June 15, 2017 (Thursday)
Today is National Smile Day. We learn to smile with meaning when we are about six weeks old. It comes naturally; no one has to teach us how to smile.
The musical score of the 1936 song, “Smile,” was penned by Charlie Chaplin; John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons wrote the lyrics. Here’s the first verse:
Smile though your heart is aching;
Smile even though it’s breaking.
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by.
If you smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You’ll see the sun come shining through for you.
As the nation clawed its way up and out of the Great Depression, war clouds gathered in Europe and would soon envelop the world. Songs such as this cheered people in tough times. The test of a song’s significance is the length of time it remains popular. This song is still popular today, 70 years since it was written. I think one of the reasons for its endurance is its positive message of hope.
We love songs that encourage us to lift up our heads, do our best, and rise above our problems. That’s why so many of the hymns are precious to us.
I think of some of the hymns that lift us:
Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you.
and,
Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful day,
Day I will never forget,
After I wandered in darkness away,
Jesus my Savior I met.
or,
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus,
I cannot bear my burden alone,
I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus,
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
and,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
and, oh, so many, many more precious hymns of the faith. The old song urges us, “Sing and smile and pray, that’s the only way, (for) if you sing and smile and pray you’ll drive the clouds away.”
(Revised from October 22, 2007 November 7, 2011 and March 21, 2017 blogs).
Click here to review the March 21 blog and find a link to hear Nat King Cole sing this song.