merry widow

When I was little my Nanna used to rock me singing The Merry Widow Waltz.

And it obviously worked, because even now, if I'm standing around and I'm bored or have to wait for something or whatever I find myself starting rocking side to side ever so slightly. It's not even something I do consciously or intentionally, I just suddenly find myself rocking.

I've done it at work, I've done it in line at the movies, I've done it waiting for the bus... anywhere that I can't lean against something or sit down, I usually end up rocking side to side slightly. I always think of it as being "self pacifying" somehow... and I guess it beats the hell out of sucking one's thumb or owning a blankie... especially as a grown up.

Because Ma has mentioned the whole "Merry Widow" thing to me on more than one occasion, sometimes the rocking comes with it's own internal soundtrack... but not often... it's more when I'm out and about with Ma and she mentions the rocking that I play it up and usually end up humming the song or whatever. Which probably amuses Ma more than me because she'll remember it from the other side when Nanna used to do it.

And since I wanted to blog about the Merry Widow song, I went looking to see if I could either find the real name of the song, or the rest of the words (since the only bit I actually know are two lines which repeat)... so I hit all the usual places... I found out about The Merry Widow opera... and the ballet... and that there have been three different film versions, any of which my Nanna could have possibly seen (although the 1954 version seems the most likely, since she was 8 and 17 respectively when the first two came out)... but I'm still not sure where it was she would have picked up the song originally.

I figured in all likelihood the song would be "The Merry Widow Waltz", since the bit I know basically goes... "Merry Widow, Merry Widow, Dance with me"... sounds logical right? And I know that the tune is right, because I've found midi files with the tune... but I can only find one site with the lyrics on it... and the bit that I know isn't part of it... so there are two possible options... either my Nanna made up her own words because she had no idea what the hell the words were supposed to be (which, knowing her, seems quite likely)... or else it's part of one of the later movies and it was the only bit she remembered.

I'm actually going with the first theory myself, making up her own very limited words that matched the song sounds more like her.

It's weird though... that snippet of song has been with me pretty much my whole life, but up until I started searching a couple of days ago, I never actually knew that it was at least partially made up. And I still keep hearing the "original" words every time I hear it.

Makes you wonder what other things you carry around with you from childhood that might not be exactly what you think they are...

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