Developing Levity in the Face of Life’s Brevity
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2012
by Christofer French
Rain Dancer Associates, LLC
“I sang this first in the early 40’s, before I met your Mother. Then in the late 40’s, just before your birth I sang it again. This little depression era hit, I sang again when we moved all four of you kids to New York, then, if you remember, I sang it for the family just before you went to college. And, now I want to sing it again for your new wife as you move to Colorado.”
That night, after Dinner, he poured his favorite après dinner repast. Port and Cheddar Cheese. My Mother sipped the champagne the rest of us were enjoying. There’s something about this song that helps you during times of uncertainty, during times when you realize how short life is. This is the one song I sing from time to time, to visit my suffering heart, to lighten my load, to make me laugh and giggle.”
“We're not here to stay; we're on a short holiday”
So, as if I were breaking down the Song of Solomon, or one of the Psalms of David, I offer up this favorite song of my Father, written in 1931 by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, and recorded by numerous stars including Irving Berlin. I draw your attention to selected phrases that provide comfort. This is not a religious song, but it is loaded with strong messages to give you fuel for your Levity.
We are not here to stay indeed. Our lives are short, so you must consider life to be a “short holiday”
“Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.”
When we get overburdened with the toughness, the unpredictability, the hard blows – how they land, and the frustrations, sometimes it is better to realize we can’t reconcile all of the confusion. If in our frustrations we get to a certain point, we realize life is just too “mysterious”. Since none of us ends up with a certain explanation for all of the serious times, let’s just accept the mysteries.
“But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go”
There are so many words of wisdom that discuss the irony that we leave our money behind when we die. This song deals with this startling fact.
“The strongest oak must fall”
While the chest thumping that those who have long lived relatives makes people feel a splendid exaltation, if we can talk about octogenarians, or even centenarians; the hard fact is that a long life is not really that much longer than a shorter life. Look at a photo from an old newspaper, or an old family photo, or an old movie. It sends a shiver down your back when you look at it, and say, “All of those people are dead now!” And yet this song takes this information to go to its point of levity, because, yes, because of the brevity of life.
“Life is just a bowl of cherries, So live and laugh at it all.”
When my Father sang this song, he used a kind of “soft shoe” move and a whimsical smile. He knew this song was written in the depths of the depression, and its purpose was to lift people during that time. If you get a chance to hear a recording, or just read the lyrics below, you will see that if you just pop a few cherries in your mouth and take a chuckle and grow a merry grin, you can take a point of view that life’s sweetness is there for our enjoyment and that when the cherry fruit bursts in your mouth and the juices flow down your throat, you can laugh because you have already considered the seriousness, the mysteries, the fleeting quality of wealth, the temporary nature of public praise or popularity, and alas, just how short our lives are --- and we lift our hands to the sky and live and laugh at it all.
In 1995 we were at a large dining table at a sprawling steak house. When we got to my Dad’s required Port, we asked for his last performance. He would be gone in four years; he had lung cancer, so he knew this probably would be his last performance. He sang “Life is just a Bowl of Cherries” for the last time. As he concluded he tipped his forehead toward my Mother, as she tipped hers toward him. They rested against each other’s heads and lovingly wept with big smiles. The kids applauded. All four of them with their mates. This song has lovingly provided a frame of positivism for our family and given us a way to Develop Levity in the Face of Life’s Brevity.
"Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries,"
Lyrics by Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson (1931)
People are queer; they're always crowing, scrambling and rushing about;
Why don't they stop someday, address themselves this way?
Why are we here? Where are we going? It's time that we found out.
We're not here to stay; we're on a short holiday.
Life is just a bowl of cherries.
Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.
You work, you save, you worry so,
But you can't take your dough when you go, go, go.
So keep repeating it's the berries,
The strongest oak must fall,
The sweet things in life, to you were just loaned
So how can you lose what you've never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries,
So live and laugh at it all.
Life is just a bowl of cherries.
Don't take it serious; it's too mysterious.
At eight each morning I have got a date,
To take my plunge 'round the Empire State.
You'll admit it's not the berries,
In a building that's so tall;
There's a guy in the show, the girls love to kiss;
Get thousands a week just for crooning like this:
Life is just a bowl of . . . aw, nuts!
So live and laugh at it all!
This is the time of year when the frozen moisture of Winter drips onto the reviving roots and stems of life and the electricity of Spring crackles over the meadows and forests and mountains of earth. We, the sleeping children of earth get animated again. Each and every day, life’s brevity harvests the oldest of us, and renews us with our next generation through our infants. Let’s all smile with great levity as we stand on the stage of life and take our places, and live and laugh at it all.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Loved this article, and it was 'timely' for me with all that has been challenging my life lately. The perspective it brings to 'how foolish people act' when the older family members are facing eternal destiny is simple and wise.
Yes, dying young or old is about the same for we are all eternal beings, and it's only a matter of where we spend the time.
Thanks....and glad to get those lyrics; I'd heard the song before but never knew the words...quite enlightening to see it from your Dad's perspective.
I liked your ending about Winter's death and Spring's renewal....excellent.Your comments are "loaded". I am so glad that you are my fan. I praise you and cherish you.
As I read this, I began to get a new perspective on some things- a perspective that I knew, but had almost forgotten- Thanks for reminding me Chris- I needed that...Always EllaI know. Life is so serious and so mysterious. Hope this helped whatever your issue. Thanks for your comment. As always I appreciate your comment.
Hi Christofer.
Great song! I love your presentation of it. And your dad was an amazing man!
Thanks and hugs,
DianneThanks very much. Dianne.
Goosebumps all the way! Loved each and every quote you picked out from the song!I wanted people to see its piquancy. What writing! Thanks for your notice and I really appreciate you!Amen!
I loved the story of your father singing this song, Christofer. Your articles are so full of heart, so evocative and picturesque. Reading you is always like taking a visit to the movies for me!Thank you Jennifer.
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