my theme song

when my sister, brother and i were younger, we used to listen to lots and lots of showtunes. mostly because those were the tapes my parents kept in the car. thus, every car trip i can recall was filled with the sounds of Ethel Merman, Shirley Jones, Julie Andrews and many others singing (surprisingly) practical thoughts on love like:

I'll snap my fingers to show I don't care; I'll buy me a brand new dress to wear; I'll scrub my neck and I'll brush my hair, And start all over again.

And I would like him to be more interested in me, Than he is in himself. And more interested in us than in me. And if occasionally he'd ponder what makes Shakespeare and Beethoven great, Him I could love 'til I die.

but the most apt lyrics of all, were penned by the great Irving Berlin and belted out by Ms. Merman (accompanied by the California sister and myself, as loud as we could sing, which, in retrospect was probably cruel since we were three in the backseat of a car but i digress...):

I want a wedding in a big church,
With bridesmaids and flower girls.
A lot of ushers in tailcoats,
Reporters, and photographers.
A ceremony by a bishop who will tie the knot and say
"Do you agree to love and honour?"
Love and honour: yes, but not obey.
I want a wedding ring surrounded
By diamonds and platinum.
A big reception at the Waldorf,
With Champagne and caviar.
I want a wedding like the Vanderbilts have--
Everything big not small.
If I can’t have that kind of a wedding,
I don’t want to get married at all.

poor T! when he proposed he had no idea what he hath wrought... i've had these giant wedding plans floating in my head since 1982 or so, when Annie Get Your Gun was the JadedEm-family musical cassette of choice.

it's funny though, that i never became nearly as attached to the male half of the lyrics, that complemented Ethel Merman's "big wedding" verse:

We’ll have an old fashioned wedding
Blessed in the good, old fashioned way.
I’ll vow to love you forever;
You’ll vow to love and honour and obey.
Somewhere in some little chapel,
Someday when orange blossoms bloom.
We’ll have an old fashioned wedding,
A simple wedding for an old-fashioned bride and groom.

sorry, T!