One of the most powerful moments from the Mister Rogers documentary, Won’t You be My Neighbor, is when they discuss the song “Sometimes I Wonder if I’m a Mistake.”
Apparently on the show Rogers would use his puppet Daniel Tiger to his express his own personal childhood fears and feelings and I think you can feel how real that is when you see Daniel sing this song. It is clearly expressing very real emotions.
Someone in the documentary comments on how much they appreciate the fact that the song is a duet. Daniel opens up about his insecurities, and Lady Aberlin tries to comfort him. But the song doesn’t have a nice and neat resolution. We end with both singing their parts at the same time, competing, conflicting with each other, just like how we often feel when we’re at our lowest. It’s not resolved so easily. We don’t always immediately believe the comfort offered to us.
I was looking on Youtube for a different song from Mister Rogers when I stumbled upon this BEAUTIFUL cover of “Sometimes I Wonder if I’m a Mistake.” The two performers are so talented and I love that it was a part of a church service.