Tag Archives: Grammy award

♫ Blue Eyes ♫

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Sigh.  It only took me 4 hours tonight to get Jolly Monday edited and placed on the schedule, thanks to my Internet Service Provider (ISP), Cincinnati Bell, who apparently decided to do maintenance on the internet tonight without telling anyone, so my internet has been ‘catch as catch can’.  So far, I have only cracked one computer monitor and one knuckle in my frustration, but … as I was about two years ago when I first played this song here … I am in need of me some Elton John to ‘soothe the savage beast’!

I’m in an Elton sort of mood tonight, and this is one that I haven’t yet played.  Why am I in an Elton sort of mood?  Because I just finished writing a rant-y sort of post that has left me agitated, because I’ve lost the little rubber tip to my cigarette rolling machine, because the a/c still isn’t fixed, because I washed windows today and they don’t look much better than they did before I washed them, and most of all, I think, because I’m tired and frustrated.  A few people can relieve all those symptoms, and Elton is one such.

Released in 1982, both as a single and on the album Jump Up!, it hit #8 in the UK and #10 in the U.S. and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1983.  The music and lyrics were written by Elton and Gary Osborne, but there really isn’t much trivia that I could find about the song.  The video you are about to see was filmed in Australia, on Sydney’s famous Bondi to Bronte walk.  So, grab a cracker and some peanut butter and just listen …

Blue Eyes
Elton John

Blue eyes
Baby’s got blue eyes
Like a deep blue sea
On a blue blue day

Blue eyes
Baby’s got blue eyes
When the morning comes
I’ll be far away
And I say

Blue eyes holding back the tears
Holding back the pain
Baby’s got blue eyes
And she’s alone
Again

Blue eyes
Baby’s got blue eyes
Like a clear blue sky
Watching over me

Blue eyes
Ooh I love blue eyes
When I’m by her side
Where I long to be
I will see

Blue eyes laughing in the sun
Laughing in the rain
Baby’s got blue eyes
And I am home, and I am home again

Blue eyes laughing in the sun
Laughing in the rain
Baby’s got blue eyes
And I am home again

Songwriters: Elton John, Gary Osborne
Blue Eyes lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Evergreen ♫ (Belated Birthday Redux)

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In an email yesterday, our friend Ellen reminded me that “In the event that you may have forgotten…on this day in 1942 the talented Barbra Streisand was born.”  Well, of course I had forgotten … heck, I can’t even remember my own birthday (I don’t really want to remember it, either!), let alone Barbra’s!  However, by the time I received the email, my music post for the day was already posted, so I shall make amends today!  Happy belated 79th, to a beautiful lady with a fantastic voice!  79?  Whoa … she’s older than even me! 

This song about new love was the theme to the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born. The film, which starred Streisand, was very popular and this song won the Academy Award for Best Song.  I knew I was in the mood to play some Streisand tonight, but I couldn’t decide between this one and Memories.

Paul Williams, who had written hits for the Carpenters and Three Dog Night, wrote this with Streisand. The songs for A Star Is Born had to be written before filming began, since they were performed on camera. When Williams signed on to the project, Streisand had the music and one verse for the song “Everything.” Over the next seven weeks, they wrote all the songs for the movie.  According to Paul Williams …

Paul-Williams“She sat down and played on a guitar, the melody for ‘Evergreen’ that she’d written. It was just such a beautiful melody. I said, ‘There’s your love song. There’s the big love song.’ I asked her for the melody. She put it on tape for me, and I took it home. I actually wrote that as the last thing, which I think bothered her. But all the Kris Kristofferson stuff was the first thing up on the shoot schedule. So I wrote the songs for Kris first.

You know, Barbra recorded two or three of my songs before we did A Star Is Born. People would always ask, ‘Were you nervous about writing the Streisand music?’ Of course, she’s an amazing talent. But to sit down and write songs and to play songs for Kris… I mean, this is the man who wrote ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down,’ ‘Me And Bobby McGee.’ It was wonderful. Kris was great about the songs. But the very last thing that I wrote was ‘Evergreen.’ I gave that to Barbra, and then hit the road and didn’t look back.

