“Mama said there’ll be days like this. There’ll be days like this, my Mama said. I went walking the other day. Everything was going fine. I met a little boy named Billy Joe, and then I almost lost my mind.” (Luther Dixon and Willie Densen, 1961)

This month we look in on Marian Paroo and yearn with her as she describes her perfect man: (“All I want is a plain man.  All I want is a modest man, a quiet man, a gentle man, a straightforward and honest man. “), and learn with her when she discovers, “there was love, all around. But I never heard it singing. No, I never heard it at all, ’til there was you.” Thanks to the wise counsel from someone who knows.

Welcome to the July 2021 Edition ~ The Music Man ~ Mama Knows Best.

The Widow Paroo is a wonderful character study of a mother’s desire to see her daughter “settled” into a life that would suit both her and the times in which she lives.  

As a mother, she is inquisitive (“Darlin’, don’t you ever worry about your future?” ). When a stranger follows her daughter home, rather than being frightened, she is curious. (“Did he say anything?” Did you say anything?”)  In Marian’s recount of the “perfect man” (plain, honest, and quiet),  Mama is a reality check. (“There’s not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunion,  St. Pat, and Noah Webster you’ve concocted for yourself! That stranger may be your very last chance!”)

As the story progresses, Marian continues to protest the idea of Harold Hill as a prospective partner. (“Mama, a girl’s future doesn’t depend on every fast-talking, woman chasing, traveling man who comes to town!”) Mama continues to coax. (“ It’s a well-known principle if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you’ll never strike much of a fire!”)

Her coaxing pays off. As the  Wells Fargo Wagon comes to town with band instruments and a joy she has never seen on her brother’s face (“Sister!  Sister! Isn’t this the most scrumptious solid gold thing you ever saw?”), Marian warms to the Professor.  She defends him to the mayor, agrees to support the “think-system” (“If only I were a little more informed.”) and dances with him at the sociable.

With love blossoming, the Professor proposes! That is, proposes a meeting at the footbridge. Upon accepting, Marian shouts to her mother: “Mama, I just told Professor Hill I’d meet him at the footbridge in an hour!” Mama replies, “Glory be, and the saints be praised, it works! I  been using the ‘think system on you from the parlor.”

In helping Marian find love, the Widow Paroo helps to move the story to its conclusion. When she stands with Marian and all the other mothers against a town that wants to tar and feather the Professor, she proves that Mama really does know best!

Thanks for looking in!

~~~Lori