Thursday, November 5, 2009

Her Old Songs

The Song of Songs, Lucas and Moya, 1914

Last spring, we lost a member of our family when Jeff’s step-dad’s mother passed away. Meda, short for Andromeda, (I know. Coolest name ever.) was a sweet lady with a sharp sense of humor and she took crap from no one. We miss her so much.

We had the pleasure of getting to spend many Sunday afternoons with her at her house, especially after Bob was born. We shared stories and ate ice cream. Bob had his first cone in her backyard. As Bob got older, he would pull himself up to a stand, holding on to the edge of her piano and bang on the keys.

When Meda died, her piano came to live at our house. It is an upright, Grinnell Brothers of Detroit and a real beauty. My favorite discovery about the piano was inside the bench: hundreds of pieces of sheet music dating back as early as 1901. Clare de Lune and White Christmas and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Songs made popular by Perry Como, Kate Smith, Lena Horne and Hoagy Carmichael, each one a treasure.

I haven’t played the piano since eighth grade. I think it’s time for some more lessons. Thank you Meda.

For Me and My Gal; Leslie, Goetz and Meyer, 1932


Easter Parade; Irving Berlin, 1933


Goodnight My Love; Gordon and Revel, 1936


Do You Really Want to Hurt Me; Culture Club, 1982

11 comments:

  1. Meda was down with Culture Club? I think my MIL would sooner run Boy George over with her walker than play a note of Karma Chameleon. She sounds like she was a very cool lady.

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  2. You've no idea how that made me smile! I love old uprights and the tone of their long strings and boards. Sheet music in C major tickles my ivory, too.

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  3. You know how much I love this right?

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  4. You would go crazy with this Erin - hundreds of these and so many from old movies and Broadway shows.

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  5. that's funny- erin was the first person i thought of too. what a cool lady, and what a nice way to be remembered. please tell me she really had culture club sheet music...

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  6. Absolutely. The Culture Club sheet music nicely rounded out the whole collection.

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  7. Funny how there can always be just one piece of a collection that makes you wonder exactly how it got there.

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  8. (and i swear, if i can't get that stupid culture club song out of my head before bedtime, i'm going to do something horrible to someone.)

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  9. Stillie - I think the only explanation for the Culture Club sheet music is extreme awesomeness.

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  10. How cool! I think I'd have to frame some of those too.

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