Some of the love songs from Broadway and Hollywood musicals speak of the intoxicating freshness of falling in love, in language that transports its characters to glimpses of a higher life. In certain exalted states of consciousness, the world glows with light, as the description below reveals.
“I was looking at a scene belonging not to the earth but to some fairyland, for the ancient, weather-stained front of the building, unadorned and commonplace, and the arch of the sky above it, bathed in the clear light of the sun, were both lit with a brilliant silvery luster that lent a beauty and a glory to both and created a marvelous light-and-shade effect impossible to describe... A bright silvery sheen around every object, across the entire field of view, became a permanent feature of my vision.” - Gopi Krishna, “Autobiography” Tony and Maria in “West Side Story” glimpsed that glow through their dazzling love. Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics depict such heightened feelings and perception, as we see in “Tonight.”
Tonight, tonight The world is full of light With suns and moons all over the place. In this higher state of being, life is no longer ho hum; it’s exalted, as the song continues:
Today, the world was just an address A place for me to live in No better than all right But here you are And what was just a world is a star Tonight. It’s not only the sense of light that’s affected; sometimes sound is too. In “Maria,” Tony sings of the mantra-like power of his beloved’s name. To him, Maria is like OM to a yogic chanter, a name he speaks repeatedly.
All the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word, Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria.
Sometimes the dawning of transformative love sharpens one’s intuition even before the beloved is met. Early in “West Side Story,” Tony sings, “Something’s Coming:” It’s only just out of reach Down the block, on a beach Under a tree I got a feelin’ there’s a miracle due Gonna come true Comin’ to me! When love in musicals becomes extraordinarily deep, it can make two lovers into one beloved whole, a state often written about by the Persian mystical poet Rumi. In the Yoga tradition it’s called Unity Consciousness, in which the seeker and his Creator merge into a Oneness. Maria sings of this two becoming one in “I Have a Love.”
I love him; I’m his, And everything he is I am, too. I have a love, and it’s all that I need, I love him, we’re one; There’s nothing to be done….
Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Lerner and Loewe, and other Tin Pan Alley immortals have penned anthems about awakening to a life lived with the gods. The wisdom of India, which outlines higher states of consciousness, helps us see these songs in a brighter light, as if these songwriters had a taste of that inner freedom.
Alan Jay Lerner gives Freddy a glimpse into higher consciousness, captivated by the beauty of Eliza in “My Fair Lady.” In “On the Street Where You Live,” he’s almost lifted off the ground:
I have often walked down this street before But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before All at once am I several stories high Knowing I’m on the street where you live. The glory of fresh new love transforms the perception of Marian, the librarian in “The Music Man,” enabling the ardent reader to hear in ways she never heard before. In “Till There was You,” Meredith Wilson has her sing:
There were bells on the hill But I never heard them ringing No, I never heard them at all Till there was you. It inspired her to see in ways she never saw before, as well: There were birds in the sky But I never saw them winging No, I never saw them at all Till there was you. Her sense of smell is also enlivened:
And there was music And there were wonderful roses They tell me In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew.
The mantra-like power to glimpse a higher world, through the repetition of the beloved’s name is echoed by Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha’s” gorgeous love song, with lyrics by Joe Darion, “Dulcinea.”
I see heaven when I see thee, Dulcinea, And thy name is like a prayer An angel whispers... Dulcinea... Dulcinea!
The sense of Oneness is remarkably similar to lyrics found in Tom Eyen’s “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” from “Dreamgirls.”
We’re part of the same place We’re part of the same time We both share the same blood We both have the same mind. The nearness of the beloved can lift one to the highest of places. In Irving Berlin’s “Dancing Cheek to Cheek,” the singer feels like he’s in Heaven.
Heaven, I’m in heaven And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak And I seem to find the happiness I seek When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek. Heaven, I’m in heaven And the cares that hang around me through the week Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek. In “Kismet’s” “And This is my Beloved” by Robert Wright and George Forrest, we see a similar approach to Heaven.
And when he speaks and when he talks to me Music! Mystery! And when he moves and when he walks with me Paradise comes suddenly near. The touch of the beloved can be likened to the electrifying darshan, a spiritual jolt given by gurus to disciples. We hear this in Ira Levin’s lyrics for Barbra Streisand’s “He Touched Me.”
He touched me ….I felt a sudden tingle when he touched me. A sparkle, a glow …He’s real, and the world is alive and shining.
