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Dear Baby

Dear Baby,

Your other dad has been playing, for you, "(I Love You) A Bushel and a Peck." Just a few thoughts:

*This song is so famous, it has taken on a kind of folksy status. But just know that it didn't bubble up out of the collective unconscious. It was carefully crafted by the lyricist Frank Loesser--idol of Stephen Sondheim's, man responsible for "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Frank Loesser is the gold standard on Broadway, now and forever.

*A bushel is an actual form of measurement. It's 32 quarts. A peck is 8 quarts.

*Loesser became inspired by units of measurement. "Peck" is followed by "barrel," which is followed by "heap." I love you a barrel and a heap....

*The speaker is overwhelmed by love--and so there's a loose, nutty, stream-of-consciousness quality to the writing. "I love you a bushel and a peck...a bushel and a peck and it beats me all to heck....beats me all to heck how I'll ever tend the farm! Ever tend the farm when I wanna keep my arm AROUND YOU...." Bizarre and sui generis and (seemingly) effortless.

*Who did this song best on Broadway? Faith Prince, who won the Tony Award and achieved immortality as Adelaide, in "Guys and Dolls." I listened to her, and listened and listened, throughout my childhood--and maybe you'll hear her, one day, as well.

That's all. I'm glad we could iron this out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_nDTQ9NEzI
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