La-Ti-Do

Do a deer a female deer
Re a drop of golden sun
Mi a name I call myself
Fa a long long way to run
So a needle pulling thread
La a note to follow So

Can you imagine writing that song? It is a classic from the movie The Sound of Music, but writing it had to be a little tricky.

Picture this: Rodgers plucks out the tune at a piano while Hammerstein paces. They have all the lyrics in place except for one.

"La," says Hammerstein, pacing. "What the heck is La?"

"That's not the problem," says Rodgers. "What the heck is it supposed to rhyme with?"

"It rhymes with Fa," says Hammerstein.

"Yeah, but Fa's not at the end."

The pacing Hammerstein begins spitting out words that rhyme with La. "Pa. Da. Ga. Sa. Ra -"

"As in Rah, Rah, Siskoombah?" Rodgers asks.

"You're getting punch-happy," the fretting Hammerstein snaps. "We gotta get this done and have it in the recording studio in an hour."

"One word," Rodgers mutters. "That one word is the hold up."

"What the heck good is that one word?" Hammerstein asks.

Rodgers chuckles. "For all I can tell it's just a word that follows So."

"Just good to follow So," Hammerstein mutters. "Whoever heard of such a thing?"

"A note to follow So," Rodgers echoes. He plucks out the tune on the black and white keys, muttering, "a note to follow So" at the same time.

Rodgers and Hammerstein look at each other.

This is not a true story. This is my imagination working overtime.