Sentimental Journey

Today was a sentimental day for me at church. The service started with the hymn “In the Garden,” which holds a special place in my heart because it was my mother’s favorite song. She had a particular fondness for the Elvis Presley version, and now, every time I hear it, I’m overwhelmed with emotion, and I smile, thinking of her actually sitting up in heaven in a garden. It’s like the song has become a bridge to her memory, making me feel her presence so vividly.

“Knights in White Satin,” a Moody Blues song, also makes me smile.  That was the “go to” song for slow dances in the 70s.  It had a beat that was easy to meet for us unqualified slow dancers, giving us the ability to sway back and forth with our arms around each other’s shoulders, and Hubby’s Brut cologne would please my nostrils.  Pre-Hubby and I danced to it at our proms, at our wedding, and at every wedding we attended in that era.

Three Dog Night’s “Joy to the World” was our favorite fast dance.  It is hard not to smile with my body clumsily twitching back and forth and singing “Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog” along with everyone else.   Disco also wafted from the music amplifiers, with us moving our bodies to “Staying Alive,” staying alive.

Who could forget John Travolta’s iconic pose in that white suit?  The Bee Gees had other hits, such as “How Deep is Your Love” and “More than a Woman.” Some music in the 70s had a moral bent to them, such as “I Will Survive.”  This song was a commentary on the need to provide a voice to those who were often silenced. Women heard in that song a model of independence and strength, and the belief that their identity was not solely defined by their relationships with men. It describes the writer’s discovery of personal strength after a devastating breakup and is frequently regarded as the anthem of female empowerment and women’s liberation. This song counters another 1950s protest song of labor, race and class issues, by Woody Guthrie, a member of the hugely influential labor movement band, “This Land is Your Land.” 

The music and dancing were way different in this period than in the 70s. My parents danced to the big band songs of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, doing the fox trot, waltz and jitterbug.  My parents, pre-marriage, danced to “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and the “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

My dad was reportedly an enthusiastic and talented dancer, a trait which he did not bring back with him from World War II. His favorite song was “Sentimental Journey” which featured Doris Day.  He often used to tear up when I clumsily played this song on my accordion, and it became one of my favorite songs to play, which I did at his funeral.

 If the songs of the period became indicators of the culture, there is nothing more demonstrative than Hip-hop with its strong, rhythmic beat and a rapping vocal track.  This music originated in New York City in the 1970s and seemed to be an alternative to traditional music, presented by compilations of the muti-cultural influence of Black, Hispanic and Caribbean youth.

Rap music is said to be an acronym for “rhythm and poetry,” and many of us older folks scratch our heads at its popularity. For my impaired hearing, the exact rap words are almost indistinguishable, and I am just now learning that one of the most popular, “*itch,” is a “complex and multifaceted term with profound implications,” not just a slanderous word against females.  While words in rap songs are diverse, and many of them are not in my repertoire, these songs include personal narratives about social, political and cultural issues such as racism, poverty, inequality, and political expressions, much the same way songs have been used in the past.

Each generation produces their own music, unique to personal styles at the time.  Duke Ellington must have rolled over in his grave when rap music came out, but to each his own.

While I will not be singing rap songs out loud, I can still support their cultural existence.  Me?  I will be singing “Sentimental Journey”…