THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT A NEW SERIES: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - EPISODE #12 - OLE BUTTERMILK SKY by HOAGY CARMICHAEL (1946, from the film, CANYON PASSAGE)

What is a “buttermilk sky?,” I asked myself. It’s such an evocative image, and for years I would simply envision a magnificent sunset of red and gold, suffused through a canopy of fluffy clouds. I googled it, and I was right! Up came rows of beautiful celestial pics, and although those photos are fantastic, the image in my mind’s eye had them all beat - attached as it was to an indefinable, stirring emotion within me, mystical in its effect. That lyric was summoned from the ether by Jack Brooks, with Hoagy Carmichael writing the music. Hoagy introduced the tune in the film “Canyon Passage” with Dana Andrews, but, its appeal transcended the Cowboy genre. It was so popular that in December of 1946 there were four versions of the song in the top 20, led by Kay Kyser’s band at #1. You may be aware that Hoagy was also the composer of “Stardust”, considered by most to be the best pop standard of the Great American Songbook ever written. And, he wrote the anthemic “Georgia on my Mind”. Film clips of him reveal one of the most relaxed and natural performers who ever appeared on celluloid - usually seated at a piano. In my Acting class we screened “The Best Years of Our Lives” and Hoagy’s encounter with the amputee Harold Russell, as he gives avuncular advice to the traumatized vet while tinkling the ivories is one of my favorite moments in a classic film stuffed with unforgettable scenes. I’m not sure, but my sense is that the image of the buttermilk sky reminds us of the evanescence of life, and the sweet sadness of a longed-for love.