"Body and Soul" is one of the most recorded jazz standards ever, with multiple lyrics having been written for it. If you click this link, you can hear a rendition by Ella Fitzgerald. That's Ella pictured at the top of this blog posting. If you click this link, you can hear how Billie Holliday does the song. As I say, there are lots of different versions. Here is a link to Amy Winehouse, for instance, singing with Tony Bennett.
The basic message of "Body and Soul" emphasizes the totality of the singer's commitment. As Ella Fitzgerald sings it, "I am all for you....body and soul." In other words, everything I have, you've got it!
Of course, the totality celebrated in the song is based on the fact that we do not believe ourselves to be unitary beings. It's body AND soul. Put them together, and you've got it all, but that "all" depends on the existence of the two separate parts of who we are.
A friend wrote me recently, keeping me up to date, and complaining (it's an old person topic) of various bodily infirmities and betrayals. You know what I mean, I am sure: irregular heartbeats and that sort of thing. That little note from my friend is what got me thinking about the song. I, too, am noticing the erosion of my formerly very reliable body. That is just a little bit disconcerting, of course, but I have also noticed, as I do sense some slippage on the physical side, that my soul is ever stronger, day by day. It could be that Invictus thing, but I am thinking it is even deeper than that.
Despite those physical ailments and irritations, I am still "all in" on life: Body and Soul!
May I wish you all the same experience.
Image Credit:
https://youtu.be/IEIbAeAilHg
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