Category Archives: music

♫ One More Try ♫

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Released as a single in 1988, the song hit #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.  It also went to #8 in the UK that year.

Michael says that it’s a very personal song, and one that is very close to his heart. He said it’s “about my attitude coming out of my last relationship and into this new one when I was pretty unwilling to be open to anything.”

Elton John said on his Beats 1 radio show, Rocket Hour, “I don’t get jealous of many songs, but I’m jealous of this song. I’d love to have written this.”

One More Try
George Michael

I’ve had enough of danger
And people on the streets
I’m looking out for angels
Just trying to find some peace
Now I think it’s time
That you let me know
So if you love me
Say you love me
But if you don’t just let me go

‘Cause teacher
There are things that I don’t want to learn
And the last one I had
Made me cry
So I don’t want to learn to
Hold you, touch you
Think that you’re mine
Because it ain’t no joy
For an uptown boy
Whose teacher has told him goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

When you were just a stranger
And I was at your feet
I didn’t feel the danger
Now I feel the heat
That look in your eyes
Telling me no
So you think that you love me
Know that you need me
I wrote the song, I know it’s wrong
Just let me go

And teacher
There are things
That I don’t want to learn
Oh the last one I had
Made me cry
So I don’t want to learn to
Hold you, touch you
Think that you’re mine
Because it ain’t no joy
For an uptown boy
Whose teacher has told him goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

So when you say that you need me
That you’ll never leave me
I know you’re wrong, you’re not that strong
Let me go

And teacher
There are things
That I still have to learn
But the one thing I have is my pride
Oh so I don’t want to learn
Hold you, touch you
Think that you’re mine
Because there ain’t no joy
For an uptown boy
Who just isn’t willing to try

I’m so cold
Inside
Maybe just one more try

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: George Michael
One More Try lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc

♫ Get Ready ♫

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They say that “music hath charms to soothe the savage beast”, and since there seems to be a savage beast affecting my mood tonight, I went in search of some music to soothe it … hopefully to knock it out for a few days!

This was written by Smokey Robinson, who was the main songwriter for The Temptations. In the Motown stable, The Temptations were considered the premier group, and there was a lot of competition among the songwriters to have their compositions recorded by the band. When this song underperformed on the charts, Motown chief Berry Gordy gave the next Temptations single, Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, to Norman Whitfield, and he became their primary writer.

Get Ready went to #1 on the R&B charts for a week, but made just #29 on the Hot 100.

Rare Earth recorded an unusual version of this song that stretched over 21 minutes and took up the entire second side of their first Motown album, which was issued in the fall of 1969. This version was based on Rare Earth’s live version of the song, where every member of the band would get a solo. In 1970, Motown released a 3-minute edit as a single, which went to #4. The song also did well on R&B stations, even though some DJs refused to play it when they found out the group wasn’t black – they were one of the first white groups signed to Motown.

Ella Fitzgerald did a cover of this song in 1969 — her last U.S. chart record.

Get Ready
The Temptations

I never met a girl who makes me feel the way that you do
(You’re alright)
Whenever I’m asked who makes my dreams real
I say that you do
(You’re outta sight)
So fee fi fo fum

Look out baby ’cause here I come
And I’m bringing you a love that’s true so get ready
So get ready
I’m gonna try to make you love me too, so get ready
So get ready here I come
Get ready, ’cause here I come
I’m on my way
Get ready, ’cause here I come

If you wanna play hide and seek with love let me remind you
(It’s alright)
The loving you’re gonna miss and the time it takes to find you
(It’s outta sight)
So fiddle-lee-dee fiddle-lee-dum

Look out baby ’cause here I come
And I’m bringing you a love that’s true so get ready
So get ready
I’m gonna try to make you love me too, so get ready
So get ready here I come
Get ready ’cause here I come
I’m on my way
Get ready ’cause here I come
Get ready

All my friends shouldn’t want you to I understand it
(Be alright)
I hope I’ll get to you before they do the way I planned it
(Be outta sight)
So twiddle-dee-dee twiddle dee dum

Look out baby ’cause here I come
And I’m bringing you a love that’s true so get ready
So get ready
I’m gonna try to make you love me too, so get ready
So get ready here I come
Get ready, ’cause here I come
I’m on my way
Get ready ’cause here I come, boy
Get ready ’cause here I come, boy

Writer/s: William Robinson Jr.
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ Bohemian Rhapsody ♫

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I had a new song (well, ‘new’ meaning one I haven’t yet played here) for tonight, but my headphones are being highly uncooperative and I’m too tired to try to figure out what’s wrong with them just now.  So, I am reduxing one that I last played two years ago, October 2018.

