Oh Can't You See The Morning After

This morning I decided on a new anthem to get me through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's Maureen McGovern's 1973 hit, "The Morning After." This song was written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the 1972 blockbuster movie "The Poseidon Adventure." McGovern recorded her version of the tune in 1974 and it quickly went to number one on the pop charts. For those who have never seen the movie, it is about a luxury liner that capsizes and there was a tremendous loss of life. There were numerous perils within the upsidedown vessel for those who initially escaped death. During the course of the film, however, some of those who believed they would make it out alive perished along the way. The rest continued to endure great trials as they sought to survive. At the movie's end, only a few of the ship's passengers emerged alive and well. They stood, gazing upon the sun shining on the morning after, as the song was playing.

My inspiration to use "The Morning After" as my anthem came from 5 weeks of nonstop fireworks in my city. Every single night since Memorial Day, from about 8 PM until the wee hours of the morning we endured that sights, smells, and sounds of celebration. Last night, July 4 was the grand finale and it was spectacular. I saw the brilliant colorful lights of fireworks from at least six different directions. My ears were vibrating as if the cannons of war were engaged. This morning, however, on Sunday, July 5 there was an eerie silence. I had become so used to the noise that the quietness seemed almost abnormal. This is when I reflected upon this being the morning after.

As I was driving I passed a park where the basketball court was filled with the debris from the previous night's escapades. This is when the lyrics to Maureen McGovern's song came to mind. I looked at the aftermath of the fireworks and thought of the mess left behind in the capsized ship in the movie. The survivors were able to walk away into the dawn of a new day and leave it all behind. I pulled it up on my phone and sang along with it several times to my destination and also back home. I cried along the way because the word yields such power for the times in which we live.

"There's got to be a morning after , If we can hold on through the night.

We have a chance to find the sunshine, Let's keep on looking for the light .

Oh, can't you see the morning after?, It's waiting right outside the storm .

Why don't we cross the bridge together, And find a place that's safe and

warm?

It's not too late, we should be giving, Only with love can we climb.

It's not too late, not while we're living , Let's put our hands out in time .

There's got to be a morning after , We're moving closer to the shore .

I know we'll be there by tomorrow . And we'll escape the darkness .

We won't be searching anymore" .

As the song fades McGovern can be heard singing multiple times;

"There's got to be a morning after, there's got to be a morning after"......

The tears flowed freely as I reflected upon all the lives lost to COVID-19, the grieving loved ones left behind, the businesses that will never reopen, and the uncertainty of when this version of the coronavirus will finally end. The lyrics to "The Morning After" gave me assurance that many of us will emerge from this darkness to a place that is safe and warm. Each time I listened to McGovern sing, "Oh can't you see the morning after," I felt such peace and hope for the future. I began to visualize the aftermath of our current situation. There will be more casualties, and there will be situations like the debris, stacked up after the fireworks. There will also be survivors who come forth, just like the people who emerged from the ship Poseidon in the movie.

The characters in the film who made it to daylight were greeted with a fresh new dawn. All we have to do is what this song suggests and hold 0n through the night. We must keep looking for the sunshine, that's waiting right outside the storm. We need to cross the bridge together and climb with love, rather than hate. As long as we are living and breathing, it is never too late. We have only to put out our hands in time and believe. There has got to be a morning after. There must be an eventual end to are we are going through right now. Determine that you will be a survivor and hold on until see it. This is what I think about each time I play my new anthem.

In 2018 Maureen McGovern was interviewed by Warren Kurtz "Goldmind." She shared how she sang the song for the MDA telethon they same year her young niece was diagnosed with one of the diseases that the money goes to find a cure for. McGovern said she could hardly make it through the song, She added that she had not before realized how powerful "The Morning After" is or how it gave people hope to cling to. This is why I have chosen this recording to be my anthem because it offers the promise of a new dawn where COVID-19 is not ravaging. I must believe there is sunshine after this rainy season, light after the darkness, and peace once this pandemic storm stops raging.