Danette McMahon
Bluebird on my windowsill, sing your song again for me
Tell me you will stay and never fly away
What is the message in your melody
Is it one that you wrote…just for me (2/4 measure)
Stay with me until the warmth of spring returns
The heat of summer’s gone at last, autumn leaves buried in the snow
If you must say goodbye, I will understand
But, tell me where you will go
Will you travel to exotic lands
Where lovers go to rendezvous? (2/4 measure)
While you’re gone I will miss your song and I will long for you
Bridge:
My wings were clipped long ago
Love came and went, now all I know
Is the loneliness in my quite room
I watch you flit from tree to tree
I wish it could be me
But, I’m too afraid to even try…to fly
My feathered friend when you take flight
What is it that you see
Could there be someone, somewhere…waiting for me
Bluebird is there someone waiting for me?
Story
Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of singing some beautiful songs from the Brazilian composer, Antonio Carlos Jobim. At the age of 16, I was invited to sit in with my guitar teachers’ band, performing for the first time on a night club stage! I chose “The Girl From Ipanema”, one of Jobim’s biggest hits, made famous by Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz. (By the way, this is the second most recorded song, in the history of recorded songs, next to “Summertime”, by George Gershwin.)
Forty years later, wanting to try something new for my composition class, Jobim was my inspiration. Of course, it had to have a Latin groove…that was mandatory! I can’t say why I chose a bluebird to focus on, as I searched for lyrics and a story line, but it all started making sense. I quickly grew attached to my little “feathered friend”.
I must admit, I’ve never had a serious conversation with a bird before, but this seemed like the perfect time to change that! I requested she sing “just for me”, questioned her travel plans and wondered what she saw on her journeys…especially, when she ventured to places “where lovers go to rendezvous.”
My lonely character had been wounded by love, cocooned in a fear based, self imprisonment. But, she remained curious about what was going on outside her four walls. She found a glimmer of hope, as she reached out to ‘Bluebird’. “Could there be someone, somewhere, waiting for me.”