Power, Pizzazz, and All That Jazz!

 
 
It’s the summer of 1937  
Gertrude is only fourteen  
She and her older sister sneak out of the house  
And Gertrude’s eyes have that certain gleam  
 
She’s mesmerized by the big city lights  
It’s something they’ve never seen  
They go into a club to see Benny Goodman  
As the big jazz band plays Sing, Sing, Sing  
 
-      -      -  
 
Henry has just turned twenty-five  
He and his friends go to see Cab Calloway  
They dance having the time of their lives  
Jumping and jiving celebrating his birthday  
 
Drinks and libations, it’s a celebration  
Henry and his friends are enjoying the show  
Cab on stage sings “hidee, hidee, hidee, hi”  
And everyone replies “hidee, hidee, hidee ho”  
 
It’s the fall of ‘51  
 
-      -      -  
 
Sylvia lowers the needle on to the record  
Seeing Duke’s name go around and around  
And the piano starts with a pretty rhythm  
Then the band joins with a big wall of sound  
 
The records starts with it don’t mean a thing  
Sylvia is dancing by herself in the living room  
The eighteen-year-old gives it a good swing  
Sylvia is dancing by herself with a broom  
 
Spring 1946  
 
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Roger and his friends have a free weekend  
They hear Glenn Miller is in the neighborhood  
So they take a cab to a jazz club downtown  
And you guessed it, they were in the mood  
 
Inside the club Roger sees a beautiful brunette  
He knew he’d remember this for the rest of his life  
Summoning some courage he asks her to dance  
That was the night Roger met his wife  
 
May 1st, 1944  
A week later he went off to fight in the war  
 
-      -      -  
 
Oh to dance  
To romance  
To take a chance and be young forever  
To have those moments frozen in time  
To have them resurface from the darkness  
To have them move and groove again,
it’s divine…  
 
Henry cries remembering that night  
Sylvia recalls dancing all alone  
Gertrude’s eyes gleam, lucid once again  
And Roger knew he’d make it back home  
 
Sandra smiles as she plays another song  
The iPods are filled with a big jazz catalog
Memories seems to come flooding back  
Temporarily lifting dementia’s fog  
.  
.  
.  
That’s the power of music