I’ve seen the movie The Sound Of Music probably, oh, I’d say at least 50 times. I actually remember the first time it was ever shown on network television – I was 11, and in the days when VCRs were a rarity, it was a really, really big deal in my house. I got to stay up late and watch…most of it, before I passed out on the couch.
Since then I’ve watched it pretty much every year at Christmas time, often two or three times over.
Discuss: Why is The Sound of Music considered a Christmas film?
This past week we watched it with the kids and they really liked it. It was surprisingly good at raising our spirits. No matter how sick we got, we all managed to tap our feet when The Lonely Goatherd came on.
Discuss: The Lonely Goatherd is the best song in The Sound of Music.
Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about in this post is the song So Long, Farewell. That’s the one that the kids sing as their goodbye to the guests at the big party. Each kid gets a little goodbye solo. The fourth solo belongs to the younger boy, Kurt:
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye
I leave, and heave a sigh, and say goodbye
Good BYYYYYYYEEEEE….
At the end there he hits a high, clear note.
I SWEAR that when I watched this movie on TV as a kid, the father said, “Cheeky!” at this point. However, our DVD does not have the father saying that.
Am I the only one who remembers this? In university, my friend BarkyShark and I used to sing this song on occasion, and at this point in the song, we would both look at each other say, “CHEEKY!” Then we’d collapse into giggles. Ah, university, such a beacon of somber, serious thought. Anyway, I assumed she was remembering the same thing I was, and we were laughing at our amazing ability to so closely mimic Christopher Plummer. But maybe she was laughing because she had absolutely no idea why I always busted out with CHEEKY at that moment?
And she really thinks I’m totally insane?
And perhaps, it’s true, or else I have some form of childhood Alzheimers?
The missing “Cheeky.” It’s surely one of life’s great mysteries.
TurtleHead 
I haven’t seen TSOM nearly as many times as you, but I don’t remember the dad saying “cheeky” at that part. I don’t think Kurt is being cheeky there; the kids are trying hard to impress the audience.
I feel like I’ve heard *Julie Andrews* say “cheeky” in a movie though. Doesn’t she say it to the bird out the window in Mary Poppins? But that is a different movie, so maybe there is a “cheeky” somewhere in TSOM.
I want to say I remember that too but I can’t be sure. Have you Googled it? Hmm, I am going to go do that right now.
I don’t remember that at all. Our DVD (the 40th anniversary edition) doesn’t have that in it.
No clue about cheeky, and I’ve never watched it at Christmas, but I’m TOTALLY with you on the lonely goatherd being the best song in the movie, or maybe ever. Have you heard the Gwen Stefani version (Wind It Up)? They used it in Eve’s dance recital and I almost left right then and there (before Eve’s number) to go home and search for it on itunes.
Julie Andrews says “Cheeky” in Mary Poppins during the song A Spoonful of Sugar. It’s the part where she sings a bit of a duet with her own reflection in the mirror but then the reflection starts to show off with a really long, high note, and then Mary Poppins says, “Cheeky!”
Funny enough, I was thinking of Sound of Music today because Ed and I went skiing for the first time in about eight years. As Ed and I rode up the chairlift on the third or fourth run, I was thinking of how in high school my friend Lisa and I used to sing songs from The Sound of Music at the top of our lungs the whole way up the hill on the T-bar lift at Mount Madawaska, near Barry’s Bay. It just seems appropriate to yodel on a ski hill.
I resisted the urge to sing at the top of my lungs today. BUT IT WASN’T EASY!
Ah, that’s right. I knew it was from Mary Poppins, but I got the scene wrong.
This keeps popping into my head and although I wouldn’t swear to anything, the whole “cheeky” thing REALLY rings a bell. Why would they take it out though?
I’m not really into musicals, but I have seen The Sound of Music a few times as a child and thought it was o.k. But to describe it as a “holiday” flick, umm…not really. More of a “nostalgia” flick than anything.
I think you know I love this movie. Julie Andrews is awesome! As it’s so long, I could rarely stay up to watch the last third or so of it, so I’ve seen the first two-thirds a billion times, the rest not so much. I love all the songs, including The Lonely Goatherd.
Your reminiscence about the comment from the father rings some bells. Did he say something funny/sarcastic to one of the kids (while they were presenting themselves) at another point in the film??
I have no idea why this is categorized as a Christmas film. Probably it just fits in with the generally “uplifting” theme we like to enjoy during the holiday season.
Okay, I think we have a consensus here that I am mixed up.
During the song So Long, Farewell, the father does say “No!” to Liesel when she asks if she can “stay and taste my first champange.”
And Julie Andrews says “Cheeky!” during the Spoonful of Sugar song in Mary Poppins.
So I think I merged those two ideas in my head and came up with this cheeky/sound of music thing.
If you google it, my post is the first hit. Which is never a good sign.
I’m so ashamed I mixed up Julie Andrews movies! That’s total sacrilege in my mother’s house.