Categories: Uncategorized

The first day of May (or: my fourth anniversary of accordion playing)

Here’s a first for the blog: I’m going to open with a show tune…

The Lusty Month of May

from the musical “Camelot”

by Lerner and Loewe

Tra la, it’s May, the lusty Month of May

That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray

Tra la, it’s here, that shocking time of year

When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear

It’s May, It’s May, that gorgeous holiday

When every maiden prays that her lad will be a cad

It’s mad, it’s gay, alive, a lust display

Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks

Everyone makes divine mistakes

The Lusty Month of May

Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?

What sweet feelings does it’s scent transmute?

Whence this perfume floating everywhere?

Don’t you know, it’s that dear forbidden fruit

It’s May, the lusty month of May

That darling month when everyone throws self-control away

It’s time to do a wretched thing or two

And try to make each precious day one you’ll always rue

It’s May, it’s May, the month of “Yes, you may”

The time for every frivolous whim, proper or im-

It’s wild, it’s gay, depraved in every way

The birds and bees with all of their vast amorous past

Gaze at the human race aghast

The Lusty Month of May

Tra la, it’s May, the lusty Month of May

That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray

Tra la, it’s here, that shocking time of year

When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear

It’s May, it’s may, the month of great dismay

when all the world is brimming with fun, wholesome or un-

It’s mad, it’s gay, alive a lust display

Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks

Everyone makes divine mistakes

The Lusty Month of May

Long before the Communists appropriated the holiday and turned it into a day for dour marches, tanks in Red Square and excessive smugness in postmodern English Lit departments at most universities, May Day was associated with actual celebration. The ancient Romans, the first people to consider turning the word “party” into a verb, turned the day into a tribute to the fertility goddess Flora.

The Anglo-Saxons — before they got into country clubs, bookends shaped like ducks and The Official Preppy Handbook, back when they were still a fun people — referred to the day as Beltane, a celebration marking the return of spring. It’s still celebrated today by some Wiccans. (A quick aside: The best way to annoy a Wiccan is to say “Hey, you guys make cool baskets”. Or just point out death metal bands that use their holiday.)

The French associate the month of May with both the Virgin Mary and cows, though I believe they do so in separate ceremonies.

This article says that in the Czech Republic, boys at night place maypoles before their sweethearts’ windows. This is obviously some kind of double-entendre.

In Hawaii, the first of May has been called Lei Day, which I’m also sure is another double-entendre.

As for me, May Day has its own meaning: on this day in 1999, a Saturday, my friend Krazy Karl Mohr and I took our accordion out on the street for the very first time, and our lives haven’t been the same since. Here are some of the great things that have happened because of the accordion:

Happy Accordion day, everybody!

Joey deVilla

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