Sometimes I wonder why things we sing, or hear
sung, are imprinted in memory and often surface without our willing them to do
so. I asked myself about this when I awakened this morning at 5:45 (a.m.) with the following
song playing in my head.
“This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash
our clothes.
This is the way we wash our clothes so early Monday
morning.”
(Tune: Here We Go ‘Round The Mulberry Bush.)
Once I finished off Monday’s washing, I could not help but
continue to iron our clothes on Tuesday morning, sweep the floor on Wednesday
morning, mend our clothes on Thursday morning; clean the house on Friday
morning, bake our bread on Saturday morning, and get dressed up on Sunday
morning.
I suspect this song from my childhood was designed to imprint
on the minds of little girls the idea that there is work designated for women.
Now, it would be considered sexist and might cause some people to come unglued.
Another ditty that sometimes comes to mind was popular
during Indiana’s 1962 political campaign. As an Indiana resident at that time,
I heard this song on the radio hundreds of times. (Tune: “Hey Look Me Over)
“Hey, look him over, He's your kind of guy.
His first name is Birch,
His last name is Bayh.
Candidate for Senator
From our Hoosier state,
For Indiana he will do more
Than anyone has done before.
So hey, look him over,
He's my kind of guy.
Send him to Washington,
On Bayh you can rely.
In November remember him at the polls,
His
name you can't pass by,
Indiana's
own Birch Bayh.”
Bayh
is the only past senator from any state in which I have lived that I can name without even thinking.
As
a teen, I thought Pat Boone was the greatest. I loved his songs (and how he
looked). On occasion I find myself singing one of his popular songs.
“Last night we met
And I dream of you yet
With the wind and the rain in
your hair.”
Every once in a while I hear
someone in a public place softly singing or humming a tune from the past. This
is how I know I’m not the only person with old songs stuck in my head, and that
I’m not slightly unbalanced.
Happy Wash Day!
Image from eBay
There are many of us who enjoy those old songs.
ReplyDeleteSecondary Roads. I'm guessing the reason they come to mind often is because I like them. This morning while I was drying my hair I was singing, "How Firm A Foundation." Not a song used in church now, but one that speaks to me.
ReplyDelete