Wooden Heart

Valentine's Month

The shattering of a heart when being broken is the loudest quiet ever. - 

Carroll Bryant

In early high school, you were either Camp Elvis or Camp Pat Boone.

I belonged to the latter group, but when the other camp idol came up with a pop song in 1961, I quickly reverted my allegiance temporarily.

Wooden Heart was lilting and sounded folksy, not rock-and-rolly. That was probably why I loved it. Interspersed in the English lyrics was this phrasing, Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus?

Only now, looking it up, did I know that the composition was based on a German folk song. The foreign words translate into, Must I then, must I then, leave this little city, little city, and you, my darling, stay here?

I did empathize with the romantic plea.

Can't you see I love you?

Please, don't break my heart in two

Oh, woe, should that happen.

Then I know that I would cry

Maybe I would die

'Cause I don't have a wooden heart

But come to think of it, it may be sad but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life starts with, Goodbye.

Maybe it's a blessing. A way for you to realize that you were saved from the wrong one.

Or it might just be good for your career.