Saturday, November 7, 2015
Bali Hai --The Soundtrack of My Life
Robin has been doing the Soundtrack of my Life posts on her blog Your Daily Dose. I had done a few of my own "life soundtracks" on my Tossing It Out blog as well as the song series (starting at this post) I did for my 2014 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge on Wrote By Rote. Be sure to visit and follow Your Daily Dose for more Life Soundtrack info.
"Bali Hai"
After the film version of the musical South Pacific was released in early 1958, my parents took my sister and I to see it in the theater. They also bought the vinyl LP version of the soundtrack. It was an album that I listened to frequently when I was a child. I was most drawn to the haunting sound of the song "Bali Hai". This mysterious sounding song made me think of places that I'd like to go one day as well as places I'd been that stood out in my memory. The lure of that certain special place is something that is likely common with all of us.
Here is a version of the song as played by a "10l Strings" style orchestra. I'm not quite sure if this is the original 101 Strings Orchestra that released so many albums over the years, but if not, this version is certainly close to it. My mother used to have several albums by the 101 Strings Orchestra and other similar groups. This recording I present here might be the same one that I used to listen to or at least close to it.
The Bali Hai Lure of Adventure and Experience
My spirit for adventure was inspired by my father. He was always ready for a road trip or to go visit someone. We used to go to movies, circuses, unique attractions--wherever my father's sense of curiosity drew him. If he wanted to meet someone he would make every effort to make contact and usually it worked. Often when visiting circuses or other similar entertainment venues he'd get us free access by explaining that we too were entertainers. Good for his pocketbook and great for our being able to experience more.
The lure of the unknown, the exotic, and the interesting has always been within me. Even my own backyard was a place of adventure ready for me to explore or invent new forays into my imagination. Moving to San Diego in 1959 delivered me to a young boy's dream. I was 8 years old went we first arrived. The vast tract neighborhoods were new and still under development. The canyons near our house were still wild, a veritable wonderland for a boy's imagination.
My sister, my friends, and I would spend hours of summer days exploring those canyons. An abandoned old ranch house with debris scattered about the yard was a draw for us though we were cautious about entering the structure. I made up stories in my mind about who might have lived there. For me the spirits of Indians who had once dwelt in those canyon lands seemed to be all around us.
Once we had bicycles our ability to explore the neighborhood and the communities surrounding us increased even more. Any concern about kids being out on the streets was not particularly on most parents minds and we as kids felt little fear about our safety. It was a different world then. We exploited our freedom to the extreme and life was fun and free.
The thrill of exploration and discovery continued into my adult life with adventures in hiking, camping, and long drives. This was expanded even further for me once I started working on the road. My travels allowed me so many opportunities to see places and meet people that would have been unlikely if I'd been tied down to a normal type job in one place.
How many "Bali Hai's" I've been to in my life is something of which I have lost count. And more wait for me. There are places to which I'd like to return as well as places I haven't been to yet but would like to visit one day. One Bali Hai? Not one but many. The world is such a vast and varied place. The song "Bali Hai" plays in the background as I gaze upon pictures of exotic places and run my fingers along the highways on the maps in my road atlas.
Bali Hai is calling me. It always will until the day I leave this Earth. Then maybe I will reach that ultimate Bali Hai.
Do you have a special "Bali Hai" that lures you? Is there a special place that you've been that stands out in your memory? What is it that constitutes your concept of a Bali Hai type of place?
13 comments:
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Well I really really miss the Pacific NW and access to British Columbia. There's so much I didn't do and see in the time I lived there cause I thought I'd never leave. Did you ever find any arrowheads in those canyons? I'm dying to find one as an adult. I found 2 on my parents' property but I was really little.
ReplyDeleteJoJo, I think many of us including me tend to take were we live for granted. Home life can keep us so preoccupied as well as secure us in a comfort zone that's difficult to leave. I'm the same way about L.A. In my 24 years living here I've managed to see a number of places, but still there are so many left to see that I want to see and as time goes by I'm more content just to stay home most of the time.
