Boston (1944)

This song about Boston was written by Tom in 1944. He performed this live during an interview on WTBS, the MIT radio station, which is now WMBR. The interview was aired 10-20-65, and also featured a cover of "The 50 Russian Composers" (similar in concept to "The Elements"), a version of "I Hold Your Hand In Mine", and some songs from his album That Was The Year That Was, which he was promoting at the time. The song is sung to the tune of "Mother"^*

This is a song, though, that I wrote when I first came to Cambridge, 20 years ago. And when I first took the subway ride from Cambridge into Boston, I noticed the subway stations on the line had this interesting property.

H is for my alma mater Harvard,
C is Central, next stop on the line,
K is for the cozy Kendall station, and
C is Charles that overlooks the brine...a-
P is Park St...Pahk Street, busy Boston center, and
W is Washington you see...
Put them all together, they spell...
HCCKKCC... PW... (spitting sound)
Which is just about what Boston means to me!

Notes

^* For reference, here are the lyrics to the song "Mother":

M Is for the Many things she gave me,
O Means only that she's growing Old.
T Is for the Tears she shed to save me,
H Is for her Heart of purest gold.
E Is for her Eyes with love light shining,
R Means Right and Right she'll always be.

Put them all together, They spell MOTHER. 
A word that means the world to me.

      Unfortunately, the Washington Street Station had a name change to "Downtown Crossing" some time in the 70's, so the song doesn't quite work any more. Stupid humorless Bostonians...

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