"SING JOY SPRING!"

(the lyrics are lengthy but worth it!)

 

manhattan transfer & stan getz

music: clifford brown

lyrics: jon hendricks (of lambert, hendricks, & ross)

 

We sing a spring

(Sing joy spring)

A rare and most mysterious spring

(This most occult thing)

Is buried deep in the soul

(It's story never has been told)

 

The joy spring, the fountain of pleasure

Is deep inside you whether you're diggin it or not

Once you're aware of this spring

You'll know that it's the greatest

Treasure you've got

 

And furthermore

The joy spring, the bounteous treasure

Cannot be bartered away and never

Can be sold

Nothing can take it from you

It's yours and yours alone to have

And to hold

 

And something more

It never is lost to fire or theft

It's always around

When trouble is gone the pleasure is left

I've always found

It's burglar-proof same as the treasure

Man lays up in heaven worth a

Price no one can measure

That says a lot

 

So joy spring this fountain of pleasure

That's deep inside you let me inform

You in all truth

 

Ponce de Leon sought this

When he was searchin for the fountain of youth

Ol' Ponce de Leon laughed so much he

Never did find the magic fountain

But many people with a well-adjusted

Spirit they could hear it when you told

Them it was there tellin them was

Like tellin it on the mountain

 

It's quite a life havin the gift of laughter

I'm a man who knows in a minute

I can tell you just exactly how the story goes

It involves a firm conviction in another

Previous life givin your mind a chance to fly

Fly around the universe investigatin other

Galaxies & certain other subtle

Types of life tryin to dig it gettin

Pretty well-acquainted with a lot of

Other strife & pretty much acquirin

Yourself plenty of education

 

Pretty soon here comes earth birth

& then you're ready to put it all to work

But soon as you're finished bein born

You start forgettin what you knew

Cause you're another kinda you

A reincarnation manifestation

Of spirit in sensation

 

You really got that right

The average person isn't bright

Not so bright that they recall the fatal fall

Down here t'o this earth

Their minds disguise their death to spirit

Life and call it birth

That's their reason for forgettin and they

Find it very upsettin when reminded

Tell them they've lived before

They'll show you the nearest open door

Gotta have feelin while dealin with

Walkers in their sleep

They can't imagine somethin as deep

 

Here they come - here they come - there they are

Unimaginative and ignorant of fallin from a star

Here they come - there they are - there they go

Life is over in a minute & they never dug

It in it or enjoy a minute of it

Cause they put too much above it

That was gross

Somethin that was worth a couple bucks

At most

 

So there is the reason that the maker of man

Included there in his plan

A certain fountain deep within

Where there was laughter, youth & gold

For human beings to have & hold

& share the memory of where we've all been

 

Brothers called Grimm knew chances were slim

Anybody would dig that the human soul was Snow White

And the Seven Dwarfs were seven tempers in man

Whose diggin out the gold completes the plan

& Bacon was hip that Shakespeare couldn't read

And so he gave him all the rhymes

That have lasted through the years

And kept eternal truths alive through several centuries

That's how we know them now

They lasted cause they're true

 

What was it from Macbeth?

"Life's but a walking shadow

a player poor

that struts and frets upon the stage

and's seen no more

a tale that truly has an idiotic ring

that's full of lotsa sound and fury

signifying nothing..."

 

That's right signifying nothing

I'll repeat it, nothing!

Don't forget it, nothing!

And that's the reason for that spring

Of joy

 

Showtime, everyone's on

Let's hit the stage

It's showtime everyone

& proceed to act your age

 

Whatever you're frownin at is funny

Enough laughin

So you're wastin all your humor on a frown

While you're bringin your spirit down

 

You gotta book yourself a comic in your act

Without some laughter life's a maudlin

Farce & that's a fact

 

Once you know about the spring

You always can smile

It becomes your one expression

And you're always wearin' it

Like the buddhas do

 

(um, and i think there's more ... !)

Done