Biography:
Elizabeth Eaton Converse was born in Laconia, New Hampshire in 1924, the middle child of three siblings. She was bookish, the valedictorian her class at Concord High School, and described by most who knew her to be a polymath. She attended Mt. Holyoke College on an academic scholarship beginning in 1942, studied French, and wrote for several campus publications. By 1944 she decided to leave college, at which point the records of her whereabouts are sparse until about 1949, when she made her way to New York City.
There were two major developments during Elizabeth’s time in New York. The first was her procurement of her nickname “Connie.” It is unclear how or why or when exactly, but the name stuck. The second was Connie’s burgeoning interest in playing and writing music, first for guitar and later for piano. No doubt this stemmed from her love of poetry, as many of her earliest songs were poems that she had written and then set to music. The songs became instant hits with her family, and also attracted the attention of animator and amateur recordist Gene Deitch. Beginning around 1954, Connie would make visits to Deitch’s home in Hastings-on-Hudson to record almost 40 songs.
At first listen, Connie’s music seems to keep close company with the female folk artists who were her contemporaries. The knack for plaintive storytelling shares much with Peggy Seeger and Susan Reed. Reed knew Connie’s music well, and performed a set of her songs in 1961 at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York. But Connie’s music stands out from that of the American folk revival of the 1950’s. Her fluid and disarmingly intelligent poetry reflects an urban perspective, that of a new New Yorker becoming disenchanted by the bucolic tropes of folk music. She is at once a maverick and a romantic, intellectual and spiritual, a staunch independent and a tender, pining lover.
Over the years Deitch, along with his colleague Bill Bernal, worked to promote Connie’s music, but despite their efforts, the songs remained unheard to all but a few dozen of Connie’s acquaintances. In 1961 Connie tired of New York and left for Ann Arbor, where her brother was a professor at the University of Michigan.
Having dropped out of college seventeen years prior, it came as something of a surprise that, within months of her arrival in Ann Arbor, Connie had implanted herself firmly in the academic community of U-Mich. She began as a secretary at the Center for Research on Conflict Resolution, eventually working her way to Managing Editor and Co-Editor of CRCR’s Journal of Conflict Resolution.
Connie’s work in Ann Arbor left little time for music and, while she still happily played at family gatherings, there is little evidence that she wrote new material. She did, however, continue her attempts to promote her music already extant. Susan Reed, the folk harpist, took an interest in Connie’s work and performed a set of her songs in New York. There were a handful of scores for commercials and some work on a short film. But never the kind of widespread success she had hoped for her music.
Connie became increasingly despondent in the 1970’s, a period she described as her Blue Funk, although her family and friends say they could not detect any outward change in her character. In 1971, she requested an extended leave of absence from CRCR, citing what she saw as her poor performance at work and unspecified medical problems. Her employer responded by organizing a group of Connie’s friends and colleagues to contribute to a pool of money that would allow her to take a six-month sabbatical in England, which she would later describe as one of the only times in her life that she allowed herself to enjoy “unproductive fun.”
In August of 1974, after waiting for the resignation of Richard Nixon, Connie wrote a series of farewell letters to friends and family. She packed up her Volkswagen and disappeared, her whereabouts unknown to this day.
Film maker Andrea Kannes is currently working on a documentary about Connie. More info here: http://connieconversedoc.com/
Man in the Sky
Connie Converse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
grew weary of men with a roving gaze -
'Farewell, fickle lovers; goodbye, goodbye,
for I'm falling in love with the man in the sky.'
The man in the sky, he walks in haste
with three bright buckles around his waist
and a great dog near and a little dog nigh
The girl went out on a windy hill
and cried when the night was dark and still -
'Come down! come down! you man in the sky,
or else I am likely to pine and die.'
The man in the sky didn't stop to talk;
he went right on with his evening walk
and the great dog howled and the little dog whined
and the girl grew cold in the rising wynd.
She took to her bed from the light of the sun,
but when the sun his course had run
she went to her window so high, so high,
and waited and watched Orion go by.
The man in the sky, he walked in haste
with three bright buckles around his waist
and a great dog near and a little dog nigh
and a gleam for her in his golden eye.
One night she stood on her windowsill
and stepped right out on the highest hill
and climbed to the place where the planets are
and jumped from there to the nearest star.
She rocked in Cassiopeia's chair
and waked the dragon and roused the bear
and the great dog howled and the little dog whined
and the girl grew cold in the rising wynd.
She found Orion at last, and then
she found he was just like other men.