I actually wrote those first two lines in the opposite order. I wrote ‘Love, fresh as the morning air, love soft as an easy chair.’ I called Barbra as I was getting on a plane to go on tour with Olivia Newton-John. We were doing a 6-week tour, and Barbra was in Arizona getting ready to start filming A Star Is Born. I called her and said, ‘You know what, flip those two first lines, because it sings better.’ ‘Love, soft as an easy chair, love, fresh as the morning air.’ ‘Morning’ sang better at that point in the song. And I remember saying to Barbra, ‘They’ll probably laugh us out of the theaters for starting a love song with a line about a chair, but I think it works better that way.’ And I think it was the biggest-selling soundtrack album ever at that time, and of course the song won the triple crown: the Oscar, the Grammy, and the Golden Globe.”

Evergreen
Barbra Streisand

Love soft as an easy chair
Love fresh as the morning air
One love that is shared by two
I have found with you
Like a rose under the April snow
I was always certain love would grow
Love ageless and evergreen
Seldom seen by two
You and I will
Make each night the first
Everyday a beginning
Spirits rise and their dance is unrehearsed
They warm and excite us
‘Cause we have the brightest love
Two lights that shine as one
Morning glory and midnight sun
Time, we’ve learned to sail above
Time, won’t change the meaning of one love
Ageless and ever, evergreen

Songwriters: Barbra Streisand; Paul Williams
Evergreen lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Downtown ♫

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Being in something of a black mood after the latest mass shooting, I considered playing Elvis’ In the Ghetto tonight, but then I though perhaps something really upbeat would be a more fitting way to start the weekend.

This one will take you back a ways … for some of you, it will go back to a time before you were even born, but you’ve likely heard the song anyway.  Petula Clark was a British actor, singer and composer who was popular in the UK long before the U.S. discovered her talent.  According to SongFacts …

This was Petula Clark’s first hit in the US, which was slow to discover her talents. In the UK, she was a star as a singer and as a television performer, where she was a regular on the BBC. In the early ’60s, she also caught on in France when she started recording her songs in French. Oddly, she didn’t get an American record deal until late in 1964 when a Warner Bros. executive named Joe Smith, who was vacationing in England, heard the song and signed her to a deal.

When “Downtown” was released in the US, it shot to #1, making Petula the first female singer from the UK to hit #1 in the US during the rock era (after 1955). Remarkably, she didn’t even promote the song before it hit the top spot, as she was touring French-speaking countries at the time.

“The Ed Sullivan Show had been calling every day while I was on tour in Canada, saying, ‘You’ve got to get here,'” Petula told Songfacts. “I couldn’t get there. Eventually I got there, and the record was #1.”

A British songwriter and producer named Tony Hatch wrote this. During the ’60s, he wrote most of Clark’s material, including her follow-up hit, “I Know a Place” (which also deals with city life). Hatch was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013.

The word “downtown” had a different meaning in America than it did in the UK. In America, “downtown” is the heart of the city where the action happens. The word wasn’t used much in Britain at the time, but it generally meant the less affluent part of the town’s central area. The song’s writer, Tony Hatch, used the word in its American meaning, as he was inspired by a walk down Broadway during his first visit to New York. These days, the American “heart of the city” use of the phrase is common in the UK.

Petula Clark came to record this song at a time when she had carved a successful career in French, Italian and German-speaking territories. She recalled to The Guardian that Tony Hatch suggested she should be recording again in English. “My head wasn’t in it at the time,” she admitted, “I was totally into French, Italian, German, whatever. I said: ‘Well, you know, if I could find the right song’ and he said he had an unfinished song he wanted to play me, and he played ‘Downtown’ on the piano. I said: ‘Woah, I like that.’ So I asked him to write a lyric up to the standard of the tune, and two weeks later we did it.”

