Sometimes the Universe Gives Back

From the start of my Mama Lisa’s World site, one of the core values has been fostering connections through song. Early on I experienced the value of this while trying to remember a childhood song called, “The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out”. When I was very young, all the neighborhood kids would go outside to a field behind my house. There we’d form a human chain with the person on one end putting their arm straight out until their hand touched a tree. The person at the other end of the chain would direct the line to lead all the kids to pass under the arm of the child touching the tree, all the while singing the song. I was so happy to reconnect with this memory, and finding the song made it really come alive.

It was 25+ years ago that I created the site and it’s grown leaps and bounds since, featuring over 7,000 songs and rhymes in over 250 languages from around the world. During that time, we’ve helped countless people (tens of thousands or more) find their childhood songs. They could then sing them with their relatives. It’s a connection that is priceless.

I experienced this a couple of weeks ago. I was speaking with my 84 year old mom. Her response to what I was saying was “Que Sera Sera” or “What will be will be”. It’s a phrase I’ve heard many times by both her and my grandmothers.

According to Wikipedia, the expression comes from the song “Que Sera Sera”. “’Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)’ is a song written by the team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans that was first published in 1955. Doris Day introduced it in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)…” The movie and the song came out when my mom was a teenager.

After my mom said the expression recently, she started singing the song! The next time I saw her I was able to play it right on my phone through Spotify. This time, with the lyrics scrolling on my screen, we were able to sing it together along with Doris Day. After that, Spotify kept playing similar songs from the 50’s. My mom knew many of them and with the lyrics on my screen we were able to sing them together too. Now every time I see her, I play “Que Sera Sera” followed by more songs that Spotify finds. I’m so happy I can connect with my mom in such a joyful way. I’ll always be grateful for the power of a song!