♫ Because ♫

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The other night, I played a song by the British group the Dave Clark Five, and in the comments, a friend said his favourite by them was Because.  The song rang a bell, and when I went and listened, I remembered it well, remembered liking it back in the day.  Funny how we don’t think of a song for decades, and all of a sudden it’s clear as a bell.

This song hit #3 in both the U.S. and Canada, but didn’t fare so well on the band’s home turf, likely because in the UK it was released as the B-side of another song, Can’t You See That She’s Mine.  B-side songs just never quite seem to make it to the top of the charts.  According to Wikipedia …

Because was written with the intention of being the Dave Clark Five’s fifth US single, but the band’s label, Epic Records, was initially resistant, believing the ballad strayed too far from the hit-making formula that had proven successful with the band’s previous upbeat singles. In May 1964, the song was released in the UK as the B-side to Can’t You See That She’s Mine. Clark insisted that Because be released as an A-side in the US, and Epic eventually agreed. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number sixty in August, and peaked six weeks later at number three.  Because became the band’s fifth US single to sell more than one million copies.  In Canada, the song reached number three on RPM magazine’s singles chart.

The songwriting credits on the record are given to Dave Clark and Mike Smith, but Because is one of several Dave Clark Five songs claimed to have been co-written by Ron Ryan, rather than by Clark.

I was surprised to find that the Supremes recorded a version of Because on the group’s A Bit of Liverpool (1964), a tribute album dedicated to music of the British Invasion.  And Julian Lennon recorded the song for the soundtrack to Dave Clark’s musical Time (1986). Released as a single in 1985, Lennon’s version reached #40 on the UK Singles Chart, and #8 on the Belgium Singles Chart.

Because
The Dave Clark Five

It’s right that I should care about you
And try to make you happy when you’re blue
It’s right, it’s right to feel the way I do
Because, because I love you

It’s wrong to say I don’t think of you
‘Cause when you say these things
You know it makes me blue

Give me one kiss and I’ll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you

Give me one kiss and I’ll be happy
Just, just to be with you
Give me, give me, a chance to be near you
Because, because I love you
Because, because I love you

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Dave Clark
Because lyrics © Songtrust Ave

 

 

42 thoughts on “♫ Because ♫”

    • Awwww … I’m so glad to have helped bring happy memories! This was, I think, my favourite of DC5, though not in my overall top ten list. Have fun walking down memory lane on YouTube!

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  5. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this on before either Jill and to be honest I was rather underwhelmed.. I’m with RG on this, we should give our love to everyone. Did the Kinks make it in America during the invasion? They were fun but did a good ballad called Waterloo Sunset.
    Cwtch

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  6. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this before, Jill, which rather proves your point about B-sides not featuring in the UK charts. I’m amazed this did so well in the US – to me it’s just another sappy little pop song with simplistic lyrics. They were much better when they were thumping holes in the floor! A much better song with the same title is a track on the Beatles’ Abbey Road album.

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    • It’s the same here … most B-side songs never make it out of the starting gate. I think David shares your sentiment about it being a bit too sappy. Interestingly, while I thought I had heard all of the Beatles’ songs, when I went to listen to the one you mentioned of this same title, I had never heard it before! Sometimes I think things get lost crossing that big pond that separates our countries.

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  7. Thank you, Jill. I had no idea The Supremes ever recorded it, I don’t think that album ever made it to Winnipeg. Julian Lennon, weirder still, but it proves he has good taste.
    Yes, it is a simple song, but love is best when it is simple, uncomplicated by all the games and jealousies we humans like to give it. If only we could simply love all our fellow living beings, how much better this world would be.
    Because I LuL.

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