"Writing music takes more talent, but writing lyrics takes more courage."
Johnny M.
My Huckleberry Friend -- Johnny M.
In a previous post I wrote that I often sing to my cat. If you remember that you will recall that this scared the poor thing. Though I am not the greatest singer, I am not really bad enough to scare the cat as I stated. (That was a bit of hyperbole from your writer.) However, I’m clearly not the recipient of any gold records. One could describe my voice as somewhere between Julie Andrews and Ernest Borgnine. That gives you enough to try to imagine just what kind of sounds emanate from me.
So, in the last few days here in Georgia the weather has run something like this: the day starts okay, turns cloudy, hinting at a rainstorm, then a bit of sunshine intervenes only to be shut down by clouds again which finally dissolve into night. It’s bewildering to try and cope with that many moods so I have taken to singing. And from my title one might even be able to deduce the lyricist that I love.
So, just how much of a Georgia native are you? Or if you are someone who moved here, have you become versed enough to know that one of my favorite songwriters is none other than Johnny Mercer? Yep, I am the quintessential Georgia Gal, so of course I would love that marvel from Savannah who "wrote the words, and sometimes the music, for more than 1,500 songs, with more than 200 collaborators, among them composers Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael and Jerome Kern. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and won four." *
I have loved his music since I was a little girl. It might have started with “I’m An Old Cowhand,” but as I grew older I learned to love all his tunes from “Time After Time” to “Too Marvelous for Words;” from “Tangerine” to “Blues in the Night;” from “And the Angels Sing" to “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby;” from “Skylark” to “Moon River.”
I love them all. I have always loved words, the reason for the very title of my blog. And I am in awe of people who can use words and a musical ability to influence our moods so much. When I am kinda’ blue and serious and want to sing I turn to Mercer's “Skylark” or “Autumn Leaves.” If I am just lazing around I sing “Lazybones.” When I am really jazzed and happy I belt out “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” or “Hooray for Hollywood.” He’s mostly known for writing the words and not a lot of the music for the songs. That must be why I like him, he’s a wizard of a “wordsmith."
So, do yourself a favor and search out some of the songs of Johnny Mercer on the internet, go to YouTube and listen to various artists as they present some of the best music you’ll ever hear.
Years back my family visited my friend Kay in Savannah. She and her husband knew how much we all love cemeteries (yes, that’s right), so they took us to all the cemeteries in that fair old city ending with Bonaventure. It is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. It is a quiet place located on a scenic bluff that overlooks the Wilmington River, east of Savannah. Its trees are draped in Long Moss that gently waves in the breeze. It is the resting place of John Herndon “Johnny” Mercer. I may have to make a pilgrimage back there before I check out to hum a few of his creations as I stand by his plot. Don’t worry, I’m a much better hummer than singer. Nevertheless, Johnny will hear it as if the “Angels Sing” because it will come from the heart of an ardent admirer.
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