Sorry about the brief hiatus

It was unplanned. It sort of just happened. Life got in the way, I think. Maybe I had post-quinceanara blues. Anyway, now I'm back.

One of my favorite songs of the past half-century is "When October Goes". The lyrics were written by songwriter Johnny Mercer who died in 1976. His widow presented Barry Manilow with several of her husband's unfinished songs in the hope that he might be able to compose music for them.

When Barry Manilow's album 2:00 AM Paradise Cafe was released in 1984, one of the tracks was "When October Goes" and I think it is great, bordering on exquisite, a perfect marriage of lyrics and music. Let's hear it for collaboration, even posthumously.

If you want to listen to Barry's version or Rosemary Clooney's (she's George's aunt, you know) or Nancy Wilson's -- they're all good but my favorite is Barry's -- be my guest. I am not including a link here as you are all big boys and girls who surely know how to find someone's YouTube video via Google.

I do have a request of you, however. Please tell me which of the following two layouts of the lyrics you prefer. One of them was with Barry Manilow's version and one was with Rosemary Clooney's (did I tell you she was George's aunt?).


A. Version 1, Layout of lyrics to "When October Goes":

And when October goes
The snow begins to fly
Above the smokey roofs
I watch the planes go by
The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky
Oh, for the fun of them
When I was one of them

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And you are in my arms
To share the happy years
I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see October go
I should be over it now I know
It doesn't matter much
How old I grow
I hate to see October go


B. Version 2, Layout of lyrics to "When October Goes":

And when October goes
The snow begins to fly
Above the smokey roofs
I watch the planes go by

The children running home
Beneath a twilight sky
Oh for the fun of them
When I was one of them

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And I am in your arms
To share the happy years

I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see
October go.

And when October goes
The same old dream appears
And I am in your arms
To share the happy years

I turn my head away
To hide the helpless tears
Oh how I hate to see
October go.

I should be over it now, I know
It doesn't matter much
How old
I grow
I hate to see
October
Go.


You see the difference. A has breaks every eight lines and B has breaks every four lines, then does something different at the end. It's interesting to me how the printed layout can affect one's enjoyment of what basically is poetry.

I do hope you will find the videos and listen to them. The song is hauntingly beautiful. Perhaps listening to it will even affect your choice of A or B.

For the record (see what I did there?), I prefer B.