Moon River
JUNE 9, 2020
Songwriters: Johnny Mercer / Henry Mancini
Moon River (Sung by Audrey Hepburn) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
🎵 Moon river, my parents sang, wider than a mile
I can see them now,
Judy at the piano
And Morty, poised from behind,
belting the words while looking over her shoulder
and reading off the sheet music,
a cigarette in his right hand.
🎵 I’m crossing you in style, some day
My mom’s graceful fingers gliding over the keys,
She put her whole body into playing.
Foot tapping, head moving, mouth smiling, eyes gleaming
Watching us watch her.
As usual, she was not reading the sheet music but playing by ear.
Classically trained, she played at the level of a concert pianist.
And she did learn to fluently read music, but she still played by ear.
It was a gift she both cherished and shared.
My dad, on the other hand, was not trained in any musical style.
He loved Frank Sinatra and sang along Sinatra style.
Morty’s smile and charm made up for what his voice lacked.
Judy, improvising her own touches,
and changing the key so my dad could easily sing along-
Off key
He sings out, smoke and notes
🎵 Oh, dream maker,
My mom sings-
🎵 you heart breaker
The two of them, smiling and singing together;
🎵 Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way
There were many moments like this in my childhood.
Just the four of us, gathered around the piano.
We could ask my mom to play any song.
If she hadn’t heard it, we could sing it and she would pick it up and play along.
Judy the Beauty had an extraordinary gift at the piano.
Play ob la dee obl a dah I would ask. And ask.
Immediately we could recognize the snappy chords,
and the opening to the song-
🎵 Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond says to Molly, girl, I like your face
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
Dueling generations; my dad wanted showtunes.
I wanted The Beatles.
Morty usually prevailed.
Judy liked to please him.
Every day at 4:00PM my mom would freshen up.
“Girls, your father will be home soon.
Clean up all these toys, and let’s set the table”
With fresh lipstick, and perfume,
my mom was ready to greet my dad.
Dinner and my dad, both carefully orchestrated to appear every night at 5:30.
I still live a mixed message when it comes to men.
Fuck you if you think you’re smarter or better than me in any way having to do with being born a man. On the other hand, when I cook dinner and set a beautiful table, you will be served first. Old school. And you can bet I’ll have on nice clothes, fresh lipstick and perfume.
🎵Two drifters, off to see the world
My parents both sang this line, eyes locked and smiling.
It was obviously meaningful and private.
Maybe a reference to moving to California and their future dreams…
🎵 There’s such a lot of world to see,
Sang my mom, in a key far too low for her.
🎵 We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ & ‘round the bend. My huckleberry friend, moon river, and me. They sang the end together, loud, laughing and totally enjoying the moment. I can remember feeling a little left out. Looking back, I’m grateful they found a way to incorporate these private and intimate moments right in the center of our family. It made for a nice relationship and a lasting marriage.
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my parents in some way or another. And it’s true, love never dies.
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