Music without borders

An early teenage memory takes me back to a radio travel programme, the theme song of which had Bing Crosby crooning...

An early teenage memory takes me back to a radio travel programme, the theme song of which had Bing Crosby crooning 8220;those faraway places with strange sounding names are calling, calling me.8221;

There are numerous songs about distant places, and it is a great feeling to visit them. Recently, I went to Istanbul where I kept humming the old number: 8220;Istanbul not Constantinople, Why did Constantinople get the works? That8217;s nobody8217;s business but the Turks!8221;

Remember Eartha Kitt with the sexy voice singing 8216;Uskudara8217; 8212; a song about a Turkish lady falling in love with her male secretary? The song came alive when I visited Uskudar, a suburb of Istanbul on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.

On an earlier trip to Italy, songs were my only guide. 8216;Three Coins in the Fountain8217;, led me to the Trevi Fountain in Rome to make a wish. With my wife it was 8216;That8217;s Amore8217; in Napoli, and although it was not 8216;in the Isle of Capri that I met her8217;, I did take her there for her birthday! All too soon, it was time for 8216;Arrivederci Roma8217;.

Moving on to 8216;Gay Pa-ree8217; in the old sense of the word!, I was overwhelmed with an avalanche of melodies, the most memorable one being 8220;I love Paris 8212; in the winter when it drizzles8230; in the summer when it sizzles8230; every moment, every moment of the year8221;.

Sighting Dover from the ferry, Vera Lynn haunted me with 8220;the bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover8221; till I got to 8216;London Bridge8217; with Jo Stafford. In Scotland, my priority was not Loch Ness but Loch Lomond. I just had to see the lake that my school teacher, good old Father Mackessack, introduced in our singing class. I had a lump in my throat remembering 8220;Where in purple hue the highland hills we view, And the moon coming out of the gloaming!8221;

While landing at Kennedy Airport, Frank Sinatra was buzzing in my mind with 8216;New York, New York8217;, the BeeGees accompanied me to 8216;Massachussets8217;, Elvis Presley rocked away 8216;Viva Las Vegas8217; and as the song goes, 8220;If you go to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair8221;. I entreated my wife to do so!

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So many songs and so many places to visit yet. Some may just be flights of fancy 8212; can you get 8220;somewhere over the rainbow8221; to see the wizard of Oz?