"As Time Goes By."

https://jeffnords.tumblr.com/post/172008144956/jeffrey-sings-as-time-goes-by

Two Saturdays ago at the restaurant, as soon as I came in and started to set up my equipment, a woman started asking for requests. She said it was her birthday and asked if I knew "As Time Goes By." Then she waited with her partner for 45 minutes while I got all set up, and I started the set with it.

"As Time Goes By" is a gorgeous little song, but admittedly it doesn't fit my overall attitude towards things these days. The song's decidedly affirmative of the status-quo: man and woman, man needs woman, woman needs mate, don't deny the patriarchy, etc..

I don't follow that doctrine anymore. As I sang the song, I couldn't help but question every second line as propaganda; by the time I was finished, I felt like I'd added to the patriarchal ether by performing it even while kids were in the audience. Sigh.

It felt a little icky, but that's how nostalgia works. When I posted this video to my personal Facebook page, a friend wrote,

I always think of this song as the song that punctuated the end of ww2. Nice job (Not that that thought is actually historically accurate)

And I guess that drives it home. It fits the post-war era perfectly. But how we've changed.