It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To!
After writing “What If I Hold A Party And No One Comes” Lesley Gore’s song “It’s My Party” started on auto play in my head!
Well, ok, to tell the truth, it started as I was writing the post.
(And yes, I have included the lyrics on this post..)
But it got me thinking about parties, especially after reading posts on other blogs about parties that didn’t happen, or didn’t happen right.
Which in turn meant that it was time to write again!
I love socializing, and am known for organizing work functions. Some of them pretty big!
A couple of years ago I organized a party at work that I needed to have a set number of people to attend in order for the restaurant to handle the menu, and make it worth while.
It was a seafood night, with platters of crabs, prawns, lobsters, oysters, barramundi and other swimmingly delicious creatures!
I’d put a notice up at work, and to help defray costs, asked for a 50% deposit.
The word was out for friends of friends as well, and they all paid their deposits.
In the end, the venue was packed, except for the “late confirmers” who hadn’t said that they were coming, and called at the last minute.
“Can I pay on the night? I won’t see you before then”.
And you know what happened next. They didn’t show. And I was out of pocket. Seriously out of pocket.
With seafood coming out my ears.
Well, not quite, but there was enough in the fridge to keep us going for a while.
And it put me off doing it again.
Since then whenever I have organized anything, it has been with a “don’t care if you come or not” attitude.
I’ve booked the venue and said that I need between eight and whatever places.
If they’re not here by such and such a time, you can have the unused places back.
I pick a few items on the menu, place them on the notice, and let them order, and pay for their own!
If anyone says they can’t come I just smile and say that that’s fine, perfectly ok.
Children’s Parties Are Different!
When it comes to kids’ parties though, things are a bit different.
When our children were growing up it was just for a few friends usually, and mostly family.
Close friends were invited, but we never really got into inviting their whole class.
Apart from economics, I believe that in life we have friends, close friends and people we know.
It’s not that we “don’t like” certain people, it’s just that we tend to identify with those who share similar interests, and who enjoy our company.
There was one exception! Danielle!
One year she invited the whole class, and friends from everywhere.
And they all came.
So we hired a couple of giant drink buckets from Maccas, and went to the local mini train track.
There are free barbecues for use there, so we grabbed swag of sausages and bread rolls, and had a giant sausage sizzle.
We picked a weekend that we knew the trains wouldn’t be running. But they were.
Someone had booked the trains, and carnival rides, but had got the dates wrong.
So the trains were there, the merry go rounds were there, and the operators were there twiddling their thumbs, looking at packing up.
After a bit of negotiation on my part though, I got them to stay for the cost of the insurance and a few beers later.
The kids had fun, the operators got a free feed.
And Danielle was a star, and truly enjoyed her time in the limelight.
That was out of the ordinary for us though.
After that it was back to the usual close friends and family routine.
How did Danielle attract so many people to her party?
We had always made a point of getting to know our kids’ friends parents, so that we knew that they would be safe if they went to their house.
My wife was heavily involved in the parents’ groups at their schools.
I did things with working parties toget stuff done on weekends at the schools and got to know the fathers.
And we always taught our kids that to have a friend, you need to be a friend.
We also understood that everyone is busy these days, and picked a weekend when there wasn’t a lot happening.
Apart from sending the initial invitations a few weeks earlier, RSVPs were confirmed both by phone to parents, and at school.
And of course the kids were talking about it and creating a buzz.
About Lesley Gore!
Lesley Gore, (Lesley Sue Goldstein) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, in 1963, she recorded the pop hit “It’s My Party”, and followed it up with other hits including “Judy’s Turn to Cry”, “You Don’t Own Me”, and “California Nights”.
Gore also worked as an actress and composed songs with her brother Michael Gore for the 1980 film Fame, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
Lesley Gore performs “It’s My Party..”
[miucode id=’its-my-party’]
It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To Lyrics
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Nobody knows where my Johnny has gone
But Judy left the same time
Why was he holding her hand
When he’s supposed to be mine?
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Play all my records, keep dancing all night
But leave me alone for awhile
Till Johnny’s dancing with me
I’ve got no reason to smile
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Judy and Johnny just walked through the door
Like a queen with her king
Oh, what a birthday surprise
Judy’s wearing his ring
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Oh, it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
Cry if I want to
You would cry too, if it happened to you
Oh, it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.
About The Song!
The song was released in April 1963 on the Mercury label and reach #1.
It was written by Walter Gold, John Gluck Jr, Herb Weiner and Seymour Gottlieb.
It was produced by Quincy Jones, and was his first #1 hit.
Read: We Are All Prisoners Here Of Our Own Device
Allan Cockerill is a writer for hire, and is available for ghost writing, blog posts and direct marketing.