PAST
November 15, 1998

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Photo by Dan Chapman ©2001 Stanyan Entertainment Group

A Thought for Today

Every woman is a Renoir waiting to be unveiled.

SONGS ON SUNDAY

Answering Johnny Bartlett’s letter on Friday got me to thinking about songwriting versus poetry. You might have noticed that since this Flight Plan series started I’ve never printed any of my songs. The reasons are complicated, but boil down to the fact that as a poet, I never think of songs as poetry. After all, unless you hear the music & the lyric to a song together they are only words if said or music if just played.

There’s a frequently quoted story about Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein II and the following overheard party conversation: One woman says to another "I’ve just come back from the theatre where I heard Jerome Kern’s new song "Old Man River." Hearing this Mrs. Hammerstein replied, "Excuse me, Mr. Kern wrote "da-da-ddah, da, te-da-da-dah . . . my husband wrote "Old Man River, that Old Man River."

My own songs, whether I write both words and music or am fortunate enough to work with talented and inventive composers, are meant to be sung not said. Nothing gets me crazier than seeing lyrics judged as poetry. It’s a mistake that critics make or do deliberately. Had I listened to those reviewers who judged me a mediocre poet because the lyrics to "If You Go Away" or "Jean" don’t measure up to "The Truthful Lover" or "Now I Have The Time" I’d have been crazier and more eccentric than I already am.

Of course I’ve been guilty of encouraging the confusion, by printing song lyrics as final chapters in my books of poetry. Though I have always been careful to label them as songs, I’ve still encountered reviews where a writer cites "One more time around Piccadilly Circus, driver follow that bus. It’s a shame the way the rich folks work us, Everybody’s Rich But Us," or "How did I get from dark to daylight till you happened to pass by? How did I find my way through life before you brightened up my sky?" as proof that I’m a less than stellar poet. Those lines certainly are not poetry, by any stretch of the imagination, And they should not be judged as such, but as song lyrics within the context of "Everybody’s Rich But Us" and "I Think of You" they do the job.

I love my songs. They are as much a part of me as anything else I do and they are my children just as "Listen To The Warm" and "Fields of Wonder" are members of the family. So too are "Seasons In The Sun", "Loves Been Good To Me", "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and "Jean" next of kin.

Writing a different flight plan every day means trying out lots of ideas and I try out lots of different ideas. Sunday seems as good a time as any to talk about and feature some of the words to some of my songs. Poetry they ain’t, but judging from the success of some of them, they aren’t orphans either. So, here without the music to amplify and push them along, are words I’ve written to be sung.

Some Songs For Pet

Today is Petula Clark’s birthday. Pet is not only one of the best-loved and most popular singers the world over, she is a talented actress, a great mother and a highly successful songwriter herself.

When Glenn Gould and I exchanged long phone calls in the middle-night, we talked about everything . . . sex, pianistics, poetics, phobias, gossip – you name it. Most often though we chatted about our mutual love and admiration for Pet Clark. Ella Fitzgerald called her "One of a kind, with the breath control of an angel." Sinatra said of her "There isn’t any better or more polished singer anywhere, I could listen to her all night." When I played "The Wind of Change" for Leonard Bernstein he commented, "My God, the lady should be singing lieder. Her range is stratospheric."

Petula can sing the most banal lyric and because of her range, depth of perception and understanding of how to turn a phrase and deliver a lyric, make it sound like the finest work of Porter, Larry Hart or Mercer. When she gets a great song, (like those tucked away in albums titled after her hits), look out.

I’ve known Pet and loved her for a few decades and over the years been lucky enough to work with her too – alas, never enough. I’ve sung her songs and she’s sung mine and now and again we pop up on each others albums in duets. Best of all for me, I’ve written material especially for that gorgeous and otherworldly voice of hers to sing. For me, it doesn’t get much better than hearing Pet Clark bend and shape and caress my words. Again today is the birthday of Petula Clark, so near the end of this Flight Plan instead of a poem, you’ll find the lyrics to a few songs I’ve written for and dedicate to her.

- RM, Sunday Morning 11/15/98

. . . and of course a very special birthday wish to Petula Clark.

Love cannot be said aloud too often or spoken in silence too many times.

Habit is our worst enemy until we learn to make it our friend.

FIVE SONGS FOR PETULA
ON HER BIRTHDAY, 1998