A week or so ago, a dear friend said that if I could play some Queen, I would be a star.  Well, I debated whether I really wanted to give up my quietly obscure life for stardom and after some deliberation, decided I would give it a quick try, although I suspect I will only be a star for a matter of hours, if that.

I am not a huge Queen fan, but I find this one interesting.  There are parts I like, and other parts that I find disturbing.  According to BBC America …

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen is one of the strangest, most inspired and least-understood songs in the history of rock. It manages to sound like a serious work of art, a moving lament and a moment of extreme silliness at the same time—which is part of the reason it’s equally loved by young kids and old rockers alike—and jumps from power ballad to light opera to heavy opera to hard rock and back to power ballad again before ending, nearly six minutes after it began, on a decisive gong.

It was entirely written by Freddie Mercury, and the song was pieced together using not only various different sections—as the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson had done with the equally epic Good Vibrations in 1966—but also an intensive overdubbing of harmonies (somewhere in the region of 160 overdubs, all told, often with Brian May, Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury singing in unison around a single microphone) recorded over three weeks of intensive work, one week of which was spent on the operatic section.

I try to keep my blurbs short on the music posts, but if you’re interested in some more fascinating information, clips and links, check out the BBC America article.

Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I’m easy come, easy go
A little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me, to me

Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he’s dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I’ve gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooo
Didn’t mean to make you cry
If I’m not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body’s aching all the time
Goodbye everybody I’ve got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooo (anyway the wind blows)
I don’t want to die
I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo Figaro – magnifico

But I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come easy go will you let me go
Bismillah! No we will not let you go – let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go – let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go let me go
Will not let you go let me go (never)
Never let you go let me go
Never let me go ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me
For me
For me

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
So you think you can love me and leave me to die
Oh baby, can’t do this to me baby
Just gotta get out just gotta get right outta here

Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really matters nothing really matters to me

Anyway the wind blows

Songwriters: Freddie Mercury
Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Kiss And Say Goodbye ♫ (Redux)

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I first played this in May of last year, and am reprising it tonight because, the same friend who suggested it a year-and-a-half ago mentioned it yesterday, and it has been stuck in my head ever since!  It’s a sad song, but a good one.

This song by The Manhattans is among the saddest I think I’ve ever heard.  That said, I’ve always liked the song, just maybe not the premise, for it makes me feel sad.  I had neither heard nor thought of this song in ages, but when I asked our friend David for some suggestions, this was one of his.  Since I also like it, I am playing it!

The Manhattans are a rhythm and blues vocal group from Jersey City who first formed in 1962 and have performed with changing membership since then. This moving song is about the end of a longtime love due to “obligations” and “ties.” He asks the woman he’s breaking up with to be stoic and remember him with love rather than falling apart and trying to stay together.

The song became The Manhattans biggest hit, reaching the top of the charts in the US and staying there for two weeks.  The song was written by group member Winfred Lovett, the bass singer and songwriter of the group.  He said in an interview that he envisaged Glen Campbell singing his tune …

“Back then I was into listening a lot to country things. Lionel Richie jumped the gun on me, but I had been listening for three or four years. I liked a lot of things Glen Campbell was doing… and Charley Pride.”

The lyrics and melody came to him late one night. As he later recalled …

“Everything was there. I got up about three o’clock in the morning and jotted down the things I wanted to say. I just put the words together on my tape recorder and little piano. I’ve always thought that when you write slow songs, they have to have meaning. In this case, it’s the love triangle situation we’ve all been through. I figured anyone who’s been in love could relate to it. And it seemed to touch home for a lot of folks.”

I have to admit that I was in tears by about the 2:40 point and had to turn it off.  I have enough worries right now without uber-sad songs … 😥

Kiss and Say Goodbye
The Manhattans

This has got to be the saddest day of my life
I called you here today for a bit of bad news
I won’t be able to see you any more
Because of my obligations
And the ties that you have
We’ve been meeting here every day
And since this is our last date together
I want to hold you just one more time
When you turn and walk away
Don’t look back I want to remember you just like this
Let’s just kiss
And say goodbye

I had to meet you here today
There’s just so many things to say
Please don’t stop me till I’m through
This is something I hate to do
We’ve been meeting here so long
I guess what we done was wrong
Please, darling, don’t you cry
Let’s just kiss and say goodbye
Many months have passed us by
I’m gonna miss you I can’t lie
I’ve got ties and so do you
I just think this is the thing to do
It’s gonna hurt me I can’t lie
Maybe you’ll meet another guy
Understand me won’t you try, try, try
Let’s just kiss and say goodbye

Songwriters: Winfred Lovett
Kiss and Say Goodbye lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Dancing On The Ceiling ♫ (Redux)

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It’s been a year-and-a-half since I’ve played this one and … well, I think we could all use this upbeat tune tonight, and the bit of silliness that comes with … Dancing on the Ceiling!

I initially had a different song on the schedule … a real downer, but a good song nonetheless.  Then last night, a friend suggested that to pick my mood up, instead of listening to sad music, I might try Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Ceiling.  I did, and it worked … who can cry when they’re listening to this?  I figured you guys could use a little pick-me-up too, so here it is!  I do have one question, though … how the heck does he dance on the walls and the ceiling?  I was going to try it, but … gravity stepped in and I figured I might end up with some broken bones.

Written by Richie, Mike Frenchik, and Carlos Rios, the song became a worldwide top ten hit, but not everyone liked it.  Critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine said …

“This isn’t entirely a good thing, since it means he indulges in silliness …”

Since when is a bit of silliness not a good thing?  Methinks Mr. Erlewine needs to lighten up a bit.  Apparently there were others who felt the same, though, for Blender magazine published a list of the “50 worst songs of all time”, with Dancing on the Ceiling listed at No. 20.

It is said that this video cost $400,000 to make!

Dancing on the Ceiling
Lionel Richie

What is happening here
Something’s going on that’s not quite clear
Somebody turn on the lights
We’re gonna have a party
It’s starting tonight

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

The room is hot and that’s good
Some of my friends came by from the neighborhood
The people startin’ a climb the walls
Ooh it looks like everybody is having a ball

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Come on!

Everybody start to lose control
When the music is right
If you see somebody hangin’ around
Don’t get uptight
The only thing we want to do tonight
Is go ’round and ’round
And turn upside down
Come on! Let’s get down!

So come on! Let’s get loose
Don’t hold back
‘Cause ain’t no use
Hard to keep your feet on the ground
‘Cause when we like to party
We only want to get down

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Say what?
Can’t stop now
Just getting started
Everybody clap your hands
Come on
Everybody let’s dance

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling

Oh, what a feeling
When we’re dancing on the ceiling baby baby
We gonna dance all night

Songwriters: Lionel B. Jr. Richie / Michael Henry Jr. Frenchik / Carlos Manuel Rios
Dancing on the Ceiling lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ The Long And Winding Road♫

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No redux tonight!  I finally finished my morning post and responding to comments early enough to have the energy left to properly research a song!

Tonight’s selection is strange, in that it is a Beatles recording, yet while it reached the #1 spot in the U.S., it did not chart in the Beatles home country, the UK!  For me, at least, this is one of those that can get stuck in my head for days at a time, for I mostly love the tune, never knew the full lyrics until tonight!

From their 1970 album Let It Be, this was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney.  The road McCartney is talking about is the B842 which runs down the east coast of Kintyre and on into Campbeltown near his Scottish farmhouse.  Says McCartney …

“I just sat down at my piano in Scotland, started playing and came up with that song, imagining it was going to be done by someone like Ray Charles. I have always found inspiration in the calm beauty of Scotland and again it proved the place where I found inspiration.”

Paul McCartney offered this song to Tom Jones in 1968 on the condition it be his next single. He had Without Love (There is Nothing) set for release so he turned down the offer, something he would later regret. Speaking with Media Wales in 2012, Jones explained:

“I saw him (McCartney) in a club called Scotts Of St. James on Jermyn Street in London. I said to him When are you going to write me a song then Paul? He said, aye I will then. Then not long after he sent a song around to my house, which was ‘The Long And Winding Road,’ but the condition was that I could do it but it had to be my next single.

Paul wanted it out straight away. At that time I had a song called ‘Without Love’ that I was going to be releasing. The record company was gearing up towards the release of it. The timing was terrible, but I asked if we could stop everything and I could do ‘The Long And Winding Road.’ They said it would take a lot of time and it was impractical, so I ended up not doing it. I was kicking myself. I knew it was a strong song.”

The Beatles recorded this in January 1969 as a fairly simple ballad. By 1970, The Beatles were breaking up and and Phil Spector was brought in to go through the tapes and produce the album. Spector was known for his “Wall Of Sound” recording technique, where he added many instruments and layered the tracks to create a very full sound. On this track, he took out most of The Beatles instruments and added a string section and choir (The Mike Sammes Singers). The result was very different from what the group originally had in mind.

Even though he wrote this song, Paul McCartney didn’t go to the sessions where Spector produced it. When McCartney heard the results, he made it clear that he hated what Spector did to his song, and tried to get the original version, which was mixed by engineer Glyn Johns, on the album. The band was already falling apart, and this caused further turmoil within the group, as Harrison and Lennon both supported Spector. Paul has not changed his stance over the years, and still believes Spector butchered it. Lennon and Harrison felt otherwise, and each had Spector produce their next solo efforts. Lennon said of Spector’s work on Let It Be:

“Phil was given the s–ttiest load of badly recorded s–t with a lousy feeling to it, and he made something of it.”

Some of the many artists who covered this song: Tony Bennett, George Benson, Cilla Black, Ray Charles, Cher, Judy Collins, Peter Frampton, Aretha Franklin, Richie Havens, Cissy Houston, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Liberace, The London Symphony Orchestra, Barry Manilow, Mantovani, Johnny Mathis, Bill Medley, George Michael, Olivia Newton-John, Billy Ocean, Stu Phillips, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Kevin Rowland, Sarah Vaughan, Andy Williams and Nancy Wilson.  Whew … that’s quite a list!

In an interview shortly before he became British Prime Minister, after five years as Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron told Q magazine that this is his favorite Paul McCartney song. He explained:

“It has a wonderful melody and emotion and pretty much sums up the life of the Leader of the Opposition.”

The Long and Winding Road
The Beatles

The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I’ve seen that road before
It always leads me here
Lead me to you door

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day
Why leave me standing here?
Let me know the way

Many times I’ve been alone
And many times I’ve cried
Anyway, you’ll never know
The many ways I’ve tried

And still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago
Don’t leave me waiting here
Lead me to your door

But still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago
Don’t keep me waiting here
Lead me to your door

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul McCartney
The Long and Winding Road lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ The Living Years ♫ (Redux)

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I know, I know … I promised original content tonight and here I am with yet another redux from 2018.  I’m sorry, guys, but I spent 7 straight hours working on a post for mine and Jeff’s project tonight, then another hour on my a.m. post, it is nigh on 4:00 a.m. and I am, as our Brit friends say, knackered. And this one was well-received when I played it two years ago, so hopefully you will love it again today!

Every now and again, I wax nostalgic and seek those songs that tend to bring tears near to the surface.  Tonight is one of those nights, and rather than be nostalgic and and teary-eyed all by myself, I thought to share the joy (?) with you, my friends.

This song is written from the perspective of a son who has a conflicted relationship with his father. After his father dies, he discovers that he and his dad had a much stronger bond than he ever realized, and the son regrets not saying more while his dad was alive.

It was written by group founder Mike Rutherford and the Scottish songwriter B.A. Robertson. Both Robertson and Rutherford had recently lost their fathers when they wrote this song, making it a very personal endeavor for both of them.

The song was written in stages. B.A. Robertson wrote the first verse before his father died in 1986, the same year Rutherford lost his dad. The pair composed the music based on this verse, and then a while later Robertson came up with the second verse. The final verse didn’t come to him until shortly before the song was recorded. Robertson was staying at a hotel in Los Angeles and was under pressure to finish the lyric before flying back to Europe. He recalls going outside to a garden at the hotel when the verse came to him.

Robertson was working with Rutherford when he got the call that his dad had died, which is reflected in the opening lines of this verse:

I wasn’t there that morning
When my father passed away

Three months before his father died, Robertson’s son was born, which we hear in this line:

I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears

The Living Years
Mike & The Mechanics

Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I’m a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I’m a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Oh, crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got

You say you just don’t see it
He says it’s perfect sense
You just can’t get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud (say it loud), say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It’s the bitterness that lasts

So don’t yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don’t give up, and don’t give in
You may just be okay

So say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
Because it’s too late, it’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (oh when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear (oh say it clear)
You can listen as well as you hear
It’s too late (it’s too late) when we die (it’s too late when we die)
To admit we don’t see eye to eye

So say it, say it, say it loud (say it loud)
Say it clear (come on say it clear)

Songwriters: B.A. Robertson / Mike Rutherford (gb)
The Living Years lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Concord Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

♫ First Time Ever I Saw Your Face ♫ (Redux)

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Left drained and exhausted from tonight’s debate, I am once again reduxing a song that I last played in 2018 by Roberta Flack.  I promise some new content tomorrow night … honest!

This was the breakout hit for Roberta Flack; it was #1 in the US for six weeks. Flack had released two solo albums without commercial success, as her blend of jazz and folk styles struggled to find an audience.

British folk singer Ewan MacColl wrote this in 1957 for his lover Peggy Seeger. She was in a play in the U.S. and phoned him for suggestions on a song for a romantic scene. MacColl wrote this on the spot in less than an hour, then taught it to her over the phone to use in her play. MacColl, by the way, had been banned from the U.S. because of his communist past.  His history is really quite interesting.

“We weren’t really getting along at the time.  After all, he was married to someone else then.” – Peggy Seeger

MacColl was married to his second wife, Jean Newlove at the time. He left her for Peggy Seeger and the pair eventually tied the knot in 1977.

MacColl won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year, while Flack received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Like so many of the songs I’ve posted, this one has been recorded by many others, including Peter, Paul & Mary, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Mel Torme, Isaac Hayes, and Gordon Lightfoot.  While I am a big fan of PP&M, I like the Roberta Flack version of this song best.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Roberta Flack

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless skies

The first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hand
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command my love

And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time my love

The first time ever I saw your face
Your face, your face

Songwriters: Ewan Mccoll
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face lyrics © The Royalty Network Inc.

♫ Hit The Road Jack ♫

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Let’s close our eyes for a minute … no, I didn’t say go to sleep … wake up, Joe!  Close your eyes and travel back in time … the year is 1961 … I was ten years old, but I remember this song like it was yesterday.

Although Ray Charles wrote many of the songs he recorded, this one was actually written by his friend, Percy Mayfield. 

Percy_MayfieldMayfield himself had been a popular performer, singing mainly rhythm & blues, but in 1952, at the height of his career, Mayfield was severely injured in an automobile crash.  He was returning from a performance in Las Vegas to Los Angeles as the front-seat passenger in a chauffeur-driven car. The vehicle hit the back of an unseen stationary truck, and Mayfield was hit by debris. Though pronounced dead at the scene, he eventually recovered but spent two years convalescing. The accident left him with a facial disfigurement that eventually ended his career as a performer but did not halt his prolific songwriting.

This song was first recorded in 1960 as an a cappella demo sent to Art Rupe, but it didn’t become famous until it was recorded by the singer-songwriter-pianist Ray Charles with The Raelettes vocalist Margie Hendrix, and eventually became one of Charles’ signature songs.

