A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide To 'The Sound Of Music'

NPR ^ | 11/08/13 | Linda Holmes

[martin_fierro]

[Cloverfarm]

Big happy sigh. After reading the column, I’m looking forward to seeing the movie again.

I thought the scene of the captain and Maria dancing was the most romantic moment ever. *sigh*

[Fiji Hill]

The music in The Sound of Music seems to have been inspired by the dark side of human existence. Take for example, "Do, Re, Mi":

• "Do--a dear, a female dear"--In the context of the song, most likely a reference to a gangster's moll

• "Re--a drop of golden sun"--An obvious reference to marijuana, known in some quarters as "sunshine" or "Acapulco gold"

• "Mi--a name I call myself"--If you call yourself by an alias, you are probably up to no good

• "Fa--a long, long way to run"--A drug-smuggling route, in which drugs are brought a long, long way from the mountains of Laos or Peru to the streets of Los Angeles

• "Sol--a needle pulling thread"--needles are used to shoot drugs such as heroin

• "La--a note that follows sol"--The need for a follow-up suggests drug addiction

• "Ti--a drink with jam and bread"--"Jam" is another slang term for marijuana, purchased with "bread," or cash

• "That will bring us back to do"--the gang is in charge

[pbear8]

The person who wrote this takes everything literally. Must be completely joyless, lacking in humor and whimsy, and totally obnoxious to boot. But then she works for NPR, so that says it all.

While I agree with you, #17 made me laugh.

[Jeff F]

From Hotel Golden Hirsch in Salzburg (est. 1407):

[ctdonath2]

A delightful list, which I shall wisely make a point of not sharing with my “The Sound of Music” obsessed wife.

[CatherineofAragon]

I’ve just never been able to get into musicals. When people are talking onscreen and suddenly break into song, I just cringe.

[CatherineofAragon]

LOL

[jocon307]

“It’s one thing to use a metaphor about uninterrupted mountain climbing if you’re in Nebraska, but when you look out of the window every day and see more mountains than you could ever climb in your entire life, that’s just setting you up to feel like a failure.”

I LOVE The Sound of Music, but this was all pretty funny. And I do like how our gentle author sticks up for the Baroness. Hey, it’s not her fault, people!

[Tax-chick]

So basically, you are going to live the life of Sisyphus until you die of exhaustion because your insatiable dream forces you to throw all of your energy into its gaping, unsatisfiable maw.

Or in other words, marriage and motherhood.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Read this...

Not fluff...

[yarddog]

If he was a U-Boat commander and survived, that makes him a very lucky person.

[JmyBryan]

They make me feel funny as well. I find watching the actors who aren’t singing the most interesting. How do you “act” when someone breaks into song while you’re talking to them?

[CatherineofAragon]

LOL, they must be well-trained, I guess. I think I would start to giggle.

[workerbee]

I am 46 years old. This movie has aired on network TV just about every year of my life, and I have yet to watch it in its entirety.

We're the same age. I could probably recite the script by heart!

When I was growing up, watching this movie was an annual tradition in my family -- because, of course, "back in the day" you could only watch network TV, when they chose to air it, and there was no such thing as "recording." At Thanksgiving it was The Sound of Music, at Easter it was Ben Hur.

I don't know if it was because my mother just liked the movie... because we were Catholics and it was "about" Catholics.... or what. But my sister and I (and my brothers, I guess, by default LOL) would mark the calendar, pop the corn and get to stay up late to see TSoM in all its glory. To this day, I love the dance scene on the terrace between Maria and Capt. VonTrapp!

[dfwgator]

DOUGH... the stuff...that buys me beer...

RAY..... the guy that sells me beer...

ME...... the guy... who drinks the beer,

FAR..... the distance to my beer

SO...... I think I’ll have a beer...

LA...... La la la la la la beer

TEA..... no thanks, I’m drinking beer...

That will bring us back to...(Looks into an empty glass)

D’OH!

[workerbee]

Or in other words, marriage and motherhood.

You always have cool things like this to say. That's why I love your posts.

[workerbee]

Is your name really Homer?

[sphinx]

The movie becomes tedious after too many viewings, but only something pretty good gets to that point to begin with. Nowadays I appreciate it mainly as a period piece, from the era in which stage performances were being transferred as exactly as possible to cinema without the filmmakers feeling entitled to take liberties with the "authentic" original. Today most of us appreciate Sound of Music as, first and foremost, a movie. What it actually is, of course, is a classic Broadway musical which ran for 6,587,000 performances, give or take. Which brings me to:

We took the kids some years back to see a stage performance at Wolftrap. In that version, Rolfe, did NOT betray the family in the climactic scene. Which leads to the natural question, how did R&H originally script it? Reversing Rolfe's decision is a pretty big liberty to take.

[DManA]

One of my classmates wrote our class song. But it sounded exactly like the theme song of a popular cartoon (I can’t remember anymore which one). And everyone on the stage knew it - except the poor girl who was so thrilled to have her creation sung at graduation. I hope no one told her.