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"Ain't it a pretty night . . ."
My brother-in-law snapped this photo of the night sky over my hometown of Beech Creek, PA. It brought to mind immediatly an aria, titled, "Ain't it a Pretty Night," from the opera, "Susannah," by American composer Carlisle Floyd. Here are the lyrics, and elow them is a link to a recording of the aria sung by soprano Mary Mills, from a production by the Philadelphia Opera:
Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so dark an' velvet-like, and it's all lit up with stars.
It's like a great big mirror reflectin' fireflies over a pond.
Look at all them stars, Little Bat! The longer y'look, the more y'see.
The sky seems so heavy with stars that it might fall right out of heaven
an' cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet all stitched with diamon's.
Ain't it a pretty night!
Just think, those stars can all peep down an' see way beyond where we can:
they can see way beyond them mountains
to Nashville an' Ashville an' Knoxville.
I wonder what it's like out there, out there beyond them mountains,
where the folks talk nice, an' the folks dress nice,
like y'see in the mail order catalogs.
I aim to leave this valley some day an' find out fer myself:
to see all the tall buildin's and all the street lights
an' be one o' them folks myself.
I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley, though,
fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,
fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things
an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.
But I could always come back if I got homesick for the valley.
So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.
Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back
when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.
Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so heavy with stars tonight
that it could fall right down out of heaven
an' cover us up, an' cover us up
in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.
The sky's so dark an' velvet-like, and it's all lit up with stars.
It's like a great big mirror reflectin' fireflies over a pond.
Look at all them stars, Little Bat! The longer y'look, the more y'see.
The sky seems so heavy with stars that it might fall right out of heaven
an' cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet all stitched with diamon's.
Ain't it a pretty night!
Just think, those stars can all peep down an' see way beyond where we can:
they can see way beyond them mountains
to Nashville an' Ashville an' Knoxville.
I wonder what it's like out there, out there beyond them mountains,
where the folks talk nice, an' the folks dress nice,
like y'see in the mail order catalogs.
I aim to leave this valley some day an' find out fer myself:
to see all the tall buildin's and all the street lights
an' be one o' them folks myself.
I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley, though,
fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,
fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things
an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.
But I could always come back if I got homesick for the valley.
So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.
Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back
when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.
Ain't it a pretty night!
The sky's so heavy with stars tonight
that it could fall right down out of heaven
an' cover us up, an' cover us up
in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.