Time to kick some life back into the old journals. And when I say old, I mean old! The last time I looked at this was all of three years ago; in fact, I’d forgotten mostly about it. Well, I hadn’t, but today as I considered bringing it back from the dead I was thinking over themes I could use. Little did I know that way back in December of 2016 I had already decided the next theme would be
Mountains.
And so it shall be.
And I’m kicking off with a super classic from pop’s heyday.
Title: “Climb Ev’ry Mountain"
Format: Single
Written by: Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by: Tony Bennett
Genre: Showtune
Taken from: In Tony’s case, not any of his albums (though I imagine maybe one of his ten thousand “Greatest Hits” compilations) but originally anyway from
The Sound of Music soundtrack.
Year: 1959
Acclaim: Who doesn’t know this song? It’s been covered by, among others, Christina Aguilera, Barbara Streisand, Shirley Bassey and Andy Williams. As far as I can see, the only one to have a major hit with it was Bassey, who got to number one in 1961, where she stayed for a staggering eighteen weeks!
I personally don’t like
The Sound of Music, though my sister loves it. Too twee for me. Do, a deer, a female deer? No thanks. However I did at one point walk into her room while this was on and, while I kind of know the song anyway (who doesn’t, at least in my age group?) one thing that did strike me was the passion and emotion conveyed through the song. Admittedly, some nun was singing it at that stage, but it’s more in the lyric and the way the melody is delivered through the song that I feel it makes its impact.
At its heart, of course, it’s a song of encouragement, exhorting others to seek out what they want in life, follow their dreams, never give up. The mountains (and streams) referred to in the lyric are naturally metaphors for the obstacles we all face in life, be they big or small, and we can all identify with this. How many times has something seemed so out of our reach, so impossible, so hard that we feel we have to climb a mountain in order to overcome it?
The composers are of course masters of their craft, having written the music for some of the most famous and best-known films and musicals (and musicals turned into films; possibly films turned into musicals… you get the idea) including
Oklahoma!, South Pacific and
The King and I. And this one. Generally speaking, big musical numbers tend to be quite forceful, dramatic and lavish, and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” (not sure why the apostrophe is there, but it is) is no exception. Though it begins relatively low-key, Bennet’s version dropping into a basic soft pop version after the opening salvo of strings, it builds until at the end it’s just like a heart swelling with pride and determination as he belts out the last chorus.
Why did I choose his version from all the ones I could? Have to admit, I got a soft spot for ol’ Tony. As a young lad, I would never have admitted this, but I admire the guy and he has one hell of a set of pipes. Also, he’s one of the few male artists who covered this, and I just wanted to try something different. Shirley Bassey, having hit number one with it would have been the obvious choice, but I’m not mad about her singing.
You know, listening to Tony’s rendition of the song, I have to admit I’m a little disappointed. The power and passion I mentioned is really lacking here, and it ends on a damp squib. Maybe not the best choice to have made? Great song nevertheless, and a universal theme among humanity: never give up.
Things I like about this :
1. The lyrics
2. The passion in the melody
3. Kind of a simple song but no worse for it.
Things I don't like about this:
1. Tony lets me down here. Where’s that passion I expected Tony? Oh dear.
2. It’s from the bloody Sound of Music!
Rating: 