"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens/Brown paper packages tied up with strings/These are a few of my favorite things!"
Early in Robert Wise's classic adaptation of "The Sound of Music," the alpine governess Maria soothed the agitated von Trapp children by rattling off a list of pleasant but inconsequential things -- and captivated millions of people in the process. Social networks didn't exist in 1965. Back then, enumerating your favorite things via song to a restless brood of Austrians was one of the few ways you could broadcast your interests to a wide audience. In a way, Maria was history's first tweeter.
Forty-seven years later, "My Favorite Things" is still the gold standard of musical self-projection. Countless performers -- from Tony Bennett to Outkast, from John Coltrane to the cast of "Glee" -- have interpreted Rodgers and Hammerstein's iconic ode to quotidian pleasures. It has been revisited, reworked, parodied and translated. Some artists have even altered the lyrics to fit their own interests.
When Mitt Romney declared recently that "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," it only seemed fitting that we revisit the song, this time with the former Massachusetts governor's favorite things thrown into the mix. Romney is off-key, and his range isn't that impressive, but he definitely has a future in duets -- that is, if the whole presidential thing doesn't pan out.
Strange? Yeah. Not nearly as cool as President Obama's cover of "Born This Way"? No doubt. Unnecessary? You bet!
We hope you enjoy.
Video produced by Ben Craw.
UPDATE: HuffPost commenter butlercaddie posts his own "Favorite Things" lyrics. Post your own version in the comments and we'll put the best ones in a slideshow:
White folks for neighbors because they're hard workers
Other folks for caddies and legal yard workers
Money and all of the houses its brings
These are a few of my favorite things
Corporate people for my only friends
Ron to stay in til the primary ends
More Touch of Gray so I only have "wings"
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the Newt bites, when the Rick stings
When magicUnderoos chafe
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I can feel... quite safe