We were more than a little surprised when Elvis Presley showed up at NYLI with his entourage — Carmen Miranda, Tina Turner, Marilyn Monroe and Amy Winehouse, for our Favorite Song Lyric Contest Drawing. Tina had the honor of drawing the winners — but all of of our celebrity guests were as touched as we were by the thoughtful choices for songs of all participants…
Here they are… complete with YouTube clips — so make sure to click & sing along…. and we’ll reveal the lucky winner at the end !!
“My favorite song lyrics can be found in “You Raised me Up so I can stand on Mountains” by Josh Groban…. after all I’ve been through — sickness and disappointments — Yet I am still standing — and without God’s grace and His Mercy I wouldn’t be here… Josh Groban‘s song captures that for me”
— Florette Clarke; Librarian, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP
“And we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do” from Southern Cross by Crosby Stills & Nash.… this line is so brilliant in its simplicity and practically tossed off at the end of the song. It is a great summation of a relationship that you want to work, but just doesn’t. It doesn’t blame either side, as neither put the work in”
— Janice Easton-Epner: Technical Services Librarian, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
” ‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond will be the song for the father daughter dance at our daughter Caroline’s wedding. Blessed beyond measure to celebrate ‘good times’ on July 1, 2023″.
— Ann Green; Librarian, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
“I can’t resist bringing attention to this one — Jobim’s Waters of March…. one of the greatest songs ever….”
Ellen Kaufman, Retired Librarian & Poet
“My favorite is ‘Tangled up in Blue’ by Bob Dylan… ‘Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’/I was layin’ in bed/Wondrin’ if she changed at all/ If her hair was still red’. No matter what his circumstances are — job, living conditions, other relationships, he is always thinking and connected to her. He loved her even through the futility of it”
—- Luanne Macri, Educator
“My favorite lyrics are from Judy Collins ‘Cook with Honey’ — here they are ‘Find in favor with your neighbor/ Well, it can be so fine/ It’s easier than pie to be kind’. Judy Collins is a national treasure first and foremost. And it’s a wonderful song about how food and kindness bring neighbors together…. like the reference to pie in this lyric!”
— Daniel McLaughlin; Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP.
“Well, I like to say anything by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but one song that comes to mind is ‘Say a Little Prayer for You’… which begins ‘the moment I wake up before I put on my makeup’.… The song was feature in the movie ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ both in the restaurant scene where they all sing… and the final song where Julia Roberts character dances to…My Mom was also a huge Bacharach fan.”
Jeanine McPartlin; Librarian, Windels Marx
I’m picking a song I first when on a Girl Scout trip to Wyoming…“On the Loose”. I always felt that the lyrics were really great — ‘Have you every seen the sunrise turn the sky completely red? Have you slept beneath the moon and stars with a pine bough for your head?” and the music works as well; It always transports me back to my first trip away from home & on my own.. as the chorus concludes “And a whole world yet to see, And I’ll be searching for tomorrow, on the loose…”
Stacey Pilson: Technical Services Librarian, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
“I’ve got to to with lyrics from ‘A Day in the Life’ by Lennon & McCarthy… especially the part written by Lennon:
Reason: Best portrayal ever of the mundane absurdity of news/what passes for learning/work/life/death. It’s not cheery, but it’s deep. The entire song is a masterpiece”.
—-Paulette Toth; Kirkland & Ellis
“My submission for the lyrics contest — is from ‘Walls’ by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.. ‘Some Days are Diamonds/Some days are rocks/some doors are open/some roads are blocked/Sundowns are golden/ Then fade away….’
Why I like it: this song is a simple reminder that life is all about balance. We take the good with the bad & keep moving forward”
—Tina M. Zoccali; Alston & Bird
And now for NYLI staff picks…..
I have many favorite songs and song lyrics from the Beatles to Simon & Garfunkel to James Taylor. You can tell my vintage by these choices. But I keep going back to something even older, a blue grass country song from the late 1930s, “You Are My Sunshine.” It’s not the Pine Ridge Boys original version or the later Bing Crosby and Gene Autry’s versions that I hear in my head. It’s my late father singing this song to me and my siblings and later to my girls. “You’ll never know, dear How much I love you.” has special meaning for me.
My fav3 is different on different days. Today I’ll go with Heigh Ho by Tom Waits.
I must say my favorite is Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It”… I love it for the attitude!!
One of my favorites is Stardust. The words match the music in wistfulness.
Too many to choose from… but I’ll say my #1 is ‘Truckin’ by The Grateful Dead. I sang that song after my husband George died. I had to keep truckin’ .. this song and my prayers to God helped me ‘get through this day’ & kept me going….
My choice is “Time in a Bottle”… I just love anything by Jim Croce….
My fave song is Under Your Scars by Godsmack .
—Ellyssa Valenti
And a drumroll now for the lucky winners…drawn by Tina Turner (aka Pheobe Hurtte)….
And many thanks to all who participated in NYLI’s Favorite Song Lyric contest…. we’ve learned some new tunes… and a little more about our fellow librarians….
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