Do You Believe in Magic? ... Magic Moments ... and The First Time....

The Looking Glass
by Jennifer Johnston



Intercloud lightning over Toulouse, France
Original image by Image:Lightning Sequence 2
Author: Sebastian D'Arco Animation: Koba-Chan
Licensed under Wikipedia Commons

Those who have read many of my blogposts (certainly on the Reflections blog) know that music ... and memories ... are very important to me, particularly when they intertwine and meld into sweet sustaining psychic harmonies. The wonderfully yclept Lovin' Spoonful (whose name was inspired by lines in the song Coffee Blues by Mississippi John Hurt) sang, perhaps somewhat metaphorically, in 1965:

Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts ...
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll...

Just go and listen, it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try ...
... you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind.

If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until morning 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me.

Yeah, do you believe in magic...?

I do believe in magic ... in a young girl's heart, in meaningful words and music, in the "connection" of twindred souls, in the haunting peace conferred by lovely reflections and dreams.... I've never depended on anyone else to "make magic" for me ... but sometimes, when the "music" is right, we may come together to burn transcendent, even immortal, memories to light the corners of our minds (with a nod to the 1981 recording by Barbra Streisand).

We all have memories we treasure, touchstones of our lives ... and we all have certain commonalities of memory, "big" memories ... the day we married, the births of our children. But I am not speaking of those large milestones here. I am talking of "special" memories, small but important and sometimes portentous moments, perhaps lasting only a short while ... which become indelible, immutable threads in the multi-hued tapestry of our lives. Such as:



A raindrop, Image by Uni Mainz

★ The first time you read something that fired every synapse and neuron in your brain, caused you to check your premises and re-evaluate your thinking, and lit an eternal flame in your soul ... that intimated your destiny, and future reveries.... (As Paul Anka sang in 1958 in You Are My Destiny....)

★ The first time you ever played an instrument (if that is what lights your fire ... with a nod to The Doors) ... your own magnum opus perhaps (grin) ... and felt in that transcendent moment you had achieved near-perfect pitch and rhythm.... (I played the saxophone and have always loved its sound, like the haunting, melancholy saxophone of Harlem Nocturne by Earle Hagan and the 1954 sax-saturated Sexy Ways by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters....)

★ The first time you believed in Superman and knew just how high the Witchy Woman (with sparks flying from her fingertips and the moon in her eyes) could fly, without need of a silver spoon.... (Immortalized by The Eagles in 1972 with driving, seductive drumbeats, perfectly blended harmonies and rockin' cataclysmic chords....)

★ The first time you found your "signature" scent by the reaction it caused ... mine was and is Emilio Pucci's Vivara ... with notes of almond amaretto, sambac jasmine, narcissus and orange blossom, reminiscent of the Italian Riviera. ("You know you put a spell on me..." as the Swiss group Shakra sang in Sweet Perfume....)


This Magic Moment, another all-time favorite of mine, written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman and first recorded by Ben E. King and The Drifters, charted at No. 16 in 1960. It was covered in 1969 by Jay and the Americans, making it to No. 6 that year ... but I've always had a preference for The Drifters' version. Every time I hear that magical, swirling intro the song just takes me away:

This magic moment, so different and so new
Was like any other, until I kissed you
And then it happened,
It took me by surprise
I knew that you felt it too
By the look in your eyes.

Sweeter than wine,
Softer than a summer night
Everything I want I have
Whenever I hold you tight.

This magic moment
While your lips are close to mine
Will last forever,
Forever 'til the end of time.




Caramel ice cream
Source: Lotus Head

There are so many magic moments in our lives, that come to us sometimes without much or any planning, but stay with us forever, like:

★ The first time you shared a frothy lagniappe after a fantastic feast, with crème fraîche at the corners of your mouths emphasizing slow, loving smiles.... (A Taste of Honey, Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass, on the Whipped Cream & Other Delights album, 1960)

★ The first time you and your love were drenched in a steamy, late-summer shower, the downpour soaking your hair and skin, the echo of Laughter in the Rain and a shiver running up your spine (with a nod to Neil Sedaka) ... then slowly drying off in the heat, your hair in disarray ... but you didn't care....

★ The first time with your soul mate in a different place, a different space, outside your usual "comfort zone" ... but still it seemed familiar, looking at each other in the same way then but you couldn't remember where or when (as Perry Como sang in 1948, and Dion and the Belmonts took to No. 3 in 1960)....

★ The first time the tide rushed in, knocked you off your feet and left you gasping.... (Cue Ebb Tide, written in 1953 and then recorded that year by Vic Damone, covered in subsequent years by numerous artists, including Frank Sinatra, Lenny Welch ... of Since I Fell For You fame in 1963, another killer song ... and The Righteous Brothers, whose version was arguably the most successful, hitting No. 5 on the charts in 1965....)

In 1968, Steppenwolf hit with Magic Carpet Ride (words and music by John Kay and Rushton Moreve):

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride?
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me,
Fantasy will set you free.
Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl....

★ The first time you were outside, absolutely surrounded by rain and wind and thunder and lightning ... and had absolutely no fear.... (Lightnin' Strikes by Lou Rawls: "Every boy wants a girl he can trust to the very end..." ... and beyond....)

★ The first time you shared and reveled in the still of the night.... (The Five Satins, 1956)

★ The first time you "went native" in a paradise that put you in a trance ... and the words from Little Anthony and the Imperials' pulsing 1960 hit Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop floated through your head....

★ The first time you shared ice cream in blazing incandescent heat, and exchanged sticky, flavored kisses ... and felt there was a special angel near.... (Bobby Helms' 1957 My Special Angel, and the 1968 cover by The Vogues....)

Don McLean posed this question in 1971 in American Pie:

Do you believe in rock and roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?



Los Angeles International Airport

I do believe in "rock 'n' roll" (oh, for sure!) ... and rhythm and blues ... and doo wop ... and slow, slow dancing ... and how they have lifted my immortal soul.... AND ... there is going to be a major "Rock, Rhythm and Doo Wop" concert in our area on June 12!!! And do you remember:

★ The first meaningful slow dance once upon a long, long time ago when a kiss stopped you from shaking ... as limned in Barry Manilow's 1974 hit Mandy (who came and gave without taking)....

★ The first kiss when your heart, and time, stopped and left you somewhere in space, hanging suspended like the Stranger in Paradise.... (Based on the music of Alexander Borodin, sung in the 1953 musical Kismet by Richard Kiley and immortalized in 1955 by Tony Bennett and by The Four Aces and by so many others....)

★ The first time you absorbed the pure poetry of Bob Lind's 1966 hit Elusive Butterfly ... "Don't be concerned, it will not harm you, it's only me pursuing something I'm not sure of" ... and it has ever since echoed softly in the distance through the canyons of your mind....

★ The first time you dared to Dream a Little Dream (1968) ... soaring with the wonderful contralto of Mama Cass Elliott (nee Ellen Naomi Cohen), gone too soon in 1974....

And do you remember the first time you heard Roberta Flack's beautiful, oh so evocative 1973 Grammy-winning hit The First Time ... and related to every gorgeous word....

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies, my love....
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last 'til the end of time, my love....

I remember the first time ... all the first times ... and the first time I truly believed forever is real ... and the universe is harmonious ... and there is a reason for everything.... Yes, I do believe in magic ... and I soooo hope you do too....

)O(