Summertime

When the Memorial Day Festival is right around the corner, summer cannot be far behind. On Friday, the DJ at the Merc played the song Summertime:

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’, not a cloud in the sky
Your daddy’s rich, and your mama’s good lookin’
So hush little baby, don’t you cry.

One of these mornings, you’re gonna rise,
Rise up singing…
You’re gonna spread your wings, child, and take to the sky
Until that morning, nothing’s going to harm you
No no no ...
Don’t you cry.


For a long time, I have heard this song only as elegy. But sitting in the Merc on Friday night, my heart took a new turn. A strong-willed woman can hold elegy in one hand and hope in the other. In the balance, there is compassion. Every one of us has a story. Love has a strong will of its own.

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(Summertime by George Gershwin. You can hear it beautifully sung on YouTube by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. And my favorite: Janis Joplin!)