Summary
Charlie Chaplin wrote the music for 'Smile' in 1935 for the film 'Modern Times', but the lyrics were only added nearly 30 years later.
Chris Philips tells the story of how his grandfather was inspired to write the words when he left his father at boarding school.
Gemma Lowery talks about how her son Bradley loved the song.
Writer Bryony Rheam describes why she associates the song with her grandmother.
Marine Lucas remembers flying to Michael Jackson's memorial on hearing the news of his death.
And author Bob Williams remembers when his father died, how his mother sat on the floor listening to the Nat King Cole version - crying when he came home from school.
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.
Producer: Sara Conkey
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.2 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.3 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse |
| 0:21.2 | range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through |
| 0:26.0 | archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if |
| 0:31.8 | you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories |
| 0:37.1 | from all around the UK. BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:40.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:44.3 | You know, I remember, and it is a while back, but I was six years old. I was turning seven the next day. |
| 0:53.2 | I'm Bob Williams. I'm a retired teacher, |
| 0:55.8 | and I spend my time now, though, writing books. I had been given a few gifts, boxing gloves, |
| 1:02.7 | of all things, and I remember having them on and kind of shadow boxing through the house. |
| 1:09.4 | I was actually hiding behind the curtain, waiting for |
| 1:15.1 | my father to come in, and then I was going to jump on him with my boxing gloves on. |
| 1:21.9 | But instead of my father knocking on the door, it was a police officer. |
| 1:30.3 | He quickly got to the news that my father knocking on the door, it was a police officer. He quickly got to the news that my father and brother-in-law had been in an automobile accident. A lot changed after the death |
| 1:38.3 | of my father. Well, you know, my mother would sometimes be up and then be down. |
| 1:49.0 | For the most part, she was always the one who was the life of the party. |
| 1:51.6 | But then there were other days when she was down. |
| 1:56.1 | And as a kid, I knew when those days were occurring. |
... |
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