Story Behind The Song

When my 89 year old father-in-law had surgery and was confined to a convalescent care facility to recover, I couldn't help but notice how many elderly people would spend each day alone with no visits from either friends or relatives. There was one 93 year old woman who really caught my attention, as each time we arrived, she would be in the same spot, staring out the window as though she hadn't moved from one day to the next. I did speak with her on occasion and she was very lucid and quite interesting, but each time we'd visit, she was in the very same position and staring out the window with an unfocused intensity. I couldn't help but wonder what it was that captured her attention to such an extent until the word "memories" came to mind. One's never alone if they have memories, so I pictured what her memories might be.

Song Description

This is a glimpse of what an elderly woman might dream of as she loses herself in her memories of a life gone by.

Lyrics

Play It Again, Sam

She stares out the window
At nothing outside
The pictures she's seein'
Are all in her mind
The sounds all around her
Fade into the air
Replaced by the voices
That she used to hear

She sees herself back in a different time
Like watching a movie they made of her life

She was Greta Garbo and Lauren Bacall
Deitrich and Bergman
She's been one and all
In moments remembered
With her leading men
She feels herself dancing
As Sam plays the music again

She pictures her Bogey
So handsome and young
The nights were forever
When held in his arms
His kisses were tender
Like they'd never end
And so she remembers
Her first leading man

But like Casa Blanca the time wasn't right
He's left there alone as she leaves in the night

She was Heddy Lamar she was Dorothy Lamour
Hayworth and Hepburn
She's been one and all
In moments remembered
With her leading men
She feels herself dancing
As Sam plays the music again

Then enters her Spenser
So solid and strong
Like Tracy with Hepburn
They made life a song
With laughter and romance
They danced through it all
A fairy-tale princess
Her knight at the ball

Then her leading man took his last curtain call
But left her with memories when they had it all

She was Heddy Lamar she was Dorothy Lamour
Hayworth and Hepburn
She's been one and all
In moments remembered
With her leading men
She feels herself dancing
As Sam plays the music again

A hand on her shoulder
Her movie must end
She looks out the window
It's night time again
She's wheeled to her bedroom
And when she's tucked in
She closes her eyes
And her memories begin

She first hears the music from times long ago
Then pictures herself as the star of the show

She was Greta Garbo and Lauren Bacall
Deitrich and Bergman
She's been one and all
In moments remembered
With her leading men
She feels herself dancing
As Sam plays the music again
Again....
Again....