by Jenevieve Hughes | June 27, 2014
In 1945, one of musical theater’s greatest songwriting teams, Rodgers & Hammerstein, penned the Carousel show-stopper:
“June is bustin’ out all over!”
Turns out, there’s a good chance they were describing the splendor of summer right here in Connecticut.
Richard Rodgers, who had a country house in the state, was so taken with its natural scenery that it inspired him to choose a New England setting for the musical Carousel, based on a play originally set in Budapest.
In fact, the songwriting duo wrote many of their best-known Broadway hits at Rodgers’ Connecticut home.
The charming notion of June bursting into bloom “all over the meader and the hill…” could have described a number of Connecticut haunts, and the tune quickly became one of their most beloved.
The chorus describes “flowers bustin’ out of bushes!… as the roughening river pushes… every little wheel that wheels beside the mill”, capturing the carefree nostalgia of June the way that only vintage roses and old-timey words like “meader” can convey.
With that in mind, let’s relish the natural beauty of Connecticut’s historic gardens, as we get ready to say goodbye to June!
“June is bustin’ out all over…
And the ocean is full of Jacks and Jills,
With the little tail a-swishin’
Every lady fish is wishin’
That someone would come ‘n grab ‘er by the gills...
June is bustin’ out all over
And the sheep aren’t sleepin’ anymore
All the rams are chasing ewe-sheep
All determined there’ll be new sheep
And the ewe-sheep aren’t even keeping score…
Because it’s June!
June! June! June! June!”
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