When on his shoulder her head she'd lay
his eye was a million miles away.
The great dog howled and the little dog whined
and the girl grew cold in the rising wynd
and the dragon snarled and the lion roared
and the stars flew by in a golden horde.
This tale has a moral brief to tell;
and I won't go on, for you know it well.
Remember the girl in the days gone by
who fell in love with the man in the sky.
She rocked in Cassiopeia's chair
and waked the dragon and roused the bear;
and where they buried her I forget,
but the man in the sky isn't married yet.
The song "Man in the Sky" by Connie Converse tells a story of a young woman who becomes disillusioned with earthly love and falls in love with the man in the sky. She describes him as a figure with three buckles around his waist, accompanied by a great dog and a little dog, and a steady gleam in his golden eye. Despite her desperate pleas for him to come down to her, he continues his walk in the sky, ignoring her cries. The woman takes to her bed and eventually climbs to the highest hill to jump to the nearest star. She discovers that even the man in the sky cannot provide her with the love she seeks, and returns to earth, ultimately dying and being buried in an unknown location. The song delivers a moral message about the danger of unrealistic, idealized love and the importance of living in the present.
The lyrics of "Man in the Sky" are rich with symbolism, offering various interpretations. The man in the sky may represent an unreachable ideal or perhaps a religious figure, while the dogs and the woman's journey through the constellations could be seen as metaphors for companionship and the search for meaning. However, the ultimate message of the song remains clear: the pursuit of idealized love can lead to disappointment and disillusionment. Connie Converse's unique storytelling and poetic lyrics make "Man in the Sky" a haunting and thought-provoking work that continues to resonate with audiences today.
Line by Line Meaning
There once was a girl in the olden days
Once upon a time, there was a girl in the past
grew weary of men with a roving gaze -
The girl became tired of men who couldn't stay committed
'Farewell, fickle lovers; goodbye, goodbye,
The girl said goodbye to unfaithful lovers
for I'm falling in love with the man in the sky.'
She claimed that she was falling for the man in the sky
The man in the sky, he walks in haste
The man in the sky walks with speed
with three bright buckles around his waist
He wore three shiny buckles around his waist
and a great dog near and a little dog nigh
He had a big dog near him and a small one near
and a steady gleam in his golden eye.
His golden eyes shone consistently
The girl went out on a windy hill
The girl went to a hill where the wind was strong
and cried when the night was dark and still -
She wept in the darkness of a silent night
'Come down! come down! you man in the sky,
She called for the man in the sky to come down
or else I am likely to pine and die.'
She said she would suffer and die if he didn't come down
The man in the sky didn't stop to talk;
The man in the sky didn't stop to converse
he went right on with his evening walk
He went on with his evening stroll
and the great dog howled and the little dog whined
The big dog let out a howl while the small dog whined
and the girl grew cold in the rising wynd.
The girl grew cold as the wind rose
She took to her bed from the light of the sun,
She went to bed when the sun shone bright
but when the sun his course had run
But when the sun had set
she went to her window so high, so high,
She walked up to her high window
and waited and watched Orion go by.
She waited and watched as Orion passed by
One night she stood on her windowsill
One night, she stood on her windowsill
and stepped right out on the highest hill
And walked out to the highest hill
and climbed to the place where the planets are
She climbed to the place where planets exist
and jumped from there to the nearest star.
She jumped from there onto the nearest star
She rocked in Cassiopeia's chair
She sat in Cassiopeia's chair
and waked the dragon and roused the bear
She disturbed the dragon and the bear
and the great dog howled and the little dog whined
The big dog howled while the small one whined
and the girl grew cold in the rising wynd.
The rising wind made her grow cold
She found Orion at last, and then
Eventually, she found Orion
she found he was just like other men.
She learned that he was similar to other men
When on his shoulder her head she'd lay
When she rested her head on his shoulder
his eye was a million miles away.
His gaze was distant, a million miles away
and the dragon snarled and the lion roared
The dragon snarled and the lion let out a roar
and the stars flew by in a golden horde.
The stars whizzed by en masse, golden in color
This tale has a moral brief to tell;
This tale has a short moral message to convey
and I won't go on, for you know it well.
I won't continue, you already know it
Remember the girl in the days gone by
Remember the girl from the bygone era
who fell in love with the man in the sky.
Who fell in love with a man who flew high
and where they buried her I forget,
I don't remember where she was buried
but the man in the sky isn't married yet.
But the man in the sky is still not married
Contributed by Bentley L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.