In late summer of 2005, my mother suffered a hard fall, breaking her right arm and suffering a hairline fracture of her pelvis. I took a year off from teaching to oversee her recovery, which considering her age and her various health issues, was never really complete.
After she came home from her surgery and rehabilitation, one of my many responsibilities was to keep her entertained and mentally sharp. In the process, I witnessed the profound connection between music and memory.
We both loved movies from the 1930s through 1950s, she by generation, me by inclination. While watching John Garfield, her favorite actor (and mine too), in “Pride of the Marines,” I caught a few bars of a song he whistles at one point: “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat.” I tracked it down on the internet, noted that the Inkspots had recorded it, and so I ordered a CD of their hits, and they had quite a few.
One afternoon, after the at-home therapist left, my mother sat in the living room knitting, her lifelong hobby and good therapy for her arm, hand, and mind. While she made clickity-clack music with her knitting needles, I played that CD. With the opening bars of the very first song, recognition came to her in a rush.
“Oh, the Ink Spots! They were one of my favorites!”
From song to song, she not only tapped out the beat with her right foot but, at a whisper, she sang along, not missing a word. Bemused, I asked her when she had last listened to those songs. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Probably before I married your father.”
She then told me of how she and some of her girlfriends back in New Jersey would venture into New York City to see their favorites performers. That’s how she met my father, on shore leave during World War II. That had been almost 60 years ago. The subtle, mnemonic power of music.
Listen, remember and act
Early on the last Sunday of February, I was listening to the radio while folding laundry. Being a retro-fringe beatnik, I usually listen to jazz (WDCB-FM), or to the news (WBBM-AM), but for some reason, I tuned into an oldies station (MeTV-FM). Mindless music for mindless work.
In mid-fold, I froze when I heard the opening bars of the next song on the playlist. The song came back to me in a rush, after not hearing it (that I know of), since it was a hit here in the U.S. in early 1970. The song was “United We Stand,” by the British pop group Brotherhood of Man.
But unlike my mother, the song didn’t cause me to reminisce about the past. (I remember it as a late spring song on the old WCFL-AM). After I finished with laundry and poured myself a third cup of coffee, I concluded, with knitted brow, that the song fitted our present time and recent events pertaining to President Donald Trump, events that I don’t want to forget. Nor should you.
Consider the following. Trump’s threats and rants during the 2024 campaign, appealing to the lowest denominator of the voting public. Then after his election and inauguration, his verbal attacks and especially his executive orders aimed at essential government agencies, funding, and workers, with Elon Musk and his chainsaw in charge. Trump’s ongoing demonizing of the government, as if it’s an enemy, sowing uncertainty, distrust, and disunity among us. Finally, his grossly disrespectful and alarming treatment of President Volodymr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, a supposed ally. I’ll leave room for whatever you may wish to add.
As for the song itself, the next day I downloaded a copy from Amazon Music, although it can be found on YouTube. Listening to it now, I wonder if we’ll completely recover from Trump’s machinations and his orange-faced anger. And so, “United We Stand” potentially becomes a song of political awareness and political action.
I say “potentially,” for while music and memory are powerful agents, taking action is quite different and often difficult to achieve or sustain. But we must try, or else we lose, we will lose all.
Listen! Act! Remember!
John Vukmirovich is a Chicago-area writer and book reviewer.
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