Please Don’t Think It’s Funny
I have ALWAYS dug Fred Rogers. Back when my kids were young, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was always a safe place to hang. Creativity, empathy, love, understanding, respect, and pure fun was always on the menu. Consider the man: after first getting a bachelor’s degree in music, Mr. Rogers got a divinity degree and became a Presbyterian minister. He began a thirty-year collaboration with child psychologist Margaret McFarland and then developed The Neighborhood with a focus on children’s emotional and physical concerns, such as death, sibling rivalry, school enrollment, and divorce.
What-the-WHAT?!
Yep. A true holy man. And his initial interest in music led to his composing some 200 songs for his show. Mostly written in a tin pan alley style often with a verse intro, Fred’s music was sophisticated indeed. And his lyrics! OY…here is an example (have that box of Kleenex handy…just sayin…)
Please Don’t Think It’s Funny
Written by Fred Rogers | © 1968, Fred M. Rogers
Sometimes you feel like holding your pillow all night long;
Sometimes you hug your teddy bear tightly,
He’s old but he’s still strong.
And sometimes you want to snuggle up closely with your own Mom and Dad
At night, you even need the light sometimes,
But that’s not bad.
Please don’t think it’s funny,
When you want an extra kiss.
There are lots and lots of people
Who sometimes feel like this.
Please don’t think it’s funny
When you want the ones you miss.
There are lots and lots of people
Who sometimes feel like this.
It’s great to know you’re growing up bigger every day,
But somehow things you like to remember
Are often put away.
And sometimes you wonder over and over
If you should stay inside,
When you enjoy a younger toy…
You never need to hide.
In the long, long trip of growing
There are stops along the way,
For thoughts of all the soft things
And the look of yesterday.
For a chance to fill our feelings,
With comfort and with ease,
And then tell the new tomorrow,
“You can come now when you please.”
So please don’t think it’s funny,
When you want an extra kiss.
There are lots and lots of people
Who sometimes feel like this.
Please don’t think it’s funny
When you want the ones you miss.
There are lots and lots of people
Who sometimes feel like this.
IKR?! Yeah, it gets me every time.
So, it was a no-brainer to arrange this piece for my fusion project: Steve Wiest and Phröntrange: The High Road. It was great fun to analyze the song, and then adapt it for the unique and compelling sound of trombone, Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI) and guitar as the front line with keyboards, bass and drums. What a colorful pallet! And the musicians involved were stellar:
EWI: Art Bouton
Keyboards: Eric Gunnison
Bass: Bijoux Barbosa
Drums: Mike Marlier
Guitar: Mike Abbott
Sound Engineer: Mike Schulze
And during those years, these were the guys that I got to work with at The University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music.
Such a deal!
Enjoy, Please Don’t Think It’s Funny
