Singing in the Davis household came just as naturally as breathing. Say a word or phrase and one or more of us will break out in a TV theme song, a show tune, an old folk song or a church song or hymn. My folks were always singing. Big Daddy sang while he worked in his garden or worked on his old car. Mother sang while she washed dirty clothes, dirty dishes and dirty kids.
Our automobiles always came equipped with radios but they were seldom powered on. We sang as we traveled from our home in Northwest Illinois to "down home" in Tennessee. When the five of us kids started scattering about the country, whenever we came home for the holidays, Big Daddy would have us sing together some time during the visit. He loved harmony. He would often say: "Let your voices blend." My family has faced life -- its good times and its hard times -- with singing.
At Big Daddy's memorial on October 12, 2015 we opened with an old recording of his. It was a recording from a late 1940s live performance on an early morning radio show. The title of the song is: "Remember Me".
Remember me when the candle lights are gleaming Remember me at the close of a long, long day It would be so sweet when all alone I'm dreaming Just to know you still remember me
We closed with the folks in attendance singing the first church song Big Daddy ever led: "Rock of Ages". Knowing that he was once a performer, many at the little church he and Mother were joined to kept encouraging him to lead the little congregation in singing. He was so nervous the first time that he sang the first verse of this old hymn four times in a row. His friend, Bobby Cowan, led the group that Monday morning in 2015 as the family filed out behind Big Daddy's casket. Bob led the first verse four times, of course!
My family's propensity for singing reminds me of the old folk song lyrics:
No storm can shake my inmost calm, While to that rock I´m clinging. Since love is lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing?
I must admit that it is because of my Eternal Father and my Earthly Father that I face life -- singing.
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