This year The Sound of Music celebrates its 50th anniversary. The classic musical wasn’t an instant hit when it came out in 1965, but over the years it has found a special place in our hearts. The story follows Maria, a young woman who wishes to be a nun, but finds herself falling in love with the man whose children she is governess to. The Sound of Music stars Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and a slew of others. The film won five Academy Awards for best picture, director, sound, film editor and music. The music, originally written by Rogers and Hammerstein for the 1959 Broadway play, is one of the films’ biggest draws. You can’t help but sing along, unless you are just so mesmerized by Julie’s flawless face and insanely beautiful voice that you cannot move your lips. Totally understandable.
The Sound of Music
“The hills are alive with the sound of music, with songs they have sung for a thousand years. The hills fill my heart with the sound of music, my heart wants to sing every song it hears…”
Who can forget the fantastic theme from The Sound of Music? You can’t tell me you haven’t been looking for some hills to recreate this moment ever since.
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
“How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means Maria?”
I can’t solve a math problem worth my life, but you can be sure I know how to solve a problem like Maria.
I Have Confidence
“What will this day be like? I wonder. What will my future be? I wonder.”
The original “fake it ’til you make it” girl. Confidence is key!
Sixteen Going on Seventeen
“You wait little girl, on an empty stage for fate to turn the light on. Your life little girl, is an empty page that men will want to write on.”
Ah, young love. Totally unprepared are they…
My Favorite Things
“Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, these are a few of my favorite things.”
It’s impossible not to feel 10 times better after singing this song. Am I right?
Do-Re-Mi
“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with do-re-mi.”
My childhood musical education in one song. Who needs Juilliard?
The Lonely Goatherd
“High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo. Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd, lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo…”
Yes, I tried to recreate this puppet show as a child. No, it was not successful. It’s the thought that counts.
Climb Ev’ry Mountain
“Climb every mountain, search high and low, follow every byway, every path you know…”
When Mother Abbess sings this one, all I can think of is all those hills and mountains and how out of shape I am.
Something Good
“Perhaps I had a wicked childhood, perhaps I had a miserable youth, but somewhere in my wicked miserable past, there must have been a moment of truth…”
Maria and Captain Von Trapp are perfect. Remember kids, nothing comes from nothing.
Edelweiss
“Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to meet me…”
That flower must be really special if it can bless all of Austria.
So Long, Farewell
“There’s a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple too…”
Of course I can wish you well in five different ways. However, there’s no need for goodbyes. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu, and au revoir. Here’s to another 50 years of The Sound of Music.