Rethinking John Denver

One of my NYT games, Strands, had "inch by inch, row by row" as the clue a couple of days ago. I thought I remembered it as a song and of course, I Googled it, and found John Denver singing on Sesame Street. The first verse of the song is:

Inch by inch, row by row, gonna make this garden grow

All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow

Someone warm them from below, 'til the rain comes tumbling down

He was strumming and walking through a fake garden and the plants and a watermelon joined in the song... and I started crying. You don't need to tell me that these lyrics are a far from amazing poetry or that John Denver collected his share of DUIs or, for all we know, the composer was a real asshole - none of that matters.

It touched me because it is summer and the song is innocent. A lot of Denver's songs feel that way - nature, beauty, love, becoming a person, all that stuff we espoused half a century ago. Watching him, I became uncomfortably aware of how little is left in my life that is innocent. Listening to the song, I was not required to be a sceptic, or do any critical thinking, or try to see the other point of view. I simply had 2:51 innocent minutes of seeds growing into plants - and it was magical.

Check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ_xW4xYQmw