Every day, when I was in the first grade, I would come home and my mother would ask that question, "What did you learn in school today?" One day, I said, "We had music." She asked "What did you do?" I said, "the teacher told us to sing our favorite song to see how we sounded."
Mother asked, "What did you sing? Buttons and Bows?"
I answered, "Oh, no, I sang that one you always sing when you're ironing." Bewildered, she asked, "Which one is that?"
I began singing:
"My Mama done told me,
When I was in pigtails"
Mother interrupted and asked, "WHAT did the teacher say?" I answered, "He said alto., but he had a funny look on his face just like you do."
Flash forward: at my high-school graduation, as we were lined up in the auditorium to receive guests, my former music teacher strolled down the aisle, snapping his fingers, and when he came to me, he began singing:
"My mama done told me,
When I was in knee-pants,
My Mama done told me, "Son...."
I was cringing with embarrassment until he said, "If I live to be a hundred years old, I'll never forget a six-year old singing Blues In The Night!"
Listen to Ella Fitzgerald's rendition, which would have been Mother's choice of arrangements:
1 comment:
"A man is a two-face...." At 6, did you have any idea what the words meant? ML
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