Our Song

In the early Fifties, one of my favorite movie cliches was when one of the characters in a romantic comedy would declaim "Listen, they're playing our song". An orchestra would then play a sentimental song., and the lovers would embrace. My fiancée (Helen) and I enjoyed most movies, but with all the cynicism of Oxford undergraduates anxious to be considered sophisticated, we liked to poke fun at Hollywood sentimentality. So when Helen said "We should have our own "Our Song", I immediately agreed. South Pacific was the hit musical of that time, so Helen readily accepted my suggestion that Some Enchanted Evening should be Our Song. I was never much of a dancer, but I well remember dancing cheek to cheek with Helen when the band played that smoochy song, giving us the chance to declare to each other "They're playing Our Song!". Helen & I had a formal betrothal party at her parents' home in Buenos Aires, but our lives took different directions, and we terminated the engagement "by mutual agreement", despite romantic trysts in Geneva, Paris, and Venice after that decision. We have each had two marriages to other people, and haven't been in touch for many years. But I still think happily of Helen whenever I hear "Our Song" being played.