It's funny.
When I was much younger and the time came around again to watch The Sound of Music (as it inevitably did like clockwork once we added that movie to our library of five movies), I would always fast-forward through "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."
You know the song. It's the one Reverend Mother sings to convince Maria to face her problems. And also to tell her that it's okay for not-yet-a-nun types to fall in love with naval-captain types after that's-what-boarding-schools-are-for types scare them away.
I'm getting off track.
Anyway, I wasn't a fan of the scene. The old nun was, well, old; the singing was, to my uncivilized ears, painful; it was dark, shadowy (now a unique and interesting cinematographic choice); it was a little boring; and I didn't understand the purpose of the lyrics.
I like the song a little better now. It's definitely something that appeals to an older crowd. We've all had a dream that we had to give up and perhaps regret not pursuing.
Climb ev'ry mountain
Search high and low
Follow ev'ry by-way
Every path you know
Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream
A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Every day of your life
For as long as you live
source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/s/thesoundofmusiclyrics/climbevrymountainlyrics.html
As I think about it more and more, though, I can't make up my mind how I feel. This entire movie makes a lot of the common Hollywood suppositions that I really don't agree with: karma, all you need is love, they even take a shot at Creation.
I know, it's a movie, a musical at that, I'm not supposed to look that deeply into it. But I can't help it. So let's dive in.
The point of the lyrics is that when you want something, you have to work at it. You have to give it 100% devotion and attention. And it's not always easy to achieve your dream. You don't always know what it will be. But when you discover it, sometimes after a long time of agonizing searches, you have to honor the effort it took to find your dream by working to achieve it with everything you have.
On the surface, I agree with this. I've heard that it takes something like 10,000 hours of working at something to be considered an expert. I like to use Olympians as an example. You don't win a gold medal by practicing sometimes and thinking about it. They work hard. Have you ever looked up Michael Phelps' practice schedule? He put his body through hell so he could come away with a bajillion gold medals. So yes, you do have to work to achieve whatever dream you happen to pursue.
But I want to look at the context of this song. The Mother Abbess, a woman who has spent her life devoted to God, is telling a young novitiate to follow her dream. Here's where I'm confused. Genuinely. What is Maria's dream? To marry the Captain? She knows at this point that it's impossible. They both do. So why get her hopes up?
Yes, we know how the story ends. Georg really loved Maria, not Elsa. But this is not at all the advice a nun gives a young girl in the 30s! I could understand it if the Reverend Mother is telling her to search for God's plan for her life, since it apparently wasn't becoming a nun. Although, I'm not sure why. Sure, Maria was a bit boisterous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in a nun. The Catholic Church used to have a Vatican Women's Rifle Team. That's a bit more out there than singing in the abbey. And I've met nuns who were also agents for the FBI. But whatever, Maria doesn't want to be a nun, fine. The Reverend Mother can use this song, despite lacking in any mention of faith, God, God's will, etc., to show Maria that there are other paths God might take her down.
But no. She tells her to pursue her dream of possibly breaking up a man's potential marriage.
I think I'm coming down on the side of not liking this song again.
It's amazing how insidious these little ideas of forgetting God and following the world can be. And they are everywhere.
What are your thoughts?
When I was much younger and the time came around again to watch The Sound of Music (as it inevitably did like clockwork once we added that movie to our library of five movies), I would always fast-forward through "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."
You know the song. It's the one Reverend Mother sings to convince Maria to face her problems. And also to tell her that it's okay for not-yet-a-nun types to fall in love with naval-captain types after that's-what-boarding-schools-are-for types scare them away.
I'm getting off track.
Anyway, I wasn't a fan of the scene. The old nun was, well, old; the singing was, to my uncivilized ears, painful; it was dark, shadowy (now a unique and interesting cinematographic choice); it was a little boring; and I didn't understand the purpose of the lyrics.
I like the song a little better now. It's definitely something that appeals to an older crowd. We've all had a dream that we had to give up and perhaps regret not pursuing.
Climb ev'ry mountain
Search high and low
Follow ev'ry by-way
Every path you know
Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream
A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Every day of your life
For as long as you live
source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/s/thesoundofmusiclyrics/climbevrymountainlyrics.html
As I think about it more and more, though, I can't make up my mind how I feel. This entire movie makes a lot of the common Hollywood suppositions that I really don't agree with: karma, all you need is love, they even take a shot at Creation.
I know, it's a movie, a musical at that, I'm not supposed to look that deeply into it. But I can't help it. So let's dive in.
The point of the lyrics is that when you want something, you have to work at it. You have to give it 100% devotion and attention. And it's not always easy to achieve your dream. You don't always know what it will be. But when you discover it, sometimes after a long time of agonizing searches, you have to honor the effort it took to find your dream by working to achieve it with everything you have.
On the surface, I agree with this. I've heard that it takes something like 10,000 hours of working at something to be considered an expert. I like to use Olympians as an example. You don't win a gold medal by practicing sometimes and thinking about it. They work hard. Have you ever looked up Michael Phelps' practice schedule? He put his body through hell so he could come away with a bajillion gold medals. So yes, you do have to work to achieve whatever dream you happen to pursue.
But I want to look at the context of this song. The Mother Abbess, a woman who has spent her life devoted to God, is telling a young novitiate to follow her dream. Here's where I'm confused. Genuinely. What is Maria's dream? To marry the Captain? She knows at this point that it's impossible. They both do. So why get her hopes up?
Yes, we know how the story ends. Georg really loved Maria, not Elsa. But this is not at all the advice a nun gives a young girl in the 30s! I could understand it if the Reverend Mother is telling her to search for God's plan for her life, since it apparently wasn't becoming a nun. Although, I'm not sure why. Sure, Maria was a bit boisterous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in a nun. The Catholic Church used to have a Vatican Women's Rifle Team. That's a bit more out there than singing in the abbey. And I've met nuns who were also agents for the FBI. But whatever, Maria doesn't want to be a nun, fine. The Reverend Mother can use this song, despite lacking in any mention of faith, God, God's will, etc., to show Maria that there are other paths God might take her down.
But no. She tells her to pursue her dream of possibly breaking up a man's potential marriage.
I think I'm coming down on the side of not liking this song again.
It's amazing how insidious these little ideas of forgetting God and following the world can be. And they are everywhere.
What are your thoughts?
It's been awhile since I watched the movie, but I do know in the original stage musical, Reverend Mother's point is that Maria would make a lousy nun if she only becomes a nun to avoid trouble, so she returns to finish the job she was hired to do. Reverend Mother was NOT telling her to hope, but to face the issue. A major reason Gorge and Elso break up is because she thinks the Anschluss is inevitable and Austria should be accommodating. The song was cut from the film, probably party because the less singing Christopher Plummer had to do the better. He was terrified about what little he was required to sing. It's a shame, because it's one of the best songs in the original score. Audio: http://bit.ly/1BLwDYx
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