The slender one is certainly not embarrassed to publicly acknowledge a fondness, occasionally too much so, for what in the Ashkenazi culture is known as schmaltz. It is actually rendered goose fat, used in cooking, but in Yiddish, the language of the Orthodox it has become to mean sappiness, excessive sentimentality. And if there ever was a place for that, our trying times often simply cry out for emotion that is not negative.
Then we have the German equivalent of this, schlagsahne. Again, food is the root, it means whipped cream, but is used often to describe excess. For whipped cream also is very fatty, cholesterol-laced, and unnecessary on either pastry or topping a good cuppa of java. But it does taste good occasionally. Moderate consumption, as advised by Doctor Slim is, however, advised.
The same applies to music. The lean machine may turn to sappiness, overwrought tunes at times. As at present. The German whipped cream idea was applied to sentimental yet popular songs, performed and listened to at their peak in the 1930’s. Known as schlagers, they entered the Estonian musical scene, many popular songs had the German melody, Estonian words. The category is still vibrant and alive, just check the German pop charts, and take the journey on YouTube when you are feeling down.
The svelte splinter has for the last 22 months (has it really been that long?) relied on YouTube for musical diversion, much needed these days. And feels no shame listening to the likes of Julius La Rosa, one of the best crooners of all time, with some excellent performances being backed up by the best big bands of that era. Sinatra, Bing, Como, Bennett, Nat King Cole, the list is long.
But certainly a favourite tho much maligned is Johnny Mercer. Perhaps the derision of others stems from the overwrought number “Autumn Leaves”, performed by many, but Mercer’s is perhaps the measuring stick. Mercer was one of three composers of the tune. The melody alone is truly sappy, (rivaled perhaps only by Dr. Zhivago’s “Lara’s theme”). Which was composed by Maurice Jarre. As an interesting sidebar, Jarre’s son Jean-Michel Jarre was and is among the most adventuresome and groundbreaking composers of electronic music. The pinecone, or apple, acorn did not fall far from the tree in compositional skills, but certainly the genres are as different as night and day.
Pardon the digressions, yet they are necessary to explain the fixation that developed once again over the recent Christmas holidays. Boy, as these words are being typed in the New Year, they are still playing Yuletide sappy songs in our strip-mall’s muzak system. Enough already, it is a new year!
Hence it must be emphasized, that the splinter does listen to other songs on YouTube, having learned to search by category. Feel-good songs is a popular one presently. Can’t go wrong. Then there is by the month search, these aging ears heard, after many decades the song “January” by Pilot, a most-uplifting melody from the 70’s. Sappy lyrics make it qualify for this pontification. It is also good to have millennial offspring; “Sidur Pidur Gaas Gaas” (Clutch brake gas gas) by 42GO is a good, bouncy quasi-rap song, with a bevy of Estonian beauties making the video surpass the value of the invigorating song. It was a new experience, the skinny one had never heard of this number. Do check this one out, if crooning, schmaltz is not for you.
Finally, a Mercer favourite – and there are plenty to choose from, including “Moon River”, “It’s Only a Paper Moon” and the seasonally appropriate but scorned by the PC thought police who read things into innocent words, “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. (These simple ears just loved the recording by Märt Matsoo and Raja Raudsepp, a duet of this lovely song a few years back).
The gracile guy refers in the title to “Accentuate the Positive”, of which Mercer was the lyricist. The song opens thus: “You’ve got to accentuate the positive/ Eliminate the negative/ Latch on to the affirmative/ Don’t mess with Mister-In-Between”.
Now, how can you go wrong listening to this oldie, written for the 1944 movie “Here Come the Waves”? It is present in the growing, certainly not slender record collection, and available, of course in multiple versions on YouTube. Feeling blue and sad, anxious and depressed? A dose of Mercer, others of his generation will assuredly provide welcome stress relief.
