<P> In the original Broadway production, this song was introduced by Mary Martin playing Maria and Patricia Neway playing Mother Abbess . Julie Andrews, who played Maria in the 1965 film version of the musical, had previously sung the song on the Christmas special for The Garry Moore Show . </P> <P> In the musical, the lyrics to the song are a reference to things Maria loves, such as "whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens". These are the things she selects to fill her mind with when times are bad . </P> <P> The original Broadway musical places the song in the Mother Abbess's office, just before she sends Maria to serve Captain von Trapp's family as governess to his seven children . However, Ernest Lehman, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, repositioned it so that Maria would sing it with the children during the thunderstorm scene in her bedroom, replacing "The Lonely Goatherd", which had originally been sung at this point . Many stage productions also make this change, shifting "The Lonely Goatherd" to another scene . </P> <P> The first section of the melody has the distinctive property of using only the notes 1, 2, and 5 (tonic, supertonic, and dominant) of the scale . By using the same melody - pattern, Rodgers harmonized it differently in different stanzas, using a series of minor triads one time and major triads the next . </P>

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