I found it. The cure for what ails, be it rainy days, bad news, doldrums. It’s a song.
I first heard it on an episode of ER. The one where Goose from Top Gun dies in Hawaii of cancer. It’s a sad episode, but they played this song that made everything seem okay. It was a Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I think melded with What a Wonderful World.
Since that episode, I’ve searched for it. That song. Have you ever tried to find a specific version of a very famous song without knowing the name of the artist? It’s an exercise in frustration, wading through the sea of renditions. I eliminated the dance mixes right off the bat. Let’s face it, in my world clubbing means beating someone over the head with a blunt
instrument. The Judy Garland-style renditions wouldn’t do, either. Images of flying monkeys and cackling green witches do not elicit warm fuzzy feelings.
Because it’s not just the hopeful lyrics that makes the song work. It’s the images, too.
Just when I was ready to give up, I found it (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof), the Hawaiian version, wherein a large Samoan man gently strums a tiny ukulele. He’s standing on a beach of golden sand that greets turquoise waves. A warm breeze rattles the lazy palms above and suddenly it’s not so sad that the Gooses of the world have passed on, because they’re here, where troubles melt like lemon drops, where fruity umbrella drinks flow freely, where pretty ladies in grass skirts tell stories with their hips and hands, where roasting pigs make the whole world smell like bacon. Mmmm,
bacon.
So thank you, unnamed Samoan man from the Hawaiian Lau Party Mix album. Thank you for giving me a peek over that rainbow.
P.S.: The blog tour and romance interviews were fun, but now it's time for me to focus on my novel writing, so I'll be posting blogs once a month again for a while. Hope you will stop by again in April to check out my next post!
I first heard it on an episode of ER. The one where Goose from Top Gun dies in Hawaii of cancer. It’s a sad episode, but they played this song that made everything seem okay. It was a Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I think melded with What a Wonderful World.
Since that episode, I’ve searched for it. That song. Have you ever tried to find a specific version of a very famous song without knowing the name of the artist? It’s an exercise in frustration, wading through the sea of renditions. I eliminated the dance mixes right off the bat. Let’s face it, in my world clubbing means beating someone over the head with a blunt
instrument. The Judy Garland-style renditions wouldn’t do, either. Images of flying monkeys and cackling green witches do not elicit warm fuzzy feelings.
Because it’s not just the hopeful lyrics that makes the song work. It’s the images, too.
Just when I was ready to give up, I found it (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof), the Hawaiian version, wherein a large Samoan man gently strums a tiny ukulele. He’s standing on a beach of golden sand that greets turquoise waves. A warm breeze rattles the lazy palms above and suddenly it’s not so sad that the Gooses of the world have passed on, because they’re here, where troubles melt like lemon drops, where fruity umbrella drinks flow freely, where pretty ladies in grass skirts tell stories with their hips and hands, where roasting pigs make the whole world smell like bacon. Mmmm,
bacon.
So thank you, unnamed Samoan man from the Hawaiian Lau Party Mix album. Thank you for giving me a peek over that rainbow.
P.S.: The blog tour and romance interviews were fun, but now it's time for me to focus on my novel writing, so I'll be posting blogs once a month again for a while. Hope you will stop by again in April to check out my next post!
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