DeleteWhen I was a child I used to like to think that I'd found Indian artifacts--my imagination would run with that--but I don't think I really ever found anything of significance. In Tennessee I used to go out with a friend of mine who liked to hunt for artifacts. I don't remember ever finding anything, but he had an extensive collection of arrowheads and other artifacts which he had neatly mounted for display. One day the shed where he kept them stored was broken into and they were all stolen. He mostly lost interest in the hobby after that.
Lee
Reading this post makes me remember that I used to have an adventurer's soul (or way more adventuring than it is now!). Ever since the migraines struck, my life has radically changed. I don't even particularly want to travel much. The whole thing feels daunting and my ability to do it always feels precarious. (I guess that's why going to Ohio this past summer followed by three weeks of camp was pretty scary.) Tomorrow we're living for a 10 day adventure to GA and then Myrtle Beach and then back to GA before home. While I'm looking forward to the trip, I'm also a bit nervous. My migraines have been relentless. I really hope that they ease up while I'm gone.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I feel so badly for you about your migraine situation. I wish you could find a way to overcome it. My middle daughter was having a lot of problems with the headaches to the point where she was even going to the hospital. She began a drastic change in her diet including going on an Isogenix program. She claims now her stomach doesn't bother her and her headaches are no longer like they had been. I hope so in her case and I hope you can find a good solution.
DeleteI'm no longer quite as adventurous as far as going places as I once was but I enjoy the big road trips when we do them. Your trip sounds exciting. I hope you have a great time and are free from any afflictions that might disrupt things. Enjoy yourself!
Lee
I am not as good with my diet as I should be. My doctor has screamed loudly about the need to eliminate processed food... period. That is easier said than done, but I do try. I've not heard of Isogenix. I'll look into that...
DeleteRobin, I've been hearing a lot about gluten and its relation to headaches and such. I don't know. Maybe. You should perhaps experiment with your diet a bit to see if eliminating anything helps you.
DeleteLee
Curiosity has always driven me. I know firsthand how curiosity killed the cat.
ReplyDeleteI have this long crazy vacation in my dreams that I know will never happen. I'm not in any hurry to be free of family members I care for but I do feel some regret that when I am can travel, I may not be able to.
I bought a 101 strings vinyl record today. I bought several oldish vinyls today. Old becomes relative. I would like to make a film. I thought classical music and possibly other tunes in public domain.
Ann, the expense of travel the way I like to do it is probably the biggest thing holding my wife and I up.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how the public domain works on music. Cool that you found a 101 Strings vinyl.
Lee
Ah, that haunting song! It's beautiful, really, in how every instrument calls to mind a soothing force of nature; flowing water, gentle breezes, the drum of purpose in route to euphoria. And with that, if you assumed I couldn't have just one "Bali Hai", you'd be right! ;-) But that song sure does personify a lot of them in a most pleasant way.
ReplyDeleteDiedre, many Bali Hai's are certainly acceptable. That's my situation. So many places that I long to go.
DeleteLee
Dear Lee, the Bali Hai that lures me is a walk along the Appalachian Trail. I've wanted to do that since living in New Hampshire back in 1973. I didn't do it then and somehow I never got around to it. I thought that for my 80th birthday next year, I'd ask a friend to walk a 100 miles with me in 10 days. But the doctor nixed that. So I just read about the walk and the mountains and the states through which some intrepid hikers walk 2,200 miles. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee, I used to think about that trek, but not so much now--I've grown soft. Maybe if I got back in shape and inspired to get away like that I might consider the Appalachian Trail walk, but I probably never will. It would be an amazing experience.
DeleteLee
I also love this song, Lee. My own Bali Hai might be the perched and walled villages in the South of France. I get cold chills when I think of Gourdon, set at the edge of a tall rocky hill farther inland....or the old part of the walled village of Vence (where my husband and I were married) which is closer to the sea. There's something about the ancient history and mystery of those places that appeals to me.
ReplyDelete