Completing my personal playlist of songs that contributed to my optimistic outlook is Doris Day singing “Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)".
I think my parents owned a copy of this record, and perhaps at some point I saw Doris Day perform the song in a movie, probably The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). (Maybe I saw the rerun, years later!)
Although the song begins, “When I was just a little girl…” I was still able to glean something from the lyrics. The song exhorts the listener to live in the now and warns against thinking that you (or someone else) knows what the future holds.
Wise women (and men) don’t waste today’s limited emotional resources on tomorrow’s “what-if’s?”
This song, which became Doris Day’s signature song, inspired me to trust that the future would take care of itself. The song has a happy message, just like so many of the Doris Day movies. The movies of my youth had happy endings.
Later on I heard plenty of depressing songs, saw sad movies, and read sad stories. But in my youth, I fed on Happy Endings and Happy Songs. And I’m glad I did. Those stories gave me a basic outlook that helps me to see the cup half full, the silver lining in the darkest cloud, and I anticipate the rainbow after the storm.
What colors your outlook?
Me? I got my rose-colored glasses in my youth. They’ve been beat up from time to time, but now I have an informed naiveté that allows me a rose-colored optimism instead of a gray-colored pessimism.
That optimism makes my life more enjoyable, and it propels me in my quest to make the world a better place, at least the little part of the world within my reach.
Here’s a video of Doris Day singing the song.
Here are the lyrics:
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever will be, will be)
When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother, what will I be
Will I be pretty, will I be rich
Here's what she said to me.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
When I was young, I fell in love
I asked my sweetheart what lies ahead
Will we have rainbows, day after day
Here's what my sweetheart said.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
Now I have children of my own
They ask their mother, what will I be
Will I be handsome, will I be rich
I tell them tenderly.
Que Sera, Sera,
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours, to see
Que Sera, Sera
What will be, will be.
Awesome post Don! So very true. We all need to have this type of outlook on life. Thank you for helping start the day out right.
ReplyDeleteI was reading a piece on Doris Day as I was researching for this blog entry. Her movie persona was described as "relentlessly upbeat." There's a outlook I like!
ReplyDelete