Marji's Ballad Book
Copyright Statement
This song may be printed out by individuals for their personal
enjoyment.
All other rights including reproduction, etc. are reserved.
Permission for public performance, recording rights, adaptation, etc.
can be negotiated with the Ashland University Library Archives,
Ashland, Ohio.
Boucher et Fragonard
Words and music by Marji
Hazen:
Boucher
and Fragonard were two French artists who painted what were then
considered naughty pictures of Victorian ladies swinging on swings or
walking in their gardens, their long skirts blown by the wind, showing
perhaps a (gasp!) shapely ankle. This subtle pornography wannabe
concept carried over into the 20th Century in a few of the
freshmen women in every college I ever attended. Once in a while a girl
would admit to her friends that her parents had agreed to pay for
one year of school only In that time she was expected to secure her
MRS, never mind any thought of an MBA. Some of these poor, stressed
kids were under orders not to come home without a fiance. These were
the girls who spent immensely more time and effort on grooming than
studying. While we were traipsing off to the library in the evenings in
our faded jeans and worn sneakers, we would notice them strolling the
campus or perched on stone walls and wooden benches in mini-skirts and
tight sweaters. Or through the dusk we'd hear groups of them sounding
for all the world like a herd of ponies trotting off to some frat
party in their very high heels, one or two of the more clever subtly
wafting the aroma of fresh-baked cookies, surely a much more
enthralling scent than Chanel #5 to the homesick young male. This song
was inspired by failed efforts of one of the most desperate and
inept of these poor girls. KEY:
2. If we meet in the park today, will he smile and tip his hat?
Do you think, then, that he might say, "Let's stop and have a pleasant chat."
3. If I wander by the riverside and encounter him by chance,
Do you think, then that this might be a small beginning for romance.
4. So I walked in the town today; and in the park I took a stroll.
I wandered down by the riverside, but he wasn't there at all.
5. When I came back to my house, on the door I found a note.
"I came by to visit you today, but you were not home," he wrote.
© Marji Hazen
Return to Songs Menu
Return to Marji's home page.