Sunday Singalong - Oops!

 Who hasn't gone along in life, figuring all is well, only to discover (what was I thinking?) that the time for a promised post (or task, or - fill in the blank) slipped past almost unnoticed until, well, too late!? Oops.

Or maybe it's more like an expected outcome comes out . . . not as expected. It's easy to plan but those plans not written down, as some believe, are only dreams (and can disappear just as fast). OK, I wrote it down. On the calendar. At the right time & place. But you know those dreams . . . I think I slipped off for a quick nap and the plans were swallowed in a dream. Yeah, yeah . . . excuses, excuses. But I have a sneaking suspicion that very few folks were sitting around waiting for Singalong Sunday last week. (Obviously I wasn't!) I am repentant . . . and I am hoping to do better, but I am putting this into the right perspective . . . you see, I have a puppy. (Yes, that has been my excuse for almost everything since last April, but it's far more my reality than I ever expected it to be . . . is it possible that a puppy - and one almost 30# - can be harder to handle than the last time I had a puppy . . . that would be 15 years ago and I had a husband handling half the responsibility, and chewing and brushing and training and mopping up. Lots of "oops" with puppies!)

In fact, it seems as if "oops" has become more a mantra of late . . . but it's more what the dogs are saying to me! Besides the puppy, I have a senior dog who is dealing with arthritis, incontinence, and an insatiable appetite for naps. Oh, yes, and a puppy (who does not comprehend how exhausted are the old ones in his environment).

So, there's today's theme for the Sunday Singalong . . .  songs that express some sort of "oops" (a regrettable decision, a mistake, an unplanned ______ - fill in the blank, etc.). Songs are full of them. And they need not represent personal experience . . . it's much more fun to look at the mistakes of others (and, as our ancestors meant when they sang such songs to their children, take the advice or example as evidence of what NOT to do . . . thankfully, I don't know of any songs telling me why I shouldn't get a puppy . . . I have a book on that subject, though).

So, here's my offering. I enjoyed this song when I first heard it, probably around 1962 when this recording of the Chad Mitchell Trio's Bitter End concert album came out. I thought it was funny. And certainly nothing like reality. Then I got older and looked at people around me. Yup, people could choose to marry for money instead of love. Then I got older still and took a look around me at some of the adults in my world (yes, I was one, too, but resisting that with everything I had in me): Goodness, people sometimes had to replace failed body parts with artificial ones. That scared me, in some ways (still does). So while the song "The Unfortunate Man" was funny when I was a pre-teen; became a reality check in my early 20s; a cause for reflection as a middle-aged, working woman (and college re-entry student); and sad commentary as a senior, I still smile when I hear or sing it, and say a little prayer of thanks that the woman in the song in no way resembles me. Yay, me!

So, for a laugh, a reality check, a reflection, or a bit of sadness, check out the lyrics:

https://genius.com/The-chad-mitchell-trio-the-unfortunate-man-lyrics

and the performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP7gyyi-FV4

Hope the "oops" is good for some levity. We can all use that.

Share your Oops songs in the comments.