Saturday 9: People (1964)
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Barbra Streisand sings that pride can get in the way of happy relationships. Have you found that to be true? Yes.
2) The photo on the record sleeve was taken on Chicago's Oak Street Beach, as Barbra watches the sun rise over Lake Michigan. Have you been to the beach yet this summer? No, and I have no plans to. While, as Barbra showed us, Chicago has lovely beaches, I prefer the Riverwalk. It's a nice little oasis amid all the office buildings (and no sand).
3) Barbra performed "People" more than 1,350 times when she played Fanny Brice onstage in Funny Girl. She also did it in her Oscar-winning turn as Fanny in the film version. She performed it in her first TV special back in 1964 and in at least 510 concerts since. That's a lot of "People!" Can you think of another performer who has/had a song that is so identified with them you can't imagine seeing them in concert without hearing it? I'll go with this one, though he doesn't do it in concert anymore. At 80+, he says his voice can't do it justice anymore.
4) Barbra got her first pet, a poodle named Sadie, as a gift from the Funny Girl behind-the-scenes crew when she was 23 years old and she's had dogs in her life ever since. Did you have pets when you were growing up? Yes. Of course. My mother was a big animal lover, and I inherited my Ellie Mae Clampett tendencies from her.
5)
Barbra has always taken her Jewish faith seriously, beginning
with her days at the Yeshiva of Brooklyn. 70
years later, her old school is still there. How about your grammar
school? Does it still stand? Yes. The building itself is 66 years old and recently went through a remodel. My sister works there now as a lunch mom.
6)
She tried marijuana a couple times but didn't like it and the only
alcohol she drinks is the occasional beer with her Chinese food. Are you
like Barbra and generally abstain? Or do you enjoy pot and/or alcohol? I limit myself to three drinks/week, and have never, ever smoked pot. (I just cannot stand the thought of holding smoke in my lungs and letting it out through my nose like a dragon. Ick!)
7)
Barbra's favorite lunch is a bowl of Campbell's condensed tomato soup.
If we were to peek into your pantry, would we find any canned soup? Yes, but not tomato. I hate tomato soup! I've got clam chowder and chicken noodle in my cabinet right now.
8)
In 1964, when this song was popular, hats were, too. The Sears
Spring/Summer catalog devoted six pages to ladies hats and two pages to
mens. Are hats part of your wardrobe? Nope.
9) Random question: Which of your personality traits has gotten you in the most trouble? My big mouth.
Yesterday, such a great song! The Riverwalk looks so nice! I went to the Riverwalk in San Antonio a couple of years ago and enjoyed it except for the 105-degree heat! I like clam chowder too! Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteChicago's Riverwalk looks nice. I have never been there, but we have been to the Riverwalk in San Antonio and that one is fun too. No beach plans in my summer either. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteThe Riverwalk looks nice. I used to work in Jersey City, NJ and we had something similar on the Hudson River. So nice to take a walk at lunch.
ReplyDeleteThe world really needs more voices like yours, not less. So keep talking.
ReplyDeleteChicago is on my travel bucket list. I must get there. Yesterday was the top song when I was born, and I've always had quite an affinity for it, I know my mum sang it to me to soothe me when I was a baby.
ReplyDeleteSmiling at your "Ellie Mae tendencies." Tim used to call me Ellie Mae when we were younger and when the kids were small we had a wide and varied array of pets pass through our lives. I still love my critters, but have slowed down a lot with taking them in. My daughter's tendencies are alive and well, however.
ReplyDelete