I Will Go Sailing No More

"Out among the stars I sail

Way beyond the moon

In my silver ship I sail

A dream that ended too soon

Now I know exactly who I am

And what I'm here for

And I will go sailing no more

All the things I thought I'd be

All the brave things I'd done

Vanished like a snowflake

With the rising of the sun

Never more to sail my ship

Where no man has gone before

And I will go sailing no more

No it can't be true

I could fly if I wanted to

Like a bird in the sky

I believe I can fly

Why I'd fly

Clearly I will go sailing, no more." I Will Go Sailing No More, Randy Newman.

Disappointment. Disbelief. Shame. These are things this song deals with. These are the emotions that Buzz Lightyear is filled with as he realizes that Woody was right. He is a toy, he can't fly. In diselief, he tries to forget what he was told and attempts to fly out of a window. Sadly he fails and is broken. This seals the deal, it affirms the truth that he is a toy.

What does this have to do with anything? How does it relate to children, and children's literature?? Well, it is or rather was a very popular movie when I was younger. But what I think is interesting is that deals with issues that children deal with... What it does differently however, is it presents the story from a doll's/toy's point of view. All children grow up and eventually grow up, and leave toys behind. We often think nothing of it, why should we?? It wasn't until I watched Toy Story 2 that I thought about this. In the second movie Annie, a toy cowgirl sings tells the story of her life through song. She was once owned and loved. Then the girl, Annie, grew up and got rid of her. She was deeply saddened and very hurt at being forsaken by somebody she had loved...

Secondly, all children are disappointed at one point or another. Sometimes this disappointment deals with falls... What I mean is that sometimes children dreams are improbable and impractical. I think the movie The Kid sums it up well. While having coffee, the older Russ Duritz talks with an acquaintance who speaks eloquently and really sums it up well... Who of us grow up to be the ballerinas, or firefighters we thought we'd be when we got older?? Not many... This isn't to say that children shouldn't dream. They should, children should dream and believe in themselves. But, realisitcally speaking the change, stuff happens and along the way we grow up. We are disappointed in ourselves, in others, in the choices we make while growing up. When we are "Up" or grown, we look back and remember the time when we imagined what we would be like when we got older. In a sense this is disappointing as we're not the people who hoped that we would become.

That's what this song, and movie for that matter have to do with children and by way of children children's literature. Now then, I'm spent and tired from travelling. Gotta run.