♫ Just To See Her ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

Tonight, I am in the mood for some Motown!  I haven’t played this one since 2018, so you probably don’t remember that I played it four years ago, right?  Heck, most of you probably didn’t know I existed four years ago.  Anyway, let’s kick back and love us some Smokey Robinson!

The song written by Jimmy George and Lou Pardini in 1987 and recorded by none other than Smokey Robinson.  Smokey was in a bit of a funk … well, more than a bit, actually … at the time.  His last big hit had been Being With You in 1981, and then in 1984, his friend Marvin Gaye was shot to death by his own father.  Robinson was already addicted to drugs, and Gaye’s death just put the final straw on the camel’s back.  Then in 1986, he and his wife Claudette divorced.  But this record put him back on top.  Surprisingly, Robinson’s only Grammy win came for this song; he won for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.

Jimmy George and Lou Pardini would go on to join the band Chicago in 2009.

Apropos of nothing, but I found Smokey’s explanation of how he came by his name fascinating:

Smokey-4“My Uncle Claude was my favorite uncle, he was also my godfather. He and I were really, really close. He used to take me to see cowboy movies all the time when I was a little boy because I loved cowboy movies. He got a cowboy name for me, which was Smokey Joe. So from the time I was three years old if people asked me what my name was I didn’t tell them my name was William, I told them my name was Smokey Joe. That’s what everyone called me until I was about 12 and then I dropped the Joe part. I’ve heard that story about him giving it to me because I’m a light skinned Black man but that’s not true.”

Just to See Her
Smokey Robinson

Just to see her
Just to touch her
Just to hold her in my arms again one more time

If I could feel her warm embrace
See her smiling face
Can’t find anyone to take her place
I’ve got to see her again

I would do anything
I would go anywhere
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
Just to see her again

I can’t hide it no
I can’t fight it
It’s so hard to live without the love she gave to me

Doesn’t she know it
I tried hard not to show it
Can’t I make her realize that she really needs me again

I would do anything
I would go anywhere
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
Just to see her again
She brightened up my everyday
Made me feel so good in every way
If I could have her back to stay
I’ve got to see her again

I want to see her
(Just to see her)
Hold her hold her hold her
(Just to see her) see her
Just to touch her

Touch her
I would do anything
I would go anywhere
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
Just to see her again
She brightened up my everyday
Makes me feel so good in every way
If I could have her back to stay (today)
I’ve got to see her again

it would it would it would
(Just to see her) make me feel so good
(Just to see her)if I if I could only see her again
Just see her again
Just to see her theres nothin’ I wouldn’t do
Just to see her oh don’t you know its true
Just to see her (if I could only see her again oh)

Songwriters: Jimmy George / Louis Joseph Pardini
Just to See Her lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

21 thoughts on “♫ Just To See Her ♫”

  1. This makes two times in my life I have heard this song, both courtesy of Filosofa. I still don’t listen to the radio much, only in the car now. And truth to be told, the radio still doesn’t play songs I can just listen to, even with my new hearing aids.
    I guess I should have died before I was 30. There hasn’t been much music, relative speaking, that I have loved since the 80s. Queen, the Travelling Wilburys, Prince, and new songs by old performers. There are singers with talent, but they don’t often seem to match up with lyricists worth much. I have gotten old.

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    • How are the new hearing aids working out now … better than they were at first?

      Um … just because you haven’t really cared for most of the music since you were in your 30s isn’t exactly a cause for thinking you should have died before then. There is more to life than music, my friend.

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      • The hearing aids are much better now, after giving my brain a chance to slowly get used to them.
        Being dead to the world of music is not the same as being dead to the world. I am still enjoying being alive, for the most part. I am still learning, and learning how to express myself, which I do not seem to be doing a good job of these days.

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        • I’m glad to know that! I was worried that you might give up on them. No, I know you’re not dead to the world … you have much to offer. Sometimes it’s hard to convert what we think or feel into the right words to convey those thoughts and feelings. You do fine.

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  3. I’ve never heard this one before, probably as it came out when our first daughter was being a very difficult one-year old and we didn’t listen to the radio. But I expect I’d have forgotten it anyway 😉

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        • Well, at least with you it was the first one, so you were wise to wait for the 2nd one! Our first one, daughter Chris of whom I speak of often, was an angel. So, 16 months later we had son Michael … who was a little terror! And still is! He’s been in and out of prison for drug charges, doesn’t think he should have to work for a living, but believes the world owes him something. And then, 5 years later came Clifford, who never learned to feed himself, go to potty, dress himself, or speak and died in 2019 at age 42. Insomnia??? Heck, I was a walking zombie I was so exhausted for years!

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          • I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some problems, and especially the sad tale of poor Clifford. Chris is still an angel, I think. We’ve been luckier, as both of ours have grown up as reliable, responsible adults who have made good lives for themselves. I remember those insomnia days: I once got home from work and after greeting wife and first born went downstairs to set the VCR. My wife came down later to find me sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the tv, still wearing my suit, fast asleep!

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            • Thanks, Clive! I think that having problems in life makes us … stronger, more compassionate, more … human. I know people whose biggest problem ever was deciding what to wear in the morning, and frankly they are pretty shallow people. Ha ha … I have this picture in my mind now of you sitting cross-legged on the floor sound asleep in your business suit!!! One time in college I fell asleep during a lecture and when I woke, the class was gone and the lights were out!

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  5. Pingback: ♫ Just To See Her ♫ — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

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