Last week I featured five unexpected performances by Joni Mitchell, an artist many thought would never perform again due to health problems.
Now, I have a sadder mission. A week ago today, beloved singer-actress Olivia Newton-John passed away at just 73, presumably succumbing to the cancer she has battled for more than 30 years.
I have long been a fan of Newton-John’s. I had a childhood crush on her that has persisted to this day. I love her iconic turn as Sandy in Grease and I count at least one of her songs among my all-time favorites.
This week I will honor the great British-Australian talent by featuring five of her songs.
In her early career, Newton-John tiptoed the line between country and pop, finding success on both the Adult Contemporary and Country charts and winning a Best Country Female Grammy. As an Australian singing crossover songs, she wasn’t exactly embraced by the Nashville community.
Audiences were a different matter. She scored her first top ten hit with the title track of the country-pop album Let Me Be There in 1973, then broke into the top five with ‘If You Love Me (Let Me Know)’ a year later. The song (today’s SOTD) was the title cut of an album compiling the best work on her prior three albums.
The album also featured the American debut of ‘I Honestly Love You,’ Newton-John’s first #1 hit and one of her signature songs.
If You Love Me, Let Me Know (the album) was her first to top the Billboard 200 chart, an accomplishment she would repeat in record time.
You came when I was happy in your sunshine
I grew to love you more each passing day
Before too long I built my world around you
And I prayed you’d love enough of me to stay
[Chorus]
If you love me, let me know
If you don’t, then let me go
(Ooo I) I can’t take another minute
Of the day without you in it
If you love me, let it be
If you don’t, then set me free
Take the chains away
That keep me loving you
[Verse 2]
The arms that open wide to hold me closer
The hands that run their fingers through my hair
The smile that says “hello, it’s good to see you”
Anytime I turn around to find you there
[Verse 3]
It’s this and so much more that makes me love you
What else can I do to make you see
You know you have whatever’s mine to give you
But a love affair for one can never be
[Chorus]
If you love me, let me know
If you don’t, then let me go
I can’t take another minute
Of the day without you in it
If you love me, let it be
If you don’t, then set me free
Take the chains away
That keep me loving you
[Outro]
Ah, take the chains away
That keep me loving you
(Loving you)
Meet Me In Montauk 
A fitting tribute to a shining star that dimmed far too soon.
I came across this post on FB that I thought was quite fascinating:
Looks like the link may not work, but here is the text:
In 1882, a Jewish baby was born in Germany named Max Born. He grew up to be a physicist at Gottingen University. In 1935, Adolph Hitler personally terminated him from his position because he was born Jewish.
Max immigrated to England. He became a professor at Cambridge University. Later, he began working at the University of Edinburgh. There, an amazing nine of his students went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. He himself won the Nobel Prize in 1954. Max is known as one of the parents of Quantum Mechanics.
His daughter, Irene, gave birth to his granddaughter, Olivia, in 1948.
Olivia later went on to win five Grammy awards, be named a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Environment Programme, and be named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
She played Sandy Olsson in the movie adaptation of the Broadway Play Grease.
Today, our hearts are sadder because his granddaughter, Olivia Newton John, has died.
May we all be inspired by her forging her own path to find enormous success and along the way becoming an advocate for animal rights, the environment, and people with cancer.
Her memory lives on as a blessing.
Beautifully said. I read about her Grandfather in one of the obits. So impressive! I remember on a family trip to California we treked all over to find the Koala Blue store so that Amy (huge fan) could buy her stuffed Koala bear which she may still have ❤️