The wonderful Helen Espinosa has, this week, declared Song-Lyric Sunday’s theme to be a song that we love from a movie. (Please join in – it’s fun!) It was a tough decision, but finally I chose a song from the movie, Babe. It’s sung by Farmer Hoggett, played by the lovely James Cromwell, during the film and by the Field Mice in the end credits.
The song has quite a history. “If I Had Words” was first recorded in 1978, sung by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. It became a hit in the UK. I imagine Scott Fitzgerald gave it lyrics, but I haven’t been able to confirm it. Considering the lyrics themselves, this is strangely ironic. The music was adapted from Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns, written in 1886.
The lyrics are simple but deeply profound to me, as a writer. They represent everything I would give to my children, every day of their lives, if I could.
“If I Had Words”
If I had words to make a day for you,
I’d sing you a morning golden and new
I would make this day last for all time
Give you a night deep in moonshine
*****
The music moves me as much as the words, so I’ll leave you with two sources. First the version from the movie, and second, the Symphony. The latter is 36+ minutes long, but the section in question, if you want to hear just that, begins shortly after 27:20 in the Youtube video. The whole Symphony is beautiful.
Oh, and what the hell: I’ll add the Mice version too, since it’s so cute.
February 2, 2021 at 12:17 pm
There is the story of Michel Navratil, who died on the Titanic singing this very song to his children to keep them calm before loading them on the lifeboat, so the song goes back to 1912 at least- possibly much further. Navratil was French, traveling under the Name Hoffman to avoid being caught. He took his children from their mother (and mother-in-law) to escape to the New World, but we all know what happened. The children were very young and it took many weeks for them to be identified. They were known as “The Titanic Waifs.” It’s an amazing story, the full extent of which was not revealed until shortly before the younger Michel Navratil died in 2001. Google it.
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February 2, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Wow! That is truly fascinating. Thanks, Darby!
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March 2, 2018 at 4:42 pm
There’s also a bunch of covers on YouTube. I like this arrangement
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March 2, 2018 at 4:52 pm
Cool, thank you. 🙂 So sorry to hear about your friend. I hope the song brings her comfort. ❤
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March 2, 2018 at 3:48 pm
I love this song, too! Have sung it to myself for years since I saw the Babe movie. I was searching for a poem to give to a friend who is ill with cancer… After filtering through dozens of songs and poems I’ve come back to this. I hope it gives her some small joy.
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February 19, 2018 at 4:09 am
The most beautiful thing about this song and also the most unusual is that it has no verses or bridges , it is chorus from start to finish – like a chant . Very moving indeed .
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February 19, 2018 at 9:08 am
‘Tis. 🙂
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June 27, 2017 at 5:57 am
I caught the end of Babe on TV a couple of days ago with 2 of my Aussie grandchildren sitting with me. We flicked to the channel right at that wonderfully emotional scene ……. my 8 year old granddaughter didn’t understand why granddad had tears streaming down his face ….. I live most of the time in N/W Vietnam where I have over 200 little ones who think of me as a foreign grandfather ……. I just wished they could have farmer Hoggett sing it to them ……. but they’ll have to make do with me when I get it translated into H’mong, Thai and Kinh
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June 27, 2017 at 8:36 am
Awww. That brought a tear to my eye. Thank you for sharing this with me. 🙂 All the best of luck getting it translated. It’s a beautiful piece that deserves to be understood by everyone. ❤
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June 27, 2017 at 9:02 am
totally agree ….. you can see what i mean by looking through my FB album if you like (you might have to send a friend request first …. not sure) : neville tickner
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June 27, 2017 at 9:13 am
Sent you a friend request. 🙂
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December 19, 2016 at 4:08 am
The simple beauty of the song moves me beyond words.
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December 19, 2016 at 10:11 am
Me too. 🙂 Thanks for commenting, Patricia.
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May 30, 2016 at 11:51 am
That is a sweet song. I watched Babe years ago when my children were very young, so I have a warm fuzzy feeling about the movie to begin with. Somehow, I’d forgotten this tender scene, though, so it was nice to see it again.
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May 30, 2016 at 7:09 pm
It’s a great movie, isn’t it? 🙂 You’re welcome, Bun 🙂
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May 30, 2016 at 6:31 am
Such a lovely song. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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May 30, 2016 at 7:11 pm
Glad you liked it, Bee. 🙂
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May 29, 2016 at 7:53 pm
That was so cute and it made me so happy! Thanks for sharing, Linda!
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May 30, 2016 at 7:13 pm
Glad you enjoyed it, Helen. 🙂
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May 29, 2016 at 5:29 pm
Cool Linda.
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May 30, 2016 at 7:13 pm
🙂
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February 19, 2018 at 4:16 am
The most beautiful aspect of this song is that it has no verses , from beginning to end it is a chorus .
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