No More "Mr. Nice Guy"
Hoping to recapture the spirit of the past few days, this morning I popped a Perry Como Christmas CD into the computer to accompany my thoughts and attempt to drown out Gwendolyn’s post-holiday exuberance. (Normally, nothing less than Pink Floyd is required to overpower the melodious strains of a cat in heat). Closing my eyes for a moment and listening closely to a smooth, inspiring rendition of “Ave Maria”, I realized something...
I don’t speak Latin.
For all I know, Mr. Como was singing about how his favorite cow, Maria, was hit by a vegetable truck and he is at a loss as to how much of her should be made into roasts and how much made into jerky.
Even as my heart soared through “O Come All Ye Faithful”, and being somewhat amused at a rather playful version of “Jingle Bells”, the room remained haunted by the image of that pitiful cow.
Gwendolyn’s moans reached a “Holy” crescendo just as the background choir was instructing anyone who could hear above the cat’s wails to “Fall on your knees”. At once, the cat glanced furtively in my direction, then became confused and a little paranoid when this hymn was spookily followed, immediately, by “Do You Hear What I Hear?”. I assume she’s now hiding in the basement.
In his prime, with a relaxed, deceitfully effortless style, “Mr. C” could have sung of regurgitation or industrial dismemberment and the women would have, inevitably, swooned. Some men might have swooned, also, but that wasn’t talked about in those days. Granted, Mr. Como is no longer with us, but thanks to the wonders of modern technology the holidays will never escape his magic.
Still, as the final thrums of “The Little Drummer Boy” lingered over my monitor before wafting lazily down the hall, all I could think was…
Poor Maria.
Some voices are just "timeless" and his is one. As much as I loved his music, I loved the "calm" he brought to the world....as if anything could happen around him and it was o.k.....I miss him!
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Yes, he did seem to emit an aura that implied 'all was right with the world'. We all miss him, I think.
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Pinhole, my family watched Perry Como every week. My dad thought he was the greatest singer. We bought him a Como Collection for Christmas a couple of years ago and he listens to it in his car.
Though my dad is not a religious man, and as far as I know he does not speak Latin either, used to get tears in his eyes listening to Como sing Ave Maria. I guess my dad knew about the cow and the truck too!
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Sounds like your dad is a sensitive soul...at least where bovines and Mr. Como are concerned. My kind of fellow.
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I shudder to think what might have happened had you played Englebert Humperdinck. Chaos and terror, most certainly.
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I shudder to think of my playing any Englebert Humperdinck, too. The mere suggestion may require the rest of the day for me to recover.
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I've always wondered why I enjoyed that song, even in Latin. One of those mysteries of the season, I guess.
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Probably a Christmas miracle.
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I had never thought about the cow angle to this. I think the song will never be the same for me again.
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Missing the cow angle has led to many musical misunderstandings, I'm afraid.
I hope the song wasn't ruined completely, for you.
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