What a Difference a Day Makes

Thus go the words of Stanley Adams. Though the tune to go with them dates back to a special lady: María Grever, the first female songwriter and composer to break through on an international stage. In her 30s, Grever moved to New York City and stayed there for the rest of her life. Between 1900 and 1951, she wrote over 1,000 songs.

The one most of us know and remember is usually sung by Dinah Washington—and not in Grever’s native Spanish either. That one was written in 1934. “Cuando vuelva a tu lado.” “When I return to your side.” It would be 25 years before Washington’s English version hit it big and won the latter a Grammy.

What a difference a day makes
24 little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain

Grever never witnessed the song taking off, though she did find relative success in her lifetime. Washington’s career, too, was cut short by an accidentally lethal dose of prescription medications. What a difference a day makes.

My partner is considering a career change. For the first time in a long time, she has a week off with no travel or activities planned. Within 24 hours, she has blossomed from a state of heaviness to that of a child skipping around in the sunshine. She’s full of ideas, excited to go shopping, which she usually hates, and about to try a new recipe for dinner. Maybe all she needed was a little bit of space. What a difference a day makes.

It might take 1,000 days of writing 1,000 songs for that one day where one of them is played on the national radio to materialize. But it might not take 1,000 days to shed a rusty piece of identity armor and become a new person. At least from that one particular angle people usually view you from.

Believe in possibility, and a lot can happen in 24 hours. In the end, it’s not about the lyrics, the music, or even the job. As that old song from 1934 already knew:

What a difference a day makes
And the difference is you