Sunday, October 18, 2009

Songs My Mother Taught Me . . . Ebb Tide




{This is the fifth in an undetermined number of songs my mother taught me I'm posting this month in her memory. For background, please visit the post containing the first song, Ivory Tower.}


Thursday and Friday, both days and both nights, were heavenly on the Oregon coast. The predicted storm hit as I was checking out of the motel on Saturday morning. So, once again, my October soul journey to the beach included hours walking on the sand. Thinking. Not thinking.

One thought that came into my mind on Thursday evening when I took these shots at Lincoln City beach was a song, one that I hadn't thought of for so long and that was not on my list of possibilities for this month's series of songs my mother taught me. It came gently into my memory as I marveled over the silvery sunset and the beauty of everything in my view. Ebb Tide.

My mother had an album with a photo of the ocean on the cover, and I think the title of the album was Ebb Tide. In any case, it was not an album that I, as a child, appreciated in the slightest. I don't remember any other songs on the album except Ebb Tide, and it was a ghastly organ piece that made me say Ewwww. To this day organ music (with some few exceptions in the classical genre) is about the only music that truly repels me. I hated this instrumental piece as much as my mother loved it. Even when the Righteous Brothers came out with their version in the mid-1960s I rejected Ebb Tide, while very much loving their other work.

So it was a real surprise for Ebb Tide to come to me at the beach, and an even greater surprise to find myself singing the song as I walked (at least the few words I remembered from hearing the Righteous Brothers version on the radio), and an even greater surprise to find myself actually enjoying selecting the version I liked best from numerous versions by many artists in videos at youtube. No surprise, however, that my favorite rendition would be sung by Frank Sinatra. I love Frank Sinatra.......and my mother? She hated him. She didn't have one of his records, so I came to my appreciation of his work later as a young adult. That makes this particular post a real compromise!

Ebb Tide. One of the songs my mother taught me because she so loved the ocean after spending her 'tween and teen years in Santa Monica. She was so content retiring in Oregon an hours drive from the coast, where we scattered her ashes as she requested, and where I feel closest to her.





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8 comments:

Bon'O said...

"If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there..."

This song, about Cape Cod on that 'other' coast--more than any other--takes me back to my earliest childhood memories shared with Mom on the Oregon Coast. You may recall my PM to you after you posted the old 'Astoria' postcard. Since the serendipitous discovery of your blog with that post, you've stirred many happy mom-music memories. Kudos on the occasion of your anniversary beach weekend. I plan a similar solitary 'sketch-pad weekend' next month to celebrate my own late mother on her birthday at her favorites in Yachats and Agate Beach.

Looking to the Stars said...

Welcome Back, love the pics (and the new one of you). It is truly beautiful were you are.

I had never heard Ebb Tide from either artists. Thanks for sharing!

Nancy said...

I don't remember this song, but my father also hated Frank Sinatra!

Glad you had some walking and thinking and not thinking time. I love the Oregon coast. I could happily retire there.

Lydia said...

@Bon'O- O, thank you for your comments! They made me very happy, and I love sharing our memories of our mothers as we have. Your sketch-pad weekend is a beautiful idea...at Yachats, which is a gorgeous place (I'm not familiar with Agate Beach). So glad you are enjoying the tunes!

@Looking to the Stars- Thanks! It's good to be back and to have another wonderful comment from you.
Be thankful that you never heard Ebb Tide in the organ version!

@Nancy- That's funny that at least two parents from Sinatra's era hated him.
I took a photo of a simple 3 bedroom/2 bath home for sale just down the street from where I stayed. It's for sale for $1M+...looking over the ocean is the reason because the place wasn't anything spectacular. Still, though, I'd retire there!

Phivos Nicolaides said...

The picture and the song are very good. I liked them!

Darlene said...

I remember the name Ebb Tide, but it must not have been one of my favorites because I can't remember the melody (even after listing to Sinatra).

When Sinatra hit the scene Bing Crosby was the favorite crooner and some people (like my step-dad) hated Sinatra making it a competition between the two. You were either for Frankie or Bing.

It took me several years to appreciate Sinatra. He didn't have a powerful voice and was not considered a good singer by the critics for that reason.

j said...

Oh, Frank!

(I grabbed your new picture -- will have it up by the end of the week, when I update again.)

Lydia said...

@Phivos- Thank you. :) I hope you are having a great week.

@Darlene- That's interesting background on Bing Crosby's prominence back then. So Frank Sinatra had to prove himself!
I had a boss when I first moved to Oregon who "ba-ba-ba-booed" around the office. He kinda looked like Bing Crosby. He was also a worthless boss!

@Jennifer- You like him too, I gather. :) The only cd of his that I have is the one with Ebb Tide. It's a great cd titled: Only The Lonely (I guess it's one of the more favored by critics and fans alike.)
(Thanks for the photo update.)

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