Once In A Blue Moon, It's New Year's Eve

A bit of an explanation first. I realized, upon reading this, that my mom is strange. You see, she has her own way of pronouncing some words--not a regional accent, just her. "Bicycle" is pronounced as if you just put "bi" in front of the word "cycle"; nobody does that. "Aren't" is pronounced with two syllables; nobody does that. And the phrase "once in a blue moon" has the accent on the word "blue", like "once in a BLUE moon". Again, nobody does that. But... the tag phrase to this verse came to me, unbidden, as such things do, and it was pronounced that way. So, no complaining about the meter; I already know.

As the calendar crawls toward the end of the year
And of course, as a brand new beginning draws near
I guess it’s just human to look to the past
At the things we have done; at the lot we’ve been cast,
At the friends we have gained, and the friends we have lost,
At the things we might change, had we just known the cost.
I’ll go quite a long time without thinking of you,
But, once in a blue moon, I do.

A year full of travel, of learning, of fun,
A year I’d have sworn had just only begun
Although it was tough, this was one of the best,
With the children all grown up and leaving the nest
They’re better than me, I’ll admit it with pride,
And I think I might burst, I’m so happy inside!
And my heart doesn’t feel like the thing it once was
But, once in a blue moon, it does.

It isn’t the same, but it never can be,
As time, and as life, moves too quickly for me,
The days—hell, the weeks—are a bit of a blur
And things are not ever the way that they were.
I guess I just mean that I want you to know
That I hope you are happy and well, even though
I may miss you much more than the law should allow,
Just once in a blue moon… like now.


Anyway, having suffered through that, you deserve something better. I first heard the following song sung by it's writer, singer-songwriter Patrick Alger, in a singer-songwriter charity event that became the album "Shelter". I still hear it in his voice first, and all others are imitators (oddly enough, although he sang "Once in a very blue moon" for the concert, he sings a different song on the album, which I bought specifically for that song. Worth it anyway.) The song is far more associated, though, with Nanci Griffith, for whom it is a signature song. Enjoy: