Category Archives: Bits ‘n Pieces

♫ I Can’t Stop Loving You ♫

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

This song was written and originally recorded by a country singer named Don Gibson in 1958.  Ray Charles was known as an R&B singer, but he defied convention and decided to record an album of country and western songs. His producer, Sid Feller, put together tapes containing about 150 classic country songs so Charles could choose which ones to record. Included on the tapes was I Can’t Stop Loving You, which Charles remembered from when he would listen to The Grand Ole Opry.  Funny, but I never thought of this as a country song … I always thought of it as uniquely Ray Charles, but it turns out that some 700 others have covered this song!  The 700 includes Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Jim Reeves, Duke Ellington, Ike & Tina Turner, Andy Williams, Elvis Presley, and a bunch more!

According to SongFacts …

At first, this was not released as a single, but many DJs played it from the album and it started getting popular. A white singer named Tab Hunter heard Charles’ version and recorded his own, which was rushed out as a single. This infuriated Charles, so ABC Records quickly edited down the 4-minute album version and released it as a single with lots of publicity, including a full page ad in Billboard magazine. Charles’ version became a huge hit and went to #1 on the US Pop, R&B and Easy Listening charts.

I Can’t Stop Loving You
Ray Charles

I’ve made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday
(Dreams of yesterday)

Those happy hours that we once knew
Tho’ long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we’ve been apart

I’ve made up my mind
To live in memories of the lonesome times
(I can’t stop wanting you)
It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life in dreams of yesterday

Those happy hours
(That we once knew)
That we once knew
(Tho’ long ago)
Tho’ long ago
(Still make me blue)
Still ma-a-a-ake me blue
(They say that time)
They say that time
(Heals a broken heart)
Heals a broken heart
(But time has stood still)
Time has stood still
(Since we’ve been apart)
Since we’ve been apart

I said I made up my mind
To live in memory of the lonesome times

It’s useless to say
So I’ll just live my life of dreams of yesterday
(Of yesterday)

Songwriters: Don Gibson
I Can’t Stop Loving You lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Never Gonna Give You Up ♫

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

I don’t know why this one was in my head … did someone mention it in a comment and it stuck in my head, or did my head go wandering during my sleep and stumble across it?  Who knows 🤷  At any rate, it’s in my head, and so as I usually do, I’m sharing it in hopes it will hop into one of your heads now!

Released in 1987, this is among British singer/songwriter Rick Astley’s most popular songs, going to the top of the charts in the UK and staying there for five weeks, but also peaking in the #1 spot in many other nations, including Canada, the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.  Not many can claim so many #1 spots!

This song was written by the British production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. It was inspired by a woman Pete Waterman had been seeing for three years. Rick Astley was staying with Waterman at the time, and after a three-hour phone call with the woman, Astley said, “You’re never gonna give her up.” Aitken and Waterman then changed the story a bit and made him the one who was vulnerable.

Rick Astley worked in Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s studio for two years, operating tape machines, singing on recordings for other singers, learning the trade and famously making the tea before the production trio wrote and produced this song for him, which became his first hit. It was recorded in October 1986, but wasn’t released until July 1987, as the producers were waiting for the right environment to break a new artist.

The music video, directed by Simon West, finds Astley singing at various West London locales, including an empty club where he gradually inspires a bartender (played by dancer Clive Clarke of the Top of the Pops dance troupe Zoo) to bust a move. Apparently, Clarke had been nursing a serious hangover when his attempt to do a stunt flip went awry and he landed on his head. Luckily, he wasn’t injured and nailed the stunt on another take.

Astley was a very pragmatic pop star who understood that his runaway success came with an expiration date. When the hits dried up after his 1991 album Free, his ego was in check and his finances in order …

“I didn’t leave my career penniless and kind of crazy, on the verge of insanity, which is how an awful lot of people tend to end up in pop music. I got away with it really. I ended up making what I considered to be real money, keeping hold of most of it, and having a very comfortable, relatively sane, great life since. That’s not a normal story for people who got into pop music the way I did.”

Astley kept making music, but with limited release. He stayed out of the spotlight until the Rickrolling trend, when he participated in some well-paid stunts like appearing from a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in 2008, but he didn’t push any product or make any new versions of the song to capitalize on its newfound notoriety. His next album didn’t come out until 2016.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Rick Astley

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I (do I)
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (to say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Peter Alan Waterman / Matthew James Aitken / Michael Stock

Never Gonna Give You Up lyrics © All Boys Music Ltd., Sids Songs Ltd., Mike Stock Publishing Limited

Snarky Snippets From Da Rabbit Hole

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

I’m keeping nice and warm down here in the rabbit hole, and the rabbits are generously sharing their carrots with me … so I don’t have much desire to write a lengthy post in this nice warm, dark space, but a couple of thoughts do come to mind …

A hint of … conscience?  Convince me

I have found at least three Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives who maybe … just maybe … actually have a shred of decency and a degree of intelligence.  Their names are Ken Buck (Colorado), Nancy Mace (South Carolina), and Victoria Spartz (Indiana).  I was told a couple of weeks ago that there are about 40 ‘moderate’ Republicans in the House today, but I had begun to doubt, since I hadn’t seen anything to give me reason to believe that.  These three, however, have all said they would oppose removing Representative Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee on which she serves as the Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and the Subcommittee on International Development, International Organizations and Global Corporate Social Impact.

McCarthy’s intention to remove her is retaliatory in nature … he’s still trying to “pay back” the Democrats for removing conspiracy theorists Marge Green and Paul Gosar from their committee assignments last year due to their roles in the January 6th attempted coup and other transgressions that proved them untrustworthy.

“I think that we should not engage in this tit-for-tat.” – Ken Buck

Don’t let that fool you, though, for these three have voted along the party line often enough to prove their loyalty to party and when push comes to shove, I imagine they will toe the line.

And then there were seven … and three more …

First, five police officers were fired, then charged with second-degree murder among other charges in the case of the brutal murder of Tyre Nichols.  I questioned why five officers were even involved in what began as a routine traffic stop.  I still question that, but now we’re up to seven officers having been involved!  Two more, one unnamed, and Preston Hemphill have also been “relieved from duty” but not charged … yet.  Hemphill apparently fired a taser gun at Nichols.

Preston Hemphill

The other officer has not been named, for reasons beyond my comprehension.  I wonder how many more are going to go down in this investigation once the full truth comes out?  How many police does it take to question one unarmed man during a traffic stop?

In addition to police, EMT personnel failed to exercise the standards of care and two of the EMTs and the ambulance driver have also been fired.  They are Robert Long, JaMicheal Sandridge and Lt. Michelle Whitaker.

Not only did the EMTs fail to do an assessment of Mr. Nichols’ condition, but it took a full 27 minutes after their arrival until the ambulance left to transport Mr. Nichols to the hospital.  Was there not one single person there who cared about this human life???  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

As if it weren’t bad enough …

Yes, I’m talking about the gun crisis in this country.  As if it weren’t bad enough that on average 117 people lost their lives every single day in the United States this year thus far, now the Florida legislature wants to make it even easier for people to own and carry a gun … in public.  Says Florida’s Republican House Speaker, Paul Renner …

“What we’re about here today is a universal right that applies to each and every man and women regardless of race, gender or background.”

The bill in question is one that would remove the requirement to obtain a government-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Stupidly, the Florida Sheriff’s Association has thrown its support behind the bill, and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has already said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.  And it should come as no surprise that the National Rifle Association (NRA) is also 100% behind the bill — in fact, they are laughing and chortling wildly.  The governor recently applauded the Sheriff’s Association for saying they would outright refuse to enforce any and all gun control legislation!  Is Florida still a part of the U.S.???  I’m not so sure it should be!

And on the subject of guns, our friend Keith Wilson had an excellent post yesterday that I urge you to read!

♫ Vincent ♫

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

I last played this in 2019 … it’s one of those that you don’t think about until you see it mentioned or hear it played, and then you say, “Oh yeah … I remember that one!”

Van GoghVincent by Don McLean was released in 1972.  The words and imagery of this song represent the life, work, and death of Vincent Van Gogh. The Starry Night is one of the Dutch impressionist’s most famous paintings.The lyrics, “Paint your palette blue and gray” reflect the prominent colors of the painting, and are probably a reference to Vincent’s habit of sucking on or biting his paintbrushes while he worked. The “ragged men in ragged clothes” and “how you tried to set them free” refer to Van Gogh’s humanitarian activities and love of the socially outcast as also reflected in his paintings and drawings. “They would not listen/They did not know how” refers to Van Gogh’s family and some associates who were critical of his kindness to “the wretched.”

According to McLean …

“It was inspired by a book. And it said that it was written by Vincent’s brother, Theo. And Theo also had this illness, the same one Van Gogh had. So what caused the idea to percolate in my head was, first of all, what a beautiful idea for a piece of music. Secondly, I could set the record straight, basically, he wasn’t crazy. But then I thought, well, how do you do this? Again, I wanted to have each thing be different.

I’m looking through the book and fiddling around and I saw the painting. I said, Wow, just tell the story using the color, the imagery, the movement, everything that’s in the painting. Because that’s him more than he is him.

One thing I want to say is that music is like poetry in so many ways. You have wit and drama and humor and pathos and anger and all of these things create the subtle tools that an artist, a stage artist, a good one, uses. Sadly, this has really gone out of music completely. So it makes someone like me a relic, because I am doing things and people like me are doing things that utilize all the classic means of emotional expression.”

This hit #1 in the UK, #3 in Canada, and #12 in the U.S.

Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
Don McLean

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer’s day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night
You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can’t forget
Like the strangers that you’ve met
The ragged men in the ragged clothes
The silver thorn, a bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will

Songwriters: Don McLean
Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Jolly ‘N Joyful Take Over

Posted on by under animals, Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Humour, Politic-Free Mondays, Random

Hello fwiends!  Jolly Monday dis week is brought to you by me ‘n Joyful, ’cause Gwammie is in a wabbit hole and Uncle David is workin’ on gettin’ her out, but we couldn’t let you start da week without some laughs, so we did the best we could without her!  Joyful was busy helpin’ me wid da ‘toons ‘n stuff, so we just picked up some donuts for da mornin’ snack … I hope dat’s okay.  So, go get a donut an’ a coffee and come see what fun stuff we found for you!

While Jolly was off finding ‘toons, I went in search of some music puns, and here’s what I found!

And now for some ‘toons to make you laugh!

An’ here’s a few memes, too!

And we found a cute cwitter video wif a bear cub pwayin’ wif some lion cubs … it’s short, but we hope it makes you smile!

Well, fwiends, we hope you enjoyed our limited, gwammie-less Jolly Monday, and we pwomise to get Gwammie out o’ da wabbit hole before next Monday!  Love ‘n hugs from Jolly ‘n Joyful (and Gwammie, aka Filosofa)!

♫ Paint It, Black ♫

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

I really didn’t intend to go on a Rolling Stones streak this week, but I’ve already played a couple, so I might as well go for an even three, right?

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in 1966, all five band members contributed to the final arrangement.  In contrast to previous Rolling Stones singles with straightforward rock arrangements, Paint It Black has unconventional instrumentation including a prominent sitar, the Hammond organ, and castanets.  The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song number 213 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

While the lyrics appear to tell the story of a girl who died …

  • “I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black” – The hearse and limos.
  • “With flowers and my love both never to come back” – The flowers from the funeral and her in the hearse. He talks about his heart being black because of his loss.
  • “I could not foresee this thing happening to you” – It was an unexpected and sudden death.
  • “If I look hard enough into the setting sun, my love will laugh with me before the morning comes” – This refers to her in an afterlife.

… when asked about the meaning, Mick Jagger replied that “It means, ‘Paint It, Black.’ ‘I can’t get no satisfaction’ means ‘I can’t get no satisfaction.’”

Inspired by more Indian and Mid-Eastern sounds, the song was written while the band was in Fiji for three days. Adding to their musical experiments, guitarist Brian Jones first introduces the sitar into the mix—and marked the first time the Stones featured the instrument in their music—and would often play the wooden instrument, sat cross-legged, during television appearances. The sitar was most likely a discovery during the band’s break in the South Pacific around a tour in Australia.  Keith Richards said …

“They make sitars and all sorts of Indian stuff. We had the sitars, we thought we’d try them out in the studio. To get the right sound on Paint It Black we found the sitar fitted perfectly. We tried a guitar but you can’t bend it enough.”

Released in the midst of the Vietnam War, the song was later used on the late 1980s TV series Tour of Duty about the ongoing war and Stanley Kubrick even used the song in closing credits of his 1983 war classic Full Metal Jacket. There were never blatant political references in the song, but nonetheless it quickly became an anthem for a very culturally conscious and dissonant youth during the war.

This hit #1 in Canada, the UK and the U.S., and either #1 or #2 in many other countries.

Paint It, Black

Rolling Stones

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a newborn baby it just happens ev’ryday

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and I must have it painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I want to see your face painted black, black as night, black as coal
Don’t want to see the sun, flying high in the sky
I want to see it painted, painted, painted, painted black, yea

Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Tired

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Free Press Issues, guns, Law and justice, Personal, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I’m tired, my friends, and I imagine you are too.

  • I’m tired of being told that more than 3,200 deaths by guns, including 44 mass shootings in less than 28 days is simply the ‘price of freedom’. Freedom to … WHAT?  Get shot to death at the grocery store?  To have our children killed in school?  If that’s the price of freedom, you can keep the damned freedom!
  • I’m tired of the altogether too frequent killing of people by the police … the very people we are supposed to be able to trust to protect life. The relatively few police who take the lives of primarily Black people who have done little or no wrong, have given police officers everywhere a bad name and frankly, if I see a cop in a store, I turn the other way, hoping he doesn’t even notice me.  If I see one behind me at a traffic light, my heart stops and I try so hard to look innocent that I probably look guilty!
  • I’m tired of being called a ‘Marxist’ because I believe in human rights, believe that nobody should amass huge amounts of wealth while others go to bed hungry at night, or live on the streets in cardboard boxes.
  • I’m tired of spending more than half of my monthly Social Security stipend on medications that are essential to keep me from dying, while seeing the profits of the pharma companies that manufacture those drugs skyrocket.
  • I’m tired of listening to Republican politicians threatening to cut that very same Social Security that a) I paid into all my life, and b) is not enough to support me if I lived on my own! This is a threat against the very survival of those of us over a certain age, so apparently those politicians have decided that our lives no longer add value to the world.
  • I’m tired of conspiracy theories, especially those lies told by politicians who know the truth, but find it more expeditious to their own ends to push the lies.  And I’m tired of the ignorance in the general public that allows so many everyday people to believe those lies.
  • I’m tired of companies that raise their prices for one of a variety of excuses – supply chain issues, staffing shortages, increased production costs – and then at the end of the year show a huge increase in their profits.
  • I’m tired of the bigotry that is on the rise in this country. Anti-LGBTQ sentiment, racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, misogyny … all are increasing at significant levels, thanks in part to religious ‘leaders’ who have zero tolerance for any that don’t fit their pat little images, and in part due to politicians like Ron DeSantis and others who promote the idea that ‘other’ is bad, ‘other’ is to be shunned.
  • I’m tired of a free press that keeps shoving the former guy down our throats. By now, he should have faded into obscurity to the point that if we saw a picture of him, we’d say, “Oh yeah … I remember that fat slob … what was his name again?”  But no, we have to see his picture and read every word that comes out of his lying mouth on a daily basis.
  • I’m tired, most of all, of Republican politicians in Congress who are bastards. Sorry, Keith, but that fits them to a ‘T’.  They take our hard-earned tax dollars to the tune of $174,000 and more every year, and then fail miserably to do the job for which we paid them.  They don’t legislate, they retaliate.  They don’t build, they destroy.  They don’t govern, they campaign.  Before the current 118th Congress was even seated, they were already plotting their next election campaigns.  I’m tired of our government being so divided by party that ‘party’ is the only thing that matters, not people.
  • I’m tired of feeling helpless to change any of the things I’m tired of. I’m tired of being ashamed of this country I’ve lived in for almost 72 years now, tired of wishing I were almost anywhere but here.  My vote is my voice, but it is a very small voice, made even smaller with such tactics as gerrymandering that dilute my voice.

I could probably think of more, but … I’m tired of writing for tonight, so I think I’ll go read for a while now.

A Few Thoughts

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2022, Global Issues, guns, Humour, Law and justice, Political commentary

Just a few of my thoughts on this Saturday afternoon …

I think the people of District 3 in New York should have the opportunity to recall George Santos and force a special election.  The man they thought they were voting for, after all, does not exist.  Mr. Santos, or whatever his name actually is, built his reputation on a tower of lies … a very high tower, as it were.  And now, that tower is crumbling and should by any logical thought, be brought down before it does significant damage.  However, by the terms set forth in the U.S. Constitution, a member of the House can only be removed by a 2/3 majority vote in the House … or death.  With the current panic by Republicans over losing so much as one seat of their paper-thin majority, that is beyond unlikely.  Remember when the former guy said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not suffer any repercussions?  Well, apparently that also applies to George Santos and any other House Republicans.

Apparently, the committee name “House Intelligence Committee” is a misnomer, for Republican House Leader McCarthy has ejected the only two members who actually had any … intelligence, that is.  Yep, the arsehole refused to allow two very intelligent and qualified Democrats, Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, to serve on the ‘Intelligence’ Committee.  Both have previously served on the committee, and Adam Schiff, notably, has led the Intelligence Committee for the past four years!

McCarthy did not diss Schiff and Swalwell because they weren’t qualified – he dissed them in retaliation for the times that some of his choices were not chosen for various committees, such as when Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t allow the two Jims – Jordan and Banks – to serve on the January 6th investigative committee because both had played a role in the insurrection.  Or the time that the Democratic-led House stripped Marge Greene and Paul Gosar, two radical conspiracy theorists, from their committee assignments.  Or perhaps, as Adam Schiff says …

“His objection seems to be that I was the lead impeachment manager in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, and that we held him accountable for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid from Ukraine. So he is now, I think, carrying the dirty water for the former president in trying to remove me from the intel committee.”

Whatever the reason, he is denying two of the House members with the most experience a seat on an important committee, one that is crucial to the security of the nation, for reasons that make no sense to a rational mind.

Remember, folks, it’s not about good governance, it’s not about what’s best for the nation and its people, it’s not about justice or truth, it’s only about power and wealth for the few.  Full stop.  Let us hope that in November 2024, people will vote more conscientiously, will actually put thought into their vote rather than simply voting along party lines or for the loudest voice.

And now, let’s lighten the mood with a few ‘toons, shall we?

♫ Honky Tonk Women ♫

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

A few days ago when I played Get Off Of My Cloud by the Rolling Stones, this one was mentioned by a couple of you in comments, and I was rather surprised to find that I hadn’t played it here before, but according to my archives, I haven’t (sometimes those archives lie to me, though).  Funny … I always thought this was “Honky Tonk Woman”, but it’s not … it’s “Women” plural!  Learn something new every day!

This was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  According to Keith Richards, the song had its origins …

“… in Brazil. Mick and I, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg who was pregnant with my son at the time. Which didn’t stop us going off to the Mato Grasso and living on this ranch. It’s all cowboys. It’s all horses and spurs. And Mick and I were sitting on the porch of this ranch house and I started to play, basically fooling around with an old Hank Williams idea. ‘Cause we really thought we were like real cowboys. Honky tonk women. And we were sitting in the middle of nowhere with all these horses, in a place where if you flush the john all these black frogs would fly out. It was great. The chicks loved it. Anyway, it started out a real country honk put on, a hokey thing. And then couple of months later we were writing songs and recording. And somehow by some metamorphosis it suddenly went into this little swampy, black thing, a Blues thing. Really, I can’t give you a credible reason of how it turned around from that to that. Except there’s not really a lot of difference between white country music and black country music. It’s just a matter of nuance and style. I think it has to do with the fact that we were playing a lot around with open tunings at the time. So we were trying songs out just to see if they could be played in open tuning. And that one just sunk in.”

Lead guitarist Brian Jones was a founding member of the group and was considered their leader in their early years. Unfortunately, drug abuse made him pretty much worthless by 1969, and when The Stones finished recording Honky Tonk Women on June 8, 1969, they drove to his house and fired him. The single was released July 3, 1969, the same day Jones was found dead in his swimming pool.  The single was given away to all the fans who helped clean up after The Stones free concert in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969. This was the first concert Mick Taylor played with the band. A life-size cutout of Brian Jones, who died two days earlier, was kept on stage and the show was dedicated to him.

Mick Taylor had taken over for Brian Jones on lead guitar, and this was his first appearance on a Stones recording. Taylor claims he came up with the famous guitar riff, even though Richards plays it.

This was banned in China. When the group made arrangements to play there for the first time in 2003, they had to agree not to play this, “Brown Sugar,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” and “Beast Of Burden.” They ended up not playing because of a respiratory disease that was going around China.

This song hit #1 in both the UK and U.S., and was in the top #5 almost everywhere it played!

Honky Tonk Women

Rolling Stones

I met a gin-soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
‘Cause I just can’t seem to drink you off my mind

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

I laid a divorcée in New York City
I had to put up some kind of a fight
The lady then she covered me with roses
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues
It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

It’s the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

Writer/s: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger
Publisher: Abkco Music Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ People ♫

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

I didn’t need to look far or long for tonight’s song … it rather fell into my lap.  People … people who need people … people who help people … people who care about people.  Maybe it’s time for this world to stop for a few minutes, to remember what it means to be a human, a ‘people’.  We’re so busy putting down others, finding fault, seeking and finding superficial reasons to hate, that we’ve forgotten our humanity.  We all need people in our lives, but in exchange, we also need to be that ‘people’ in someone else’s life.  Take a deep breath … forget about the hatred, the conflict, the evil and the battles for just a minute and let Barbra’s voice carry you away …

According to SongFacts …

Composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill wrote this for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand as real-life entertainer Fanny Brice. While some sources claim “People” was a cast-off from the 1962 animated version of A Christmas Carol (starring the nearsighted Mister Magoo), Styne biographer Theodore Taylor disputed the theory.

The songwriting duo met in Palm Beach, Florida, to hash out songs for Funny Girl. They realized they needed a tender song to reflect the complicated romance between Brice and her gambler/con artist boyfriend Nick Arnstein. Taylor described the scene in his 1979 book Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne: “Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, ‘You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] ‘a very special person.’ I think I’ve got a helluva melody for it.’…’Great,’ Merrill yelled. ‘But now it’s not gonna be just a ‘special person.’ Listen.’ Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: ‘People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world.'”

Styne and Merrill knew they had something special when they finished the song, which took just 30 minutes to write – if only they could convince the producers, who cut the tune from early tryouts. Merrill fought to keep the song in the musical, which seemed to be a losing battle until Streisand was permitted to sing it one night and it brought the house down.

This was Streisand’s breakthrough hit and marked several firsts in her career. Not only was it her first single to land in the Top 10, it was her first one to even break the Top 40. It was also her first chart-topper on the Adult Contemporary tally. That same year, she re-recorded it for her first #1 album, People.

People
Barbra Streisand

People,
People who need people,
Are the luckiest people in the world
We’re children, needing other children
And yet letting a grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children

Lovers, very special people
They’re the luckiest people in the world
With one person (one person)
One very special person (one very special person)

A feeling deep in your soul (in your soul)
Says you were half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
First be a person who needs people
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world

No more hunger or thirst
First be a person who needs people (people need people)
People who need people
Are the luckiest (luckiest) people in the world

People who need people in the world
People who need people (send them your love)
Who need people
People who need people in the world (people who need people)
Send them your love (oh those people)
People who need people in the world (people who need people)
(Send them your love)
(People who need people in the world) people who need people
(Send them your love) people
People who need people in the world

(Send them your love)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Carmine Appice / Mark Stein / Tim Bogert / Vincent Martell
People lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc