I want to tell you about the day my Mother was darning socks and I heard her singing a song I hadn’t heard before. I was drawn to it by a bittersweet haunt between melody and lyrics that made joy and sadness spasm as if uncomfortably sharing a common thread.
I listened while she sang it and then we discussed it. And this is what my Mother said.
She said it was a very old song (written in 1823), well known and often sung. She told me that it was a song of longing that soldiers hummed, to seek comfort, in dark, damp trenches, while thinking of dear parents or a young sweetheart.
It wasn’t necessary for her to tell me it was a song that blended memories – polishing the past and shining up the now. I could see evidence of that when she spoke to me with dewdrops in her eyes, yet contentment in her voice.
A song about the sweetest ease of mind, despite all our longings for something better. Magical words that made three generations melded together in one tiny place, tumbling over each other, more compelling than any roomy apartment. And though the expression of the song is to restore old memories, it erases unpleasant ones like waking up with hair and blankets frozen to the wall and walking to school – uphill both ways.
And there was something in our discussion about it being a song that pulled prodigals back to God and away from wasteful living. And how it tendered warm love of one’s youth, grandparents now gone, and her own feeble mother at a distance too great for her to hope to visit her.
It emulsified emotions and magically blended, through complete simplicity, enough good memories with the bad to make all of life, from birth to death, the sweetest concoction.
It was a surprising discussion and I still remember the conclusion.
“I guess it’s a song that mends unholy hearts the way I mend hole-ee socks,” my Mother said, with wet eyes and a smile.
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Do you know what the song was? Try and guess and if you can’t, you’ll find a bit of it in the comments section. If you understand contentment, you won’t be surprised.
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7 comments:
The song is:
“Mid pleasures and palaces
Though I may roam
Be it ever so humble
There’s no place like home
Home, home, sweet sweet home…”
Love the writing, love the thought, and now that I know what it is, love the song and always have.
"Wherever I wander, wherever I roam, be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."
the power of music...
I would love to hear all the lyrics to that song. Very nice :)
Hi nora. I wasn't too surprised to find you had visited and commented. Your own writing holds subtle clues that you might know the song. You are so kind, thank you for taking the time.
And thank you for echoing more of the words that I had missed.
Hi pauline
"the power of music..."
...and the magic of rhyme.
esther, I'm quite certain if you Google, "Home, home, sweet sweet home" you can find the lyrics and perhaps even words and melody together. If you do find a rendition, I promise you, you will be glad you did.
Or P.S. - check with your Mom. I bet she knows the song.
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