Out of the blue, from somewhere deeply buried in my memory, a song burst into my mind. “He’s got high hopes. He’s got high hopes. He’s got high in the sky, apple pie hopes.” It had been decades since I had heard this song as a very young girl and have no inkling what triggered the memory of this jingle. Yet the message permeated my thoughts for several days as the song danced around in my mind night and day. When alone, I sang it with gusto. There must be a lesson I needed to learn from this limerick. Although my instincts told me the message was one of optimism, I researched the origin of the song and explored its meaning.
I discovered there were multiple definitions for the phrase ‘pie in the sky’ depending on the era it was used. Just after the turn of the 20th Century, “pie in the sky” was defined as something that was too good to be true. If an idea or plan was ‘pie in the sky’ even though it seemed good, it was not likely to be achieved.
In the early 1900s, Joe Hill wrote a song for workers who were banding together to petition for higher wages. Paid poorly, many workers were hungry too much of the time and Joe thought people could be happy on earth, not just in heaven as many thought.
In 1911 Hill wrote a parody of the song Sweet By and By. His song said: “Work and pray. Live on Hay. You’ll get the pie in the sky when you die.” At that time “pie in the sky” meant joy in heaven but sadness on earth. Later it came to mean impossible.
Then in the 1950s the song High Hopes offered another meaning of “pie in the sky.” This song suggests that you can achieve “high apple pie in the sky hopes.” The song reached its peak at No. 30 on the Billboard Charts in June 1959.
Obviously this song was written to motivate people to continue to believe in themselves and never give up even if others don’t believe in you. Some of the lyrics are:
“Next time you’re found with your chin on the ground, there’s a lot to be learned, so look around.
Just what makes that little old ant think he’ll move that rubber tree plant?
Anyone knows an ant can’t move a rubber tree plant.
But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes.”
The ant refuses to lose belief in himself and won’t give up. It continues: “So any time you’re getting’ low, ‘stead of lettin’ go, just remember that ant. Oops there goes another rubber tree plant.” Although seemingly impossible, the lyrics suggest that the ant knocks down the rubber tree plant.
Another verse uses the same motivational-realistic and motivational-whimsical pattern. A ram insists he can knock down a giant, concrete and steel dam (aka a billion kilowatt dam). To quote Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn again:
“Once there was a silly old ram, thought he’d punch a hole in a dam. No one could make that ram scram. He kept buttin’ that dam, cause he had high hopes... He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes.”
After a few more verses, the song comes back to the ram’s story, highly suggesting that he does in fact knock down the dam: “So any time you’re feelin’ bad, ‘stead of feelin’ sad just remember that ram. Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam.”
Boundless life lessons can be learned from this song from yesteryear. So next time you have your chin on the ground, there’s a lot to learn, so look around and believe in yourself and your high hopes — your apple pie, in the sky hopes.
Susan Stucki is an author, speaker and entrepreneur. Learn more about her campaign to Celebrate Life at
www.CelebrateWithJoy.com.