Vocal Music and Swimming Lessons at Sky View

 When I was younger, after second and third grades, I took swimming at music lessons.   We would bus from Hyrum to Sky View High School in Smithfield. That is where the school district had a pool.  This was likely around 1965.  In addition to swimming we would also have music lessons together as a big choir.  Stratford Loosle, the Sky View choir director would conduct the music lessons.  We learned songs like "Up with People."  I remember he encouraged everyone to use their diaphragm.  He singled out Lori Yeates (a year older than I.  She lived in Hyrum by the church, 2nd ward.) for doing it correctly as her arms would bounce in front of her as she sang.

As for the swim lessons there were lots of small groups.  They showed we could float by asking us to touch our toes, which would cause you to float.  I was always a capable swimmer.  We also did lots of kicks holding onto the edge of the pool.  

Christmas Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem

 

Please see The Carols We Love: The "Story Behind the Story of Twenty-two Classic Christmas Carols, Daniel Partner, Barbour Publishing, Uhrichsville, OH, 2002.
David McCullough tells the story of this carol, "Phillips Brooks wrote "O Little town of Bethlehem" in 1865 after he visited the Holy Land and Bethlehem.  He wrote it as a way to remind himself of his trip.  A few years later he asked Lewis Redner to put the poem to music.  Redner felt like a failure, until Christmas Eve, and the melody came to his mind like a revelation, waking him from his sleep." 
This is a nostalgic view of the first Christmas, and then of subsequent Christmases.  It concludes with a personal prayer, telling us how to find Christ today. Come to us!  Abide with us!
4. O holy Child of Bethlehem, 
Descend to us, we pray; 
Cast out our sin and enter in, 
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell:
Oh, come to us, abide with us, 
Our Lord Emmanuel! 

Here is the Nat King Cole version

My Mom's Favorite Song: Love at Home

"Love At Home" is my mother's favorite song.  It was a regular at family home evening.

Lyrics

1. 1. There is beauty all around
   When there's love at home;
   There is joy in ev'ry sound
   When there's love at home.
   Peace and plenty here abide,
   Smiling sweet on ev'ry side.
   Time doth softly, sweetly glide
   When there's love at home.
   Love at home, love at home;
   Time doth softly, sweetly glide
   When there's love at home.
2. 2. In the cottage there is joy
   When there's love at home;
   Hate and envy ne'er annoy
   When there's love at home.
   Roses bloom beneath our feet;
   All the earth's a garden sweet,
   Making life a bliss complete
   When there's love at home.
   Love at home, love at home;
   Making life a bliss complete
   When there's love at home.
3. 3. Kindly heaven smiles above
   When there's love at home;
   All the world is filled with love
   When there's love at home.
   Sweeter sings the brooklet by;
   Brighter beams the azure sky.
   Oh, there's One who smiles on high
   When there's love at home.
   Love at home, love at home;
   Oh, there's One who smiles on high
   When there's love at home.
4. Text and music: John Hugh McNaughton, 1829-1891

Poetry I Like: Make Your Own Kind of Music

Make Your Own Kind of Music; this words remind us that there is a place for us.  We don't have to be like the next person, but can find our own song and our own way to be happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEQxEJ5_5zA
"Make Your Own Kind Of Music"

Nobody can tell ya;
There's only one song worth singin'.
They may try and sell ya,
'cause it hangs them up
to see someone like you.

But you've gotta make your own kind of music
sing your own special song,
make your own kind of music even if nobody
else sings along.

So if you cannot take my hand,
and if you must be goin',
I will understand.

You're gonna be knowing
the loneliest kind of lonely.
It may be rough goin',
just to do your thing's
the hardest thing to do.

But you've gotta make your own kind of music
sing your own special song,
make your own kind of music even if nobody
else sings along.

So if you cannot take my hand,
and if you must be goin',
I will understand.

You gotta make your own kind of music
sing your own special song,
make your own kind of music even if nobody
else sings along.

This song was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.  It was first recorded in 1968 by the Will-O-Bees and in 1969 by Mama Cass Elliot.

Caleb Sings "I Wonder When He Comes Again"

When Caleb was six, he sang "I Wonder When He Comes Again" for the Stevens Creek Ward Easter presentation.  He did an excellent job, and both Sheri and I were very proud of him.  He did so well that he was invited to sing again for the adult session of stake conference.

