Sing Books with Emily, the Blog

Muppets are big in my house.  My son reminded me of this funny segment from one of the Muppet Shows.  I’m not sure if it would transfer very well into a SPB, but it sure is funny.  Plus, it pretty well captures my “inner” environment,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu_6hdGZ6gU

Humor aside, though, this is an absolutely wonderful song.  Something about the feelings and images produced by the music of  Michel LeGrand and words of Alan and Marilyn Bergman are very special.  One argument for singing songs like this with children is that the songs are FILLED with amazingly robust vocabulary, gorgeously written images, and glorious poetry.

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The song is
WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND
Music by Michel LeGrand  
Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman

Round, like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousell that’s turning
Running rings around the moon

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes on its face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly
Was it something that you said
Lovers walk along the shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand

Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of a song
Half remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong
When you knew that it was over
You were suddenly aware (alt=In the autumn of goodbyes)
That the Autumn leaves were turning (alt=For a moment)
To the color of his hair (alt=You could not recall the color of his eyes)

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circle that you find
In the windmills of your mind

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Hear the ever astounding Barbra Streisand sing this song:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxPp-wRxNoc

Revel in the words and her attention to detail in singing them.  Listen to her and let the images form in your imagination.  This song is glorious.

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Click these links for some interesting illustrations for the song:

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A brain made up of windmills:
http://claireevabenoit.blogspot.com/2011/05/windmills-of-your-mind-by-dusty.html

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A rendering in calligraphy:
http://www.chooseit.org.au/calligraphy/gallery_pics/Ailsa_Fergusson_-_Windmills_of_your_mind_Jan10.jpg

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A female head with windmills:
http://koukoula.tumblr.com/#13402464167

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Water gate of the Palazzo Barbaro
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/4811/102010venice2gb151.jpg

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SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK WISHES 2 (SONGS THAT WISH TO BE ILLUSTRATED)
There songs are BEGGING to become Singable Picture Books
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/singable-picture-book-wishes-2-songs-that-wish-to-be-illustrated/