"Do Re Mi" Fa So over that music

Forewarning: This prompt's goal was to get me to talk about a song or some music that I have ambivalent feelings toward.


I'm just going to say it. When I was a junior in high school, I played Maria in our school's production of  "The Sound of Music."

That is not something that I usually like to openly share, and I'm sure it doesn't come across that way since I just blurted it out in cyberspace where it will stay forever. Let me take you back a few steps though, because as the musical tells us the beginning is "a very good place to start."

"Do Re Mi" Fa So over that music

I started singing in second grade when Mrs. Oaks, my bubbly, blonde music teacher, suggested that I audition for a professional children's chorus. I was accepted, and the next five years were some of the most frustrating and fulfilling I've ever experienced. I discovered that singing takes a lot of discipline and the competition is fierce. I also realized that I am, in fact, not the best singer – although I can sing. And I was completely fine with that. Singing was a hobby, not my life.

When I entered high school, I participated in the musicals every year. I was always itching for the program to grow, though, because the musicals we performed were not 'favorites.' Junior year, it seemed my wish was granted, and soon the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania would be "alive with 'The Sound of Music.'"

I auditioned, not thinking much of it; I was satisfied to just be a participant. When I found my name on the cast list, though, the role next to it read: "Maria." I could have died right then and there. How would I ever sing so many songs on stage by myself in front of huge audiences? The lights would glare in my face, and I anticipated sweaty armpits just thinking of all the notes I wouldn't hit. Wasn't Maria supposed to be a soprano? I was an alto! 

Over the next few months, friends, family, and directors comforted my fears and encouraged me to give the part my all. What you must understand, though, is that I loved "The Sound of Music," and I didn't think I was doing the show justice. I lacked confidence in myself, and perhaps that is where some of my ambivalent feelings for the show spurn from. Furthermore, it got really hard to love the crescendos that once gave me goosebumps after hearing the same songs every day for several months. One song in particular, though, really got my... goat.

If you've ever seen the musical, you're familiar with "The Lonely Goatherd," a playful song in which Maria and the kids put on a puppet show for their father. Before playing the role myself, I loved that song. It was upbeat, silly, and included yodeling. You can't deny yodeling.

But, oh, you can. Try yodeling for yourself once, and tell me repeatedly yodeling wouldn't be tiring. Try yodeling, while your director yells and spits commands at you and the other kids on stage. Try yodeling after, in your first show of the series, you forget lines before the song starts. 

I say that I have a love/hate relationship with that song, and the musical in general, because I still love the charm of the show, and no matter how many years participating in that show took off my life, it's a classic. I will watch it, but I cringe when someone mentions my playing Maria. Oh, and never ask me to sing the goat song. Your request would be met with an eye roll and a loud, "NO."

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After that show, I learned that I'm no Julie Andrews or Maria Von Trapp... but I tried. And I don't plan on trying that one ever again.