 
He was leaning too far forward in a folding lawn chair, it collapsed, and he grabbed the fire ring catching himself.  The fire was enclosed in a metal ring, which had been heated by our fire.  He burned both his hands, one on the palm and the other on the back of the hand.
He was in a lot of pain on the way to the hospital, about 40 minutes away.  We tried to cool down his hands as best we could, Sheri sitting in the back seat with him as I drove.  We got him to the hospital and he ended up with big bandages on both his hands, and had to go to the wound center for treatments.  He still has some scars, but nothing that affected his ability to use his hands.

Caleb had already been practicing a song to sing in the adult session of conference a day after we were done camping, "I wonder When He Comes Again".  He did a great job.  His hands were bandaged and everything.  After the conference session a woman came to congratulate him.  She did it by grabbing both his hands, ignoring the bandages.  Caleb didn't say anything, but he was in obvious pain.

Caleb sang this song a couple more times for the Easter presentation.  Sometimes with other children, including Adam Ure, Decker Ure and Scott Dye. 

Vivencia: Pequeno Pasajero (Small Passenger)

Vivencia is a group from Argentina that sang while I was there and I purchased an album.  This was my favorite song from the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI2l4JtC6Sk

Pequeño pasajero

Un pequeño pasajero
se sube al tren
vendedor de caramelos
a dos por cien.

Va olvidando poco a poco
en el anden
su niñez
y su razón de ser.

Va dejando en cada asiento
su soledad
caramelos en paquetes
que piden pan.

Cada venta es un reproche
que viene y va
si cesar
hacia la humanidad.

El se siente capaz
de fumar o robar
no le asombra el dolor
no conoce el amor.

Muchos niños tienen
un tren para jugar
pero hay otro niño
con un tren de verdad

El no juega, sufre
la indiferencia y el mal
esta solo
con un tren de verdad.   


Small Passenger

A small passenger
Boards the train
Seller of caramels,
Two for ten.

Bit by bit he forgets
On the platform
His youth,
And his reason for being.

He leaves in each seat
His loneliness,
Candy in packages
That asks for bread,

Each sale is a reproach
That comes and goes
Without stopping
Towards humanity.

He feels capable
Of smoking or stealing,
Pain doesn’t surprise him
He knows not love.

Many children have
A train with which to play
But there is another child
With a train for real.

He doesn’t play, he suffers
The indifference and the bad
He’s alone,
With his train for real.

Music: Rolling Stones; Between the Buttons (to mmboe)

I can't say I am a Rolling Stone fan, but my sisters had this album when I was young, and I really enjoyed it.  The album came out in 1967.  Some of the songs on it have always been some of my favorite.  One of them had a restaurant named after it, or at least with the same name, Ruby Tuesday.  I just watched it on You Tube.  It was fun to see Nick Jagger hitting the low notes.  It also was a very nice theme.

Ruby Tuesday

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don't matter if it's gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows
She comes and goes

Goodbye, ruby tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you...

Don't question why she needs to be so free
She'll tell you it's the only way to be
She just can't be chained
To a life where nothing's gained
And nothing's lost
At such a cost

There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind.
Ain't life unkind?

I especially like that part about catching your dreams before they slip away.  And it rings true, if you lose your dreams you lose your mind, dying all the time.  You have to be fighting for something to make life enjoyable.

There is another song I really liked from the album.  It is one of the songs I would sing from time to time, and when young I taught myself to play it on the piano, using chords.  This is "She Smiled Sweetly."

Why do my thoughts loom so large on me?
They seem to stay, for day after day
And won't disappear, I've tried every way

But she smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
She smiled sweetly
And says don't worry
Oh, no no no

Where does she hide it inside of her?
That keeps her peace most every day
And won't disappear, my hair's turning grey

There's nothing in why or when
There's no use trying, you're here
Begging again, and ov'r again

That's what she said so softly
I understood for once in my life
And feeling good most all of the time

I really like the attitude of being able to take things sweetly, even when our thoughts are getting away from us.  There are some other nice songs on this album, that I enjoyed growing up, including "Yesterday's Papers" and "Connection."  This album represents a different style for the rolling stones than what followed in their career.