In honor of Father’s Day, I dug into my folder of song lyrics written over the decades for family (and other) occasions. Of our numerous musical traditions, writing original lyrics to familiar songs was my favorite. Dad, Mom, my aunt and uncle Joyce and Addy, cousins Bobby and Nancy, brother Donnie, and, later, my friend Susan inevitably joined in the fun. With Donnie and/or Bobby at the piano, ready to accompany any tune, many parties turned into song-and-laugh fests.
As noted below, Dad held the distinction of Lyrics King in the fam, having co-written the Columbia University varsity show in 1942. He contributed his lyrical wit to countless family parties as well as social gatherings among their very cool Mad Men-style Westchester friends. Kinda like those “salons” on The Dick Van Dyke Show, where guests took turns performing.
I seem to have followed in his footsteps—writing lyrics not just for family events but for office parties, chorus tributes, and other communal milestones. For Dad’s 65th birthday in 1986, I wrote this tribute to the tune of the title song from Guys and Dolls. (Not exactly scintillating when sung a cappella, as you can hear from this low-tech and imperfect recording on my phone, but I thought it would be fun to share.)
This week is also the fifth anniversary of my mom’s death, June 21, 2021. Maybe I’ll post one of many “Gloria” songs sometime. Despite all their mishegas, Mom and Dad were a cute couple, as you can see above, joined at the hip, for better or worse, for 65 years. I miss them and all those fabulous parties.
My version of “Guys and Dolls”
0:00
-2:59
What’s playin’ at the Sosins?
I’ll tell ya what’s playin’ at the Sosins.
Story about a man who’s turnin’ 65 who looks as young as he did
when he outranked all dem World War II Navy bos’ns.1
That’s what’s playin’ at the Sosins.
What’s with the Soviet Jews?
I’ll tell you what’s with the Soviet Jews.
They got a guy in New York who follows their plight in the papers
and lives for the seven o’clock news.
That’s what’s with the Soviet Jews.
What’s happenin’ in White Plains?
I’ll tell you what’s happenin’ in White Plains.
Gloria and company are gathered to celebrate the birthday
of the guy with all the brains.
That’s what’s happenin’ in White Plains.
Birth is the thing we are toastin’
and our honoree is—nat’rally—Gene Sosin.
Yes sir, when you see a dad, a Columbia grad,
who’s as smart as a valedictorian,2
when you go from “Mama” to “magnitizdat,”3
then it’s perfectly clear there’s somebody here who’s so cool, he’s hot.
When you meet a mensch who is fluent in French,
all his verbal abilities still survive.
Call him Dad, call him Honey, but I’ll bet on his pension money
that Gene Sosin is gonna be 65.
When you’ve got a Joe who was on Tic Tac Dough,4
and who’s chock full of trivia,5 saints alive!6
He’s a prime-time comrade,7 a Renaissance man.
He has traveled the world with his number-one girl, who’s his number-one fan.
When you know a sport who’s an ace on the court,
if he’s huffin’ and puffin’, he’ll still revive.
Call him old, call him youthful, but we’re telling the whole damn truthful
that Gene Sosin is gonna be 65, and so alive,
Gene Sosin is gonna be 65!
When a guy’s retired, you would think he’d be mired
in the boredom of Social Security.
But if Gene’s that fellow, get rid of your fears.
There’s enough in the den8 for an army of men to stay busy for years.
When you’ve got a Glo9 who is rarin’ to go
and a family whose lovin’ you can’t ignore,
call it luck, call it mitzvah, it’s a thrill and delight to wish ya
Happy Birthday bis hundert und zwanzig yor!10
Happy Birthday bis hundert und zwanzig yor!
And here’s the real thing, from 1951:
Dad served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1946. He attained the rank of lieutenant (senior grade) and worked as a codebreaker and translator of Japanese in Washington, D.C., having graduated from the Navy's Japanese/Oriental Language School. He liked to joke that he was the commander of an LMD (large mahogany desk).
He was valedictorian of his Flushing, NY, high school class, at age 16 (not sure how the age thing happened?!).
Magnitizdat refers to the “underground, unofficial practice of copying and distributing uncensored audio recordings across the Soviet Union. Derived from the Russian words magnitofon (tape recorder) and izdat (publishing), it acted as an audio equivalent to samizdat (clandestine self-publishing of banned literature).” Per Google search. (Dad spent his career with Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe.)
Dad appeared on the Jack Barry-produced quiz show in the late 1950s. He was doing well until he faced an opponent who, it turns out, was being fed the answers (as I’ve shared before). He left with $6,000 and a case of Bromo Seltzer, which paid for a new roof on the Hill Street house featured in last week’s Substack!
Chock full o’Nuts coffee was a regular sponsor of Tic Tac Dough.
Saints Alive! was the name of Columbia’s 1942 varsity show, for which Dad wrote or co-wrote the lyrics. Whoa! Gotta love the internet for 80+-year-old info. (NB: Dad was born “Jean” and changed his name in his twenties.)
Prime Time, Comrade refers to a play he and a friend, Stan Kapner, spent years writing, but it never saw the light of day.
Dad’s office space was stuffed floor-to-ceiling with books, papers, boxes.
Mom’s nickname was Glo. Mom and Dad went by “Glogene.”
This means “until 120 years,” a wish in Yiddish that someone should live that long. Over decades and dozens of parody songs written for family milestones and special occasions, the goal, always, was to land on that line no matter what.
Any other family parody-song lyricists out there? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
ESCAPE VELOCITY NEWS
RYE EVENT WRAP-UP!
On June 7, I enjoyed a rich conversation with Alison Cupp Relyea at the Rye Free Reading Room, my hometown. Deep thanks to Alison and everyone who came out! Here’s the online version of Laura Schiller’s feature article, which appeared in the May 22 Rye Record.
STAY TUNED…
On June 9, I recorded an interview with the phenomenal Ronit Plank, of the Let’s Talk Memoir podcast. What an interesting and wide-ranging conversation! I’ll link it here in the fall when it airs. If you don’t know Ronit’s work or her Substack, please check it out.
AND my recent guest appearance with the ever-prolific Estelle Sobel Erasmus on her award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct will air in late June or early July. Link to come when it’s up.
On September 18, I’ll be at the Books in the Square bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, in conversation with author Ethan Gilsdorf. Details to come soon!
RECENT MEDIA
May 13: Featured on Jodi Sh. Doff’s new, wacky, wonderful series called “Short Attention Span Reader,” where she judges a book by its cover and riffs with the book’s author. So fun! Be sure to subscribe to Jodi’s Substack, “Only the Jodi: Life as a Sober, Aging, Dementia Caregiver.” Good stuff, always.
I’m thrilled to announce that ESCAPE VELOCITY was honored as a Finalist in the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (Memoirs/Other) category, one of seven books recognized alongside this year’s winner!
For more, visit the Media page on my website.
To order ESCAPE VELOCITY, go to 227 Press, here. For complete info and links, please visit my website.
Thanks for reading! Hope you’re enjoying my Substack, where I post my musings every Friday. I’m keeping a free subscription option for the foreseeable future, but I’d be grateful if you’d lend your support by subscribing ($7/month or $70/year) and sharing. Much more on my website!
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