Act2 readers name that special tune
We asked readers to name that tune - the song that holds a special meaning and the story behind it. Their favorites covered everything from Big Band to Broadway and a touch of Hollywood.
When my husband-to-be was stationed in Italy during World War II, he heard the song "I'll Get By." He wrote saying that was the way he felt about me. It became our song. It didn't matter who sang it - it was the sentiment that mattered.
After he died, I went to Wantagh Park to sit under the tree we always sat under. As I drove there, I spoke to him and asked him to show some sign he knew I was there. I had the car radio on and as I entered the park the song "I'll Get By" came on. It felt like he was right there with me. A few days later, while I was having lunch at a food counter, the song came on again. It brings back wonderful memories.
--Josephine Clarke, East Meadow
My all-time favorite tune is "Easy to be Hard," sung by Three Dog Night. Ever since I heard it on the radio back in 1969, I fell in love with it. Wherever I am, I always stop to listen to "Easy to Be Hard." It's from the Broadway musical "Hair," which is back on Broadway today!
--William Dockerty,East Patchogue
I believe in magic, and it has nothing to do with Houdini. It's a song made popular by Doris Day in the late 1940s. The title is "It's Magic," and it changed my life. I was working in a nightclub in upstate New York, which was a popular summer vacation spot. I had a contract to work from Memorial Day until Labor Day in the summer of 1948. I loved being away from Manhattan and the heat. The club was small and you entered through a bar with a jukebox that played the hit songs of the day. I was single and 24 with an overly concerned mother who wanted me "Married With Children." Her wish came true that summer when Mr. Right, tall, handsome and single, walked into the bar where I was having my usual early dinner before work. I noticed him because it was too early for the nighttime crowd and he was alone. He would look over at me and smile and then put a few coins in the jukebox. For over one hour he played the song, "It's Magic." He came into the bar every weekend that summer and we talked and laughed, and we fell in love to our tune. By the end of that summer we went back to Manhattan and became engaged. We were married in June 1950 and from that wonderful day, the "magic" is still here.
--Ruth Greenstein, Roslyn Heights
On Dec. 26, 1991, after a 10-year courtship, I exchanged solemn marriage vows with Walter R. Haughey. I was 60 and he was 72. Not exactly teenagers, but proof that God oftentimes leaves the best for last. Our marriage was truly a gift and blessing, which ended on Dec. 27, 2003, with his passing.
Our song - and we had many, because my husband was, as some of the Irish are, a singer, a poet, a wordsmith and an entertainer - was "Till There Was You," from the score of "The Music Man." It was sung as a duet by Prof. Harold Hill and Marian, the librarian, who were just discovering their love for each other.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to honor my late husband. March 20 would have been his 91st birthday. And I still hear the bells ringing, and the birds singing.
--Mary Haughey, Lindenhurst
The song that is special to me is "Could I Have This Dance," by Anne Murray. I first heard it in the movie "Urban Cowboy." When I heard it, I thought that I would like to have it played at my wedding when I danced my first dance with my husband. I had forgotten about it until we went to hear a band play before we hired them for our wedding. While we were standing in the hall outside the party where they were playing, the first song we heard them play was "Could I Have This Dance." Well, needless to say, we booked them. We danced to that song at our wedding, and every time over the past 28 years that I heard that song, I smiled at the memories it brings back. Thanks for making me think of it again.
--Maggie Marinelli, Levittown
I would have to say that a special song to me would be "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland in the classic "The Wizard of Oz." I think almost everyone, young and old, knows the words to that beautiful song. I think it has been my favorite since I first saw the movie.
-- Mary Ann Puccio, Garden City
