August 6, 2013 (Tuesday)
Recently Turner Classic Movies showed “New Moon,” a 1940 movie featuring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald, whose outstanding voices thrilled audiences for years. The movie featured several songs which are still popular today. One of the songs was, “Stout-hearted Men.” The music was composed by Sigmund Romberg and the words by Oscar Hammerstein. My own personal observation about Hammerstein’s work is that his is one of the greatest influences for optimism and belief in America that the entertainment industry has produced. His life spanned the era from 1895 to 1960, and within that period he gave us the stories and lyrics of Show Boat, Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, South Pacific, The King and I, and many others.
Our culture has become so jaded that many people seem to be embarrassed by virtue, integrity and honor. We would do well to return to the ideals that built this nation. Here are the words of the song that prompted me to write this blog today (In the film, Nelson Eddy is rallying his men to follow him to a battle which appears to be hopeless):
You who have dreams, if you act they will come true.
To turn your dreams to a fact, it’s up to you.
If you have the soul and the spirit,
Never fear it, you’ll see it thru,
Hearts can inspire other hearts with their fire,
For the strong obey when a strong man shows them the way.
Give me some men who are stout-hearted men,
Who will fight, for the right they adore,
Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men,
And I’ll soon give you ten thousand more.
Shoulder to shoulder and bolder and bolder,
They grow as they go to the fore.
Then there’s nothing in the world can halt or mar a plan,
When stout-hearted men can stick together man to man.