23rd March 1999
I just got the following e-mail which rocked me back in my Doc Martens. Also I’ll share a story about this dear song that has moved me deeply. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded ‘Best Friend – The Unicorn Song” on their Reunion album some time ago. More recently, I had occasion to see
P, P & M in concert in San Francisco. When Peter heard that I was in the audience he introduced me and then told this story. He recounted that during the last two weeks of his mother’s life, when nothing else could comfort her, she requested he sing one song over and over again. It seemed to be the only time during the day when she was at peace. He then began to sing ‘The Unicorn Song” and invited all two thousand of us in the audience to sing along with him – which, of course, we did. Clearly he has a special relationship with the song and listeners from as far away as Hong Kong have gotten the message…
Dear Friends at Pleiades Records:
Pardon my ignorance! I have never heard of Margie until very recently. Peter Yarrow came to Hong Kong and sang ‘The Unicorn Song.” I thought it was by Yarrow – and nope, it was by Margie Adam! Actually many people here in Hong Kong knew of that song for years but it had been sung in Chinese by one of the local artist.
Now that I am grown (as the song goes), I am a high school teacher (teaching music and English) and would like to use that song in my class. (Believe it or not, this song is excellent as an example of gerunds…)
Sincerely
William Ng
Franciscan Friars of Hong Kong
I find this whole sequence of events amazing…from the moment this song came to me in 1973 in San Luis Obispo on a beat-up old upright piano to 1999 when William Ng heard it in Hong Kong. Truly music is the language of the heart transcending all politics, all social boundaries, all cultures. I give thanks to the universe for Best Friend-The Unicorn Song.