TRULY SCRUMPTIOUS

Truly scrumptious
You two are truly scrumptious
Scrumptious as the breeze across the bay
When you're smiling
It's so delicious
So beguiling
You're the answer to my wishes

While I've been thinking about where the emotional self-esteem of the West is currently (near rock bottom), I can't help but think of the song "Truly Scrumptious" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which seems to epitomise a type of pure innocence and sincerity that has been lost somewhere along the way.

Perhaps I'm being a bit random this bright, sunny Tuesday morning, but while listening to the soundtrack of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the other day, I was struck by the heartfelt sentiment of the song. It carries an emotional authenticity, unburdened by the affectation, cynicism, or snark that so much postmodernism has brought about as do many of the songs from the original 1968 film such as "Hushabye Mountain" and the famous title song.

The collective weariness of observing and classifying our modern culture, like a psychotherapist or scientist, has left us without the ability to purely enjoy things as unabashedly sweet and emotionally transparent as "Truly Scrumptious." Could it be that postmodernism has eroded our capacity to engage with more straightforward and earnest sentiments without a reflexive layer of irony or suspicion? Or is it simply that I am now so far removed from my first experience of watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in childhood that the song now feels alien with all the accumulated years of living on this planet?

Listening to the soundtrack without encountering "baggage" speaks to a longing for a kind of unfiltered experience—one that feels less burdened by the complexities of modernity. Perhaps it's not random at all. These moments of cultural nostalgia often provide a lens to assess where we are and what we feel is missing. In this case, it’s the emotional authenticity and innocence that contrast sharply with today’s often fractured and performative modes of expression.

And perhaps this music by the Sherman Brothers offers something more than just nostalgia—it represents a subconscious desire to reclaim something lost.

Something truly scrumptious.