Charles’s recording hit #1 for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, beginning on Monday, October 9, 1961. Hit the Road Jack won a Grammy award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. The song was #1 on the R&B Sides chart for five weeks, thereby becoming Charles’s sixth number-one on that chart. The song is ranked number 387 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

I am told that many professional and semi-professional hockey teams play the first few lines whenever a player is sent to the penalty box.

I found a bit of cool trivia about Ray Charles, including the fact that he owned his own plane and even flew it, though he had been blind since the age of 7!  Take a look for yourself.

I am playing two versions tonight … both by Ray Charles, but one is the original recorded in 1961, and the second is 35 years later when Ray Charles, then … played it on Saturday Night live.  I liked both, loved seeing Ray Charles still as vibrant as ever.

Hit the Road Jack
Ray Charles

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more
What’d you say?

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more

Oh woman, oh woman, don’t treat me so mean
You’re the meanest old woman that I’ve ever have seen
I guess if you say so
I’ll have to pack my things and go (that’s right)

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more
What’d you say?

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more

Now baby, listen baby, don’t you treat me this way
‘Cause I’ll be back on my feet some day
Don’t care if you do, ’cause it’s understood
You ain’t got no money, you just ain’t no good
Well, I guess if you say so
I’ll have to pack my things and go (that’s right)

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more
What’d you say?

Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more, no more, no more, no more
Hit the road Jack and don’t you come back
No more

Well (don’t you come back no more)
Uh, what you say? (don’t you come back no more)
I didn’t understand you (don’t you come back no more)
You can’t mean that (don’t you come back no more)
Oh now baby please (don’t you come back no more)
What you tryin’ to do to me? (don’t you come back no more)
Oh, don’t treat me like that, baby (don’t you come back no more)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Percy Mayfield
Hit the Road Jack lyrics © The Ray Charles Foundation Dba Tangerine Music

♫ In The Air Tonight ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

Tonight, I more or less spun the wheel, said “Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe” and let the chips fall where they may.  I liked where they fell … can never go wrong with Phil Collins … and so here we are … In the Air Tonight!

I could have sworn that I had played this one here before, for it is among my favourites by Phil Collins, but a thorough search did not find it, so apparently I dreamed I played it!  It happens … some days I wake up thinking that I’ve already cooked supper, or taken a shower, when in fact all I’ve done is sleep!

Collins wrote this song about the anger he felt after divorcing his first wife, Andrea Bertorelli, in 1980 – he was so devastated that he left Genesis for a short time. All of the original songs on the Face Value album, including the follow-up hit I Missed Again, were at one time intended to be “messages” to his first wife in an attempt to lure her back to him.

The lingering tension caused by the divorce led Collins to the title, as these negative feelings were In The Air, and affecting not just the couple getting divorced, but the entire family.

By the time the album was released, Collins had moved on and was dating Jill Tavelman, who became his second wife. His split with Jill would inspire the songs on Collins’ 1993 album Both Sides.

The meaning of this song became a pervasive urban myth. The story, which is not true, is that Collins watched as a man who raped his wife drowned. Another version has Collins writing this about about a man who watched another drown, and singing it to him at a concert. Yet another variation claims that when Collins was a young boy, he witnessed a man drowning someone but was too far away to help. Later, he hired a private detective to find the man, sent him a free ticket to his concert, and premiered the song that night with the spotlight on the man the whole time. We repeat, these stories are not true.
This was Collins’ first single as a solo artist; he claims that he offered it up as a Genesis song, but that his bandmates rejected it, saying it was “too simple.” Tony Banks of Genesis insists that Collins never played them the song.

There are shorter versions of this song, but I like this one for its dramatic presentation …

In the Air Tonight
Phil Collins

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well if you told me you were drowning, I would not lend a hand
I’ve seen your face before my friend, but I don’t know if you know who I am
Well I was there and I saw what you did, I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you’ve been
It’s all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember, don’t worry, how could I ever forget
It’s the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, oh no you don’t fool me
Well the hurt doesn’t show, but the pain still grows
It’s no stranger to you and me

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
Well been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord

Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord
I can feel it in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord
Well I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord

Songwriters: Phil Collins
In the Air Tonight lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Concord Music Publishing LLC