This won a Grammy in 1965 for Best Rock & Roll Recording, making Clark the first British singer to win a Grammy. In 2003, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Clark recorded a new version of this song for her 2013 album Lost in You, which was released when she was 80 years old.

80 years old???  Heck, I’m a decade younger and I can’t, as my late ex-husband used to say, carry a tune in a bucket!  My hat is off to this lady!

I don’t have room nor time to cover all the trivia associated with this song, but if you’re interested, check out the Wikipedia entry, for there is much fascinating info about both the song and the artist.

Downtown
Petula Clark

When you’re alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go – downtown.
When you’ve got worries all the noise and the hurry
Seems to help I know downtown.

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go downtown
Things will be great when you’re downtown
No finer place for sure downtown
Everything’s waiting for you.

Don’t hang around and let your problems surround you
There are movie shows downtown.
Maybe you know some little places to go to
Where they never close downtown.

Just listen to the rhythm of a gentle bossa nova
You’ll be dancing with ’em too before the night is over
Happy again.

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
So go – downtown
Where all the lights are bright downtown
Waiting for you tonight downtown
You’re gonna be alright now
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown

And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along.

So maybe I’ll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go downtown
Things will be great when you’re downtown
Don’t wait a minute more downtown
Everything is waiting for you
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown
Downtown…

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Hatch Anthony Peter
Downtown lyrics © Emi Blackwood Music Inc., Welbeck Music Ltd., Smack Hits, Sony/atv Story Music Publishing, Warner/chappell Music Ltd

♫ Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday ♫ (Redux)

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Tonight, I am re-playing one that I played three years ago, a Stevie Wonder tune.  It’s not that I don’t have any ideas for new songs — I have a list as long as my arm!  And it’s not that I’m too tired or lazy to do a new post — sleep is a long way off yet.  Rather, it is that I’ve been in a rabbit hole for days now, and tonight I thought to myself, “I want me some Stevie Wonder!”  I thought Stevie would bring a bit of a smile to this tired, empty heart.  Yet, rather than a smile, it brought tears.  But nonetheless, it is a beautiful song and I do love me some Stevie, even when he makes me cry. 

It would be difficult to choose a single favourite musician, but if you held my feet to the fire, it would most likely be Stevie Wonder.  Just watching this man perform gives me chills, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard music by him that I did not like.  Not too long ago I did a post with one of my absolute favourites pairing Stevie Wonder with Paul McCartney in Ebony and Ivory — one that I am likely to repeat from time-to-time, for the meaning of the song should never be forgotten.

Blind since birth, Stevie Wonder was considered a child prodigy and signed with Motown at age 11.  He has recorded more than 30 U.S. top ten hits and received 25 Grammy Awards, one of the most-awarded male solo artists.  He is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

This song, Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday, was released in 1969.  It reached #7 on the pop singles chart and become Wonder’s ninth Top 10 single of the 1960s. The single fared even better on the UK singles chart where it reached #2 in November 1969, and at that time, it was Wonder’s biggest UK hit.

Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
Stevie Wonder

What happened to the world we knew
When we would dream and scheme
And while the time away

Yester-me yester-you yesterday
Where did it go that yester glow
When we could feel

The wheel of life turn our way
Yester-me yester-you yesterday
I had a dream so did you life
Was warm and love was true
Two kids who followed all the rules
Yester fools and now
Now it seems those yester dreams
Were just a cruel

And foolish game we used to play
Yester-me yester-you yesterday
When I recall what we had
I feel lost I feel sad with nothing but
The memory of yester love and now
Now it seems those yester dreams
Were just a cruel

And foolish game we had to play
Yester-me yester-you yesterday
Yester-me yester-you yesterday
Sing with me
Yester-me yester-you yesterday
One more time

Songwriters: Bryan Wells / Ronald Miller / Ronald N. Miller
Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ That’s Life ♫

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Clive and I have been talking via comments on my music posts, about the influence of our parents on our music tastes.  No, I don’t mean when they pounded on the bedroom door and yelled, “Turn that noise down right now!!!”, but rather the music they listened to, indoctrinated us to.  Though both of my parents have been dead for decades, I can still remember their music choices … for my mother it was Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and my dad was secretly in love with Edith Piaf and Judy Garland.  I suppose that as a result, I do love Sinatra, Martin, and Garland … never did become a fan of Piaf.  

