Tuesday, May 16, 2017

A Lover's Concerto

Listen while you read: A Lover's Concerto

How gentle is the rain that falls softly on the meadow
Birds high up in the trees serenade the flowers with their melodies
Oh, see there beyond the hill the bright colors of the rainbow
Some magic from above made this day for us just to fall in love

Now I belong to you from this day until forever
Just love me tenderly and I'll give to you every part of me
Oh, don't ever make me cry through long, lonely nights without love
Be always true to me, keep this day in your heart eternally

Someday we shall return to this place upon the meadow
We'll walk out in the rain, hear the birds above singing once again
You'll hold me in your arms and say once again you love me
And if your love is true, everything will be just as wonderful

~  Randell / Linzer (for The Toys)

The other day, I found this message from my old friend Brian: "Have you written a blog post about young love? Drove today through the parking lot of my school looking at the kids and thinking how sweet teenage love was. It was for me and lots of folks now our age. I'd love to read about that and attach a song." So, Brian, this one is for you.

The Toys, a trio out of Queens, never reached the stature of The Supremes, perhaps the most successful of the "girl groups" of the period, but "A Lover's Concerto" did reach #2 on the Billboard charts. Aside from that popular sound, "A Lover's Concerto" had something else that got our attention. It was "classical" music, something we didn't know a whole lot about, but sounded impressive to our teenage brains. Well, no, it wasn't exactly classical music, but the melody was taken from "Minuet in G." Although we attributed that piece of music to Johann Sebastian Bach (impressing our friends when we stated our knowledge of that), it was revealed some years later that the actual composer was Christian Petzold. Eh, not quite as impressive. Nonetheless, the song was what all teenage girls wanted . . . an ode to everlasting love and devotion. When we fell in love, we fell hard, and there was never a doubt in our minds that "forever" was the right word to use in proclaiming our love. Hell, we invented romantic love.

The song was still at the top of the charts when I began dating an "older man." I was 16, a sophomore in high school, and Eddie was, at age 20, two years out of high school. How my father ever allowed this dating to happen is beyond me, but I do have to admit that Eddie was "a perfect gentleman." Sure, we would go "parking," and yes, my glasses and the car windows would get pretty fogged up, but on some level, Eddie knew I was "jailbait," and he kept his hands where they belonged. (What? Where did they belong?) On these romantic occasions, we would listen to 77-WABC and wait for "our song" to play. And it always did. And then we'd make out some more and plan our future together because I belong to you from this day until forever.

And then Eddie enlisted in the Air Force and left for Texas, breaking my heart. For at least a week. And then, of course, I found another boyfriend and pledged my everlasting love to him.

A few years ago, thanks to social media, Eddie and I reconnected. One of the first things he mentioned when we began corresponding was "our song." He remembered that? Like over four decades later? Wow, I thought only girls catalogued those things. Anyway, on a subsequent visit back East, Eddie stopped by for a visit. Despite our disparate adult ideologies and politics, we spent several hours on my front porch reminiscing. It was one of those events where the years just seemed to melt away. It was fun to piece together the things I remembered with the things he remembered. And of course, "A Lover's Concerto" provided the soundtrack to our nostalgia.

And that's the last time I saw Eddie. His emails and messages faded away just like our teenage love affair did. And that's okay. But whenever I hear "A Lover's Concerto," I am reminded of that innocent and hopeful time when young hearts believed in forever. As Brian said, "To be in love at 16 and 17 was incredible! Nothing like it!" You got that right, Brian. Thanks for the suggestion to travel back there again!



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