“My Favorite Things” by Mary J. Bilge, Friday, December 23, 2022

 

"My Favorite Things" inadvertently became a holiday classic when Julie Andrews sang the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II song in a holiday special four years before the theatrical release of The Sound of Music. The song has been covered for various holiday albums from Tony Bennett to Kelly Clarkson. Radio DJ Bob Rivers  adapted the song in the style of AC/DC for the holiday parody "Jingle Hells Bells" and Family Force 5 included "My Favorite Things" on their Christmas Pageant record. Of course, there was the interpolation for Ariana Grande's hit "7 Rings," for which the singer had to pay Rodgers and Hammerstein 80% of the song's royalties. 

THEN I DON'T FEEL SO BAD.  "My Favorite Things" is a song designed to lift listeners out of the dullness of a daily existence and transform their banal or difficult days into something extraordinary. Perhaps it's that mood that Ariana Grande was trying to elevate her listeners to by interpolating the melody. Some versions of Julie Andrews' classic have that effect stronger than others. Today's version comes from Mary J. Blige. The singer captures the essence of Julie Andrews' classic while adding her own smooth vocals to give the song a little contemporary flare without over stylizing. Blige shows us that it is possible to interpret the classic in a fresh way. However, no matter who sings "My Favorite Things," I will always think about the scene in the middle of The Sound of Music during the thunderstorm when the scared children crawl into bed with their governess played by Andrews. I don't ever remember being bored when watching The Sound of Music when I was growing up. Anne of Greene Gables always conked me out as did Heidi and The Secret Garden. I always watched this movie with my mom on rainy days. The long wandering story set in the beautiful alps of Austria, the plot interspersed with songs wasn't really fun, but it beat staring out the window at what I couldn't do outside. 

WHEN THE DOG BITES. "My Favorite Things" in The Sound of Music foreshadows the hardship the von Trapp family would face with the rise of the Nazi party as the movie ends with the family fleeing from their estate on the cusp of World War II. I'm including "My Favorite Things" as a kind of reprieve from this year. As we get to end of the year, we recall the highlights and what we should improve for next year. I talked with my friend/coworker as we started wrapping up the year and we came to similar conclusions about 2022. Nothing particularly bad happened for either of us this year, but it was a year of stress, hard work, indolent coworkers, and little pay off. The highlights of 2022 hardly rose above the low points. I grew as a teacher this year and build stronger connections with students, but the future of it still looks grim--a future where it looks financially irresponsible to stay in education and even more financially irresponsible to invest in my further education to be a better teacher.  And I worry that next year will just turn out the same-- another year older and no further ahead, ceteris paribus. I can continue to distract myself with my favorite things, but that will never change the fact that I am ill equipped for the coming of the figurative Nazis at the end of the movie. I'm going to be really glad when this year is over.

Mary J. Blige version:

Scene from The Sound of Music:

Reprise: 

Family Force 5 version:


"Jingle Hells Bells":


"7 Rings":




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