Cusp Song of the Day: Hey There

"Hey There" by Rosemary Clooney spent more than six months on the pop charts in 1954, including six weeks at number 1. That was a very good year for the singer, who also had a starring role in White Christmas with her friend Bing Crosby. The tune, from The Pajama Game, was also recorded by Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee and many others.

The lyrics to "Hey There" begin, "Lately when I'm in my room, all by myself in the solitary gloom..." That’s why I selected it over others of the era for a Cusp scene involving Craig's unseen mother, whose first husband died in a plane crash in the early '60s.

"We go down a long dark hallway where we have to be very quiet. His mother never comes out of her room and no light is allowed in. Craig says there’s nothing physically wrong with her, she’s just overwhelmed by life. Even though it’s been more than twelve years since the crash, she still acts like she just got the news. She’s in there now—I can hear Rosemary Clooney singing 'Hey There' —but not taking visitors, which is fine with me."