My life in music.

Why can’t real life be like a musical? Failing that, why can’t we at least have incidental or background music to accompany our everyday lives? I, for one, would love to live in a musical, bursting into song for no apparent reason, skipping and dancing along the street. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Did any of you watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer? Remember the episode “Once more, with feeling”? A demon puts a spell on everyone causing them to burst into song and to dance. It was my favourite episode. Demonic enchantment notwithstanding because in that episode the music and dancing was foist upon people, that’s exactly how I imagine life would be as a musical.

In the film “The Great St. Trinian’s Train Robbery”, George Cole played the part of ‘Flash’ Harry, a spiv, a shady character and at various points in the film he walks along to the accompaniment of a wonderfully jaunty little tune. Dum de dah de dum de dahh, dum de dah dah de dum dum de dah dah. I’ve often imagined myself walking along to that tune.

In the film, “Singin’ In The Rain” there is a scene, during the “Broadway Melody Ballet” sequence, a story within a story. Our hero enters a nightclub. The air is heavy with smoke, jazz music is playing, Cyd Charisse appears and dancing ensues. I’ve always wanted to be in a club or bar like that, dark, filled with jazz and dancing, Cyd Charisse…

In “The Band Wagon”, Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are in a scene, another story within a story sort of thing, again, in a nightclub, jazz playing. Fred plays the part of a Private Detective in this scene and there is a wonderful voice-over as the Private Eye meets Cyd’s character for the first time.
“She came at me in sections, more curves than a scenic railway…”
In these enlightened times of course that’s probably considered sexist or maybe even scenic railwayist. Our loss I feel.

Yeah, if life was a musical I think I’d feel pretty much at home.