photo courtesy of Indospectrum
It's 2:30 a.m in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I'm listening to the lovely sound of rain outside my window as I type. I know I should be sleeping, but I've got a lot on my mind - and I figured that blogging was more productive than tossing and turning.
A friend of mine, and fellow blogger, wrote a little post a few autumns ago on "My Definition of Fall." He chose this word: Pensive. 1 : musingly or dreamily thoughtful 2 : suggestive of sad thoughtfulness.
I know what he means. There's something about the change of seasons, summer to fall, that always sends me into this dreamy, wistful, nostalgic state. Does this happen to you too?
The 1923 Irving Berlin song, "What'll I Do?" captures that summer-to-fall wistfulness perfectly for me. And this video's gorgeous photographs of 1920's film stars helps satisfy my nostalgic yearnings...
A ballad of love and longing, "What'll I Do?" was a 1924 #1 hit for the Paul Whiteman Band, and there were five other top-12 renditions that same year. Twenty-four years later, the song went to #22 for Nat Cole and #23 for Frank Sinatra. Some of you might also remember that the song was featured in the 1974 film "The Great Gatsby." Jay Gatsby (Robert Redford) and Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow) slow danced to this song in Gatsby's mansion.
Ah, I just noticed that the rain has stopped. 3:10 a.m. I think I can get some sleep now. Good Night - and Good Morning to you! Have a wonderful third day of Fall...
video courtesy of YouTube's CharlotteSavoy. Film stars in order of appearance: Clara Bow, Esther Ralston, Norma Shearer, Louise Brooks, Dorothy Mackaill, Anita Loos, Elsie Ferguson, Louise Brooks, Anna May Wong, Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, Marion Davies, Mary Pickford, June Marlowe, Louise Brooks, Lillian Gish, Blanche Sweet, Mary Miles Minter, Norma Shearer, Louise Brooks
What'll I Do?
Gone is the romance that was so divine.
'Tis broken and cannot be mended.
You must go your way,
And I must go mine.
But now that our love dreams have ended...
What'll I do
When you are far away
And I am blue
What'll I do?
What'll I do?
When I am wond'ring who
Is kissing you
What'll I do?
What'll I do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?
When I'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?
- words and music, Irving Berlin, 1923
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Ah, Susan. Lovely post. I just wrote a longer reply but clicked too soon!
ReplyDeleteI am impulsive!
Hugs,
Suz
just such a wonderful song and video!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful song - very nostalgic!
ReplyDeleteI know what you meen, Susan. Every autumn i fall into this cocoon (?) of thoughts and creativity! And all I want is to go up in the mountains in a far away cabin and just WRITE.
Have a delightful day, Susan!
Hope you got some good sleep in all that rain. we got rain also and again tonight.
ReplyDeleteI forgot what blog I found you on I move around a lot.But glad I found you.
Janice
I love how you have conveyed Summer to Fall. The video of the fabulous photos is definitely a stroll down memory lane of my mother's time long ago. Thank you for sharing. Happy Autumn...
ReplyDeleteJanice - I'm glad you found me too, because it led me to your wonderful blog. I will visit again soon!
ReplyDeleteLuna - I just read your latest poem - how lovely! You need to try to get away this fall to do more poetry writing and explore your gift.
Suz - You must be back in Minnesota by now. Prague must have been fabulous, but I'll bet it's good to be home.
Baroness (Jill, right?) - I'm always surprised when you stop by because I imagine you are a very busy woman. I can't keep up with you! (And that is meant as a compliment.)
Creatology - Happy Autumn to you too!
ReplyDeleteI notice that the air is lighter, the sky looks crisp, and even the bugs sound different. Even though I still feel the heat of summer, the trees with their green hues fading into muted tones of yellow and brown, tell me that me fall is here. The stores are ripe with wool and tweed yet I want to buy linen and cotton because it has been in the 90s all week here in the DC Metro region. I cannot even wrap my head around buying heavy, dark colored clothing! I want to wear a light-colored 50s sundress but wearing one now would look out of place. The weather stays hot in DC at least until early October. In my mind, it's officially fall on Halloween. So, with all that said, I do feel an odd sense of confusion and excitement as the seasons change. I am sad the summer is over but I am excited for all that fall brings as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lady Betty - you have a very poetic way of putting things. We do have silly conventions about putting away our summer clothing after a certain date, even though fall comes along at very different times of the year in different parts of the US. You should be able to wear your light-colored 50's sundress on a 90 degree day in September or October if you want to!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarsaparilla,
ReplyDeleteI remember this song fondly. It was the very first song I preformed in a swing band I was in ! Thanks for the wonderful memories.
~heart~
Elise