43. The Man from Snowy River Soundtrack by Bruce Rowland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq8bufY8xRk&list=OLAK5uy_ksHxdUV5tiC996oSxidRH0D7BjgYpDbjw
After suffering through two psychologically excruciating months with my first companion in Sweden, Elder Boehm came to my much-needed rescue. And one of the most important things that he brought with him to Östersund was The Man from Snowy River Soundtrack.
It was officially off-the-program listening, but Elder Boehm said it was okay to listen to it because it was really close to classical music and didn't have distracting lyrics. So we listened to this album pretty much two or three times every night for the three months we were together. After we finished up a long day of rejection-filled door-to-door tracting, we would put on the tape and enjoy a late-evening snack of hard bread (or regular bread), jam, and cheese. I never tired of the tape for two reasons. First, it reminded me of the movie, which I liked very much--so much so that I had seen it probably a dozen or more times before my mission. Second, because it was an Australian western, it reminded me of my Dad, which served his mission in Australia, and watching The Paul Hogan Show on Sunday nights with Dad, which was always fun to think about when the boredom of mission life began to weigh me down.
When my time with Elder Boehm came to a close, he went with me to the airport for my flight to Stockholm, where I was going to catch a train to Katrineholm. As a parting gift, he gave me a copy of his tape of The Man from Snowy River Soundtrack, which I appreciated so much it made me cry.
Okay. I didn't cry because of the tape. I cried because I loved Elder Boehm for everything he had done for me and for the way he had restored at least a little bit of my sanity after those first two months. But I did really like that tape. And I listened to it many nights for the rest of my mission and even after. In fact, I may have listened to it more than any of my other albums--besides my Billy Joel albums that is. And because I loved listening to it so much on my mission, when my brother and my nephews and my niece went to serve missions, I made sure that they all got a Man from Snowy River CD to play at night. And I like to think that they all ate bread and jam and cheese while they listened.
When I see that you've posted a new album to this list, my reactions usually are something like, "Oh, that's a good choice," or "Yes, I like that album," or "Well, that's interesting," or "Hmmm...I wouldn't have guessed that."
ReplyDeleteBut when I saw THIS album listed, my reaction was, "WOOHOO!!! YES!!! AWESOME!!!" I was just so happy and thrilled, because I love this album, but I hadn't entertained so much as a single thought of it in my mind for years, nor did I really consider it for my list. It was as if someone had handed me an Idaho Spud candy bar--I used to love this, I still love this, and wow, this takes me back to a certain time in my life!
Of course, I then had to listen to the album several times. I've spent much of the past couple of months trotting around my house with horse music pumping through my brain. And images from the movie have been playing in my mind. (Specifically the slow-mo image of horse hooves in the snow during "Jim's Ride," between the 0:42 and 0:58 seconds mark of the song.)(And that damn brumbie raising up on its hind legs, threatening to bash me to death with its front legs.)
In my freshman year at BYU in 1984-1985, the first floor lounge of W Hall was the only place in the entire eight story building where girls were allowed. In one corner of the lounge there was a piano. And I don't think I can count the times that a guy (not just one guy, but many different guys) would be sitting at that piano trying to impress a girl by playing "Jessica's Theme" as overdramatically as they possibly could. There would be Shatner-esque dramatic pauses to raise the dramatic and romantic stakes. I always found it pretty darn funny.
So, imagine my surprise many years later when my brother-in-law, who wasn't even born until 1990, stepped up to our piano and started playing the one song he knows: "Jessica's Theme!" Other than that one song, I don't think he knows how to play anything else on the piano. Just that song. That's it. I don't know if he's ever even had piano lessons, but he can play "Jessica's Theme." It must just come with the genetic bro code.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to do some chores while trotting to the tune of "The Chase," or maybe I'll waltz around the house humming the tune to "Clancy's Theme." Or maybe I'll just sit by the billabong under the shade of a collibah tree.
And now, I've rattled loose another memory. My brother John had an old 45. I'm not sure if he got in Australia, or what the origins of it were, but I listened to it many times back in the day. Both songs were excellent, and I'm not sure which was the A-side and which was the b-side.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the all-knowingness of the interwebs, I've found that the artist was Frankie Davidson, and one side of the 45 was a song called "The Man From Snowy River." It tells quite a familiar tale, with a driving beat and some well-placed whip cracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Ud5E6X1b4
And the other side of the record was a little thing called "The Aussie Barbecue Song." It's worth a listen, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPjKWfCHsqM
G'day, mate!