single post related, no meta

The Anne in my mind

This piece was written for a CBC songwriting event at Hugh’s Room in Toronto, 2005,
as a response to the theme “My Favorite Book”.

I’m afraid my choice is not very original
I searched my bookshelf, trying to be intellectual
obscure, unique, a book that no one else would find,
I searched my heart and the far reaches of my mind
but in truth, for me, no other book compares
and it all comes down to the colour of hair…

we are a small percentage of the population, we red-heads.
Our options for role models limited.
L’il Orphan Annie never quite made the cut,
since comic strips and movies never quite filled me up
like the pages of a novel, so I find myself stuck
when it comes to my favourite, no one else quite measures up
to LM Montgomery’s famous creation
Anne of Green Gables, my literary heroine.

Favourite means I’ve read it over and over
it stands up to the test of time, I own the hard cover
and I’ve worn it thin,
I know how it ends and I know how it all begins:

with Mrs. Rachel Lynde,
sitting on her porch in Avonlea,
watching Matthew Cuthbert driving the horse and buggy
He’s going to the train station, down at White Sands
He thinks he’s getting a boy, but instead, he gets Anne
Anne of Green Gables, Anne with an E
Anne of Green Gables, who was a little bit like me.

Well she was a writer
she had a bad temper
She believed in kindred spirits:
Anne and Diana were just like me and Norah;
Freckles, we both have freckles
she loved pink frilly dresses but no one would ever give her one,
she was an orphan,
well, alright, I was never an orphan
but some days I wished I was one,
it would have been so romantic to be like
The Anne in my mind,
The Anne in my mind,
The Anne in my mind,
The Anne in my mind

And maybe you saw the TV movie
Sullivan Entertainment auditioned me for the role you know,
it’s true
(no seriously, it’s true)
Well, Megan Follows was great,
but no actor can replicate
the Anne in my mind.
The Anne in my mind.
The Anne in my mind.
The Anne in my mind.

And once, in University,
I was in the musical; the casting a mystery
I played Marilla,
I guess they didn’t see
that I was just like Anne,
and Anne was just like me
Anne of Green Gables,
Anne with an E

The Anne in my mind
The Anne in my mind
The Anne in my mind
The Anne in my mind

The Anne in my mind

More Words