Music to my ears

Not birds this time, childhood, poetry and folk music are today’s themes.

poetry and music, cornerstones

Photo by J. Harrington

This morning, early, I was reading a poem in Laurie Allmann’s delightful An Hour from Now, the last stanza of which reads:

I rise to go,
wanting to howl in protest like we did as
kids roaming the neighborhood,
always called inside too soon,
just when it was
getting good

That triggered memories and a return to my childhood, growing up in one of Boston's neighborhoods and recalling the unfairness of having to quit playing just when it was getting good. That brought to mind the phrase “ally ally oxen free” which I misremembered as part of a Peter, Paul and Mary song from high school and/or college days. Turned out, after some internet research, the line is actually from the lyrics of a song written by Rod McKuen and recorded by the Kingston Trio [see below].

As I was bemoaning my faulty memory, the Better Half reminded me that Paul Stookey of PP&M did end one of their songs with the line “Ally ally in free,” which is how we ended playtime in Boston when we were called in for supper. The PP&M song is It’s Raining and it’s heartily recommended you click the link and give it a listen.

I’ve not thought of my grammar and high school days for too long. When I was a junior or senior in high school, my mother managed to get me a pair of tickets to Peter, Paul and Mary’s concert at the Totem Pole ballroom in old Norumbega Park. That let me unduly impress my hot date of the summer but took me down a peg or too in my own eyes since my connections had failed to secure tickets for me. (I was working part time as a bell hop at a local restaurant / motel complex and thought I was “grown up.”)

The Kingston Trio’s song is titled Ally Ally Oxen Free and reminds me of how long we’ve been trying, and failing, to make a world safe for children. And am I the onlly one old enough to remember Rod McKuen?

"Ally Ally Oxen Free"

Time to let the rain fall without the help of man
Time to let the trees grow tall. Now, if they only can
Time to let our children live in a land that's free
Ally, ally, ally, ally, oxen free

Time to blow the smoke away and look at the sky again
Time to let our friends know we'd like to begin again
Time to send a message across the land and sea
Ally, ally, ally, ally, oxen free

Strong and weak, mild and meek, no more hide and seek
Time to see the fairness of a children's game
Time for men to stop and learn to do the same
Time to make our minds up if the world at last will be
Ally, ally, ally, ally, oxen free

Writer(s): Rod Mc Kuen, Yates Stephen

 

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