When the weather forecast looks like a month full of rain, it’s nice to wake up to a vase full of tulips (see above). This is not because of me. My boyfriend loves to bring home flowers and I am the lucky recipient. The blue in the windows behind them is the sky over Lake Washington at 6 AM today.
I want to be excited about the coming season, but my heart is not in it. Our country’s leadership has again turned toward cruelty and I am not proud to be here. As someone said of the previous Trump administration’s policies, “The cruelty is the point.”
This is America today:
We are responsible for Venezuelan immigrants WITHOUT a criminal record being deported and we refuse to bring them back.
We encourage people to “snitch” on women who need an abortion, causing them to be arrested or forced to carry to term.
The wealthiest citizens of our country ONLY fight back against the President when their pocketbook is affected. Social programs and human rights bedamned.
Major law firms are such pussies, they not only won’t fight back against the President, they will donate hours of pro bono services to his favorite causes.
Our President thinks the path to American greatness is to create factory jobs for everybody!
Getting hung up
So, these lyrics are playing in my head today. The song “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most” was written by Tommy Wolf and his wife Fran Landesman in 1955. It’s a jazz riff on the first line of T. S. Eliot’s poem, “The Waste Land” which reads: “April is the cruellest month.”
You can almost hear the ice cubes tinkling in their highball glasses as they huddle at the bar, writing this masterpiece that has become a jazz standard. It’s a bitch to sing, but totally worth it.
Here’s how Eliot’s poem starts
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
In Eliot’s poem, winter has kept us warm, safe, and protected and the arrival of spring uncovers all of our weakness and vulnerability, making us open to the pain of growth and metamorphosis. This is not your usual picture of springtime resurrection and transformation.
Typically, spring symbolizes re-birth, ripeness, and plenty. But the person in Landesman and Wolf’s song isn’t having any of it. The writers perfectly depict how it feels to be sad and depressed while all around flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and new love fills the air.
That about sums up my spring melancholy right now. And for some reason, listening to it makes feel better. It’s like the ruefulness of the song cancels out my own personal sadness and creates something nice.
That’s the kind of miracle only music can conjure.
Here are the lyrics and three versions to enjoy from our finest singers.
Once I was a sentimental thing,
Threw my heart away each Spring;
Now a spring romance hasn't got a chance
Promised my first dance to Winter;
All I've got to show's a splinter for my little fling
Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the post.
I lie in my room staring up at the ceiling,
Spring can really hang you up the most
Morning's kiss wakes trees and flowers,
And to them I'd like to drink a toast.
I walk in the park just to kill lonely hours,
Spring can really hang you up the most
All afternoon those birds twitter twit,
I know the tune, "This is love, this is it!"
Heard it before and I know the score,
And I've decided that Spring is a bore
Love seemed sure around the New Year,
Now it's April, love is just a ghost;
Spring arrived on time, only what became of you, dear?
Spring can really hang you up the most
Spring is here, there's no mistaking
Robins building nests from coast to coast;
My heart tries to sing so they won't hear it breaking,
Spring can really hang you up the most
College boys are writing sonnets,
In the "tender passion" they're engrossed;
But I'm on the shelf with last year’s Easter bonnets,
Spring can really hang you up the most
Love came my way, I hoped it would last;
We had our day, now that's all in the past
Spring came along a season of sun,
Full of sweet promise but something went wrong
Doctors once prescribed a tonic,
"Sulphur and molasses" was the dose.
Didn't help a bit, my condition must be chronic,
Spring can really hang you up the most
All alone, the party's over,
Old man Winter was a gracious host;
But when you keep praying for snow to hide the clover
Spring can really hang you up the most
Thank you for reading the “Good to Know” newsletter.
I publish three times a week, including a deep dive on Sundays called “Sunday Brunch.”
See you Thursday!
Check out the Archives — There are more than 80 posts for you to enjoy. Eighty!
Not ready to commit to a subscription, paid or free?
Wanna sticker?
You can help support my work by spreading the word about the “Good to Know” newsletter with a sticker!
One reader said it made her want to “play Twister and go on The Dating Game.” Groovy, man.
If you would like a free sticker or two or three, drop me an email at KellyA1042@gmail.com. I will spring for the stamp. And, as I’ve said before, they look great on a laptop cover. They measure 3” X 2."
Have always loved and appreciated Bette Midler. I can hear you singing this same melody with equal passion and sensitivity. Thank you for sharing♥️