#davidgriffith

I’ve been putting off sharing this project in its entirety because I am keenly aware of how over-saturated and overwhelmed we all are.

To say that I’ve been hesitant to launch one more more thing out into the crowded atmosphere would be an understatement. Not sure about you, but this spring I’ve actually found myself getting a bit resentful when I see yet another Substack, or Zoom reading, or Zoom class, or Zoom conference announced.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for everyone out there taking the initiative, being industriousness, and building your brand/following—you do you! I just happen to have this annoying, Eeyore-ish definition of art that paradoxically both keeps me from sharing and, ultimately, liberates me:

Art is that which no one is asking for.

I adore Cruella de Vil on Once Upon A Time. She’s fashionable, she’s surprisingly clever, and she never takes life too seriously. This week, we caught up with her in the Underworld. She states that she desperately wishes to return to the land of the living.

           Leaning against the wall, slightly forlorn and slightly coquettish, she sighs, “I miss the music, the gin, the glamour… the gin…”

           I do empathize.

           I mean, I’m obviously not dead, but Cruella’s longing to return to life is analogous to my desire to return to my old life before Millersville University. Before car insurance. Before professional development. Before her. Before all of it.

           I miss people polishing their witty repartee just for me, as they jostled for a place in my original, legendary quote book.

           I miss being a performer. I was a mainstay in my vocal ensembles and in my roles onstage.

           I miss my positions of influence and authority, evidenced in me being pictured in the yearbook above my principal.

           I miss my independence. I had no desire for a romantic relationship, and I didn’t hear a ticking clock growing ever louder as I draw nearer and nearer to being past my prime.

           I miss being youthful and celebrated by those who surrounded me.

The Call

After viewing C.S. Lewis’s classic The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, she felt that the film was not quite finished.  She stayed up all night working on a piece for the movie and in the morning she contacted Disney to have them hear her new creation.  Disney loved the song and decided to edit the film with the song included the song.  Disney and Regina Spektor released this song in 2008.  I was first exposed to this song when I saw this movie and I immediately fell in love with it because this song is what I call a “wink to childhood”.

The piece begins soft and angelic.  Spektor’s calm and relaxed voice grabs the audience and she pulls the listener in with every word.  The listener can hear the violin, piano, guitar, and the cello with obvious breaks between words.  One of these breaks comes when Spektor sings, “you’ll come back when they call you, no need to say goodbye” with a high emphasis on goodbye.  During these pauses the listener pauses to think about what she was singing.  The piece stays the same calm and relaxed tone for the rest of the song.  Spektor does a great job at making sure that the listener does not become depressed or sad, but rather happy, hopeful, and enlightened because of the happy tone and not just lyrically but musically.

This song is timeless because it plays off the age old worry of losing one’s childhood. The Call reminds us that although we have grown up, we are still able to look back and recall all our memories. Phrases like “you’ll come back when they call you, no need to say goodbye” make the listener even more immersed.  These phrases leave most of the listeners thinking and reflecting on their childhood.  Spektor’s soft and doe like voice symbolizes the innocence of engaging in remembering the days of childhood.  This musically experience leaves the listener refreshed, enlightened, and in a great mood.  At least this was the case for me.