I played last night for BT an old version of a song entitled, "The Teddy Bears Picnic." I explained that this song is meant for children; but its dark qualities made it ever so much more enjoyable in adulthood; minor keys that change to major and back, and lyrics that recite as:

"If you go down to the woods today
You're sure of a big surprise
If you go down to the woods today
You better go in disguise

For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

If you go down to the woods today
You'd better not go alone
It's lovely down in the woods today
But safer to stay at home."

This song has long resided in my residual memories of childhood; I somehow heard this song in a cartoon at some point and I still remember it as being beautifully... creepy. Teddy bears? A song that advises children to be afraid of teddy bears? With lyrics written in the year 1932, no less?

This afternoon, I was seated at my desk in my office at work. I have a small radio under my desk which I have tuned to my local NPR radio station at all times. Can you imagine my sheer shock and amazement when from under my desk I began to hear the song, "The Teddy Bears Picnic?"

Apparently, and unbeknownst to me, this weekend would have been singer Val Rosing's (aka Gilbert Russell's) 100th birthday. In honor of this, NPR aired a short segment about the singer, and... you guessed it... included audio of "The Teddy Bears Picnic."

To listen to the segment, visit the NPR website and click to listen to the story: The Other Face of Singer Val Rosing

I found immense enjoyment in the unintentional nature of hearing such an obscure song on-air; it seemed to mirror the feel of the time I had spent today solving problems, putting out proverbial fires, getting news of all sorts and generally succeeding in surviving what could have otherwise been a rather unpleasant day at work.