'Tis Autumn

    It has occurred to me that I have not felt silly for some time, and in fact, I don’t feel silly now.  Still, I thought the sensation would be tonic and so, in an effort to capture it, I turned to one of the silliest songs I know in the standard repertoire, the timely and loveably goofy ’Tis Autumn, written in 1941 by Henry Nemo.  Nemo also wrote Don’t Take Your Love from Me, which was done by Lena Horne and Artie Shaw. 

     Don’t Take Your Love from Me is actually a better song than Tis Autumn, but, unfortunately for the moment, it is not silly.

     Actually, Tis Autumn is not as trifling as its lyrics might make it sound.  It’s fairly boiler- plate overall but, for players, there is a nice sequence of chords leading up to “shout” “hoot” and “climb”.  And speaking of the lyrics, they are the chief cause of the high silliness score here, with all of their la de dahs and dah de dums, and though they seem to dwell too long on the arboreal and avian motifs, they make a welcome and clever return to human affairs in the last stanza.

     I confess the song is a guilty pleasure.  I apologize for singing it, but if I had not, I wouldn’t have felt well, you know….  Click on the title in red to hear it.

 Tis Autumn

 Ole Father Time checked

So there’d be no doubt;

Called on the north wind

To come on out,

Then cupped his hands

So proudly to shout,

La de da, de da de dum

Tis Autumn.

The trees say they’re tired,

They’ve borne too much fruit.

Charmed all the wayside

There’s no dispute.

Now, shedding their leaves,

They don’t give a hoot.

La de da, de da de dum

Tis Autumn.

Bridge:

Then the birds got together

To chirp about the weather, Mmm

After making their decision

In birdy-like precision,

Turned about

And made a bee-line

To the South.

My holding you close really is no crime.

Ask the birds, the trees and Ole Father Time.

It’s just to help the mercury climb!

La de da, de da de dum

Tis Autumn.