That said, my music choices on any given day usually reflect my mood of the moment.  Tonight, I had already selected a song, but ‘on the way to the forum’, as they say, I passed by this one by Frank Sinatra from 1966 that made me stop, back up, listen, and … oh yeah!  Perfect!  Speaks to the darkness, with a promise of sunlight soon.  My favourite line is …

“I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet
A pawn and a king”

… for it resonates … I’ve been a teacher, a bus driver, a waitress, a researcher, and an accountant … never quite found my niche.

This song was written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon. Kay became a successful music publisher, and Gordon made a mark as a producer. Sinatra had a lot of ups and downs in his personal and professional life, and this song was a great showcase for his spirit and resilience. The phrase “That’s Life” is often used to convey disappointment, but here Sinatra sees all the good things that life brings.

Sinatra sang this with a scowl in his voice that was out of character, but exactly what the song needed. A story circulated that producer Jimmy Bowen told Sinatra, after the recording session, to get out of his car and back in the studio to re-record the vocal, which made Frank very angry and resulted in his edgy vocal.  Says co-writer Dean Kay …

“I’m the writer of ‘That’s Life’ and was sitting five feet away from Frank Sinatra and producer Jimmy Bowen when they listened to the playback of the first take,” he said. “It was then and there that Bowen asked Sinatra to take a second pass at the song. It’s a common myth that Bowen followed Sinatra to his car and made him come back into the studio for another take. It is true that Sinatra, famous for doing almost everything he did in one take, was not happy to do it again. And, it is true that his displeasure is manifested in the extra bite in his performance, which is exactly what Bowen was looking for. The ‘My, My’ ending was directed at Bowen in a ‘how do you like that, Charlie’ sort of way. The first take ended with, ‘Oh, yeah.’

‘My, My’ is the catch phrase that has been associated with the song – and Sinatra – from that night forward. Frank Sinatra recorded my song when I was 26. I have been, and will always be, grateful for his magnificent recording that changed my life forever.”

Following the success of Sinatra’s version, it was subsequently recorded by a number of artists including Aretha Franklin, James Booker, Shirley Bassey, James Brown, Van Morrison, David Lee Roth, Michael Bolton, Michael Bublé, Russell Watson, Deana Martin, and even, believe it or not, Willie Nelson.

While That’s Life was first recorded by Marion Montgomery, the song came to the attention of Frank Sinatra when he heard O.C. Smith’s chart-climbing cover in his car in 1965. He stopped the car, called his daughter Nancy and told her to find the publisher of the song because he wanted to record it; she did. Sinatra first performed the song on his television special A Man and His Music – Part II in 1966, with an arrangement by Nelson Riddle.

The recorded version, made after the taping to the TV Special, was arranged and conducted by Ernie Freeman and produced by Jimmy Bowen. The trio had previously worked together earlier in 1966 on Strangers in the Night, which got Sinatra the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal.

That’s Life
Frank Sinatra

That’s life
(That’s life)
That’s what all the people say
You’re riding high in April, shot down in May
But I know I’m gonna change that tune
When I’m back on top, back on top in June

I said that’s life
(That’s life)
And as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks
Stomping on a dream
But I don’t let it, let it get me down
Cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin’ around

I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet
A pawn and a king
I’ve been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself
Flat on my face
I pick myself up and get
Back in the race

That’s life
(That’s life)
I tell you, I can’t deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
But my heart just ain’t gonna buy it
And if I didn’t think it was worth one single try
I’d jump right on a big bird and then I’d fly

I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet
A pawn and a king
I’ve been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself layin’
Flat on my face
I just pick myself up and get
Back in the race

That’s life
(That’s life)
That’s life and I can’t deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out but my heart won’t buy it
But if there’s nothing shaking come this here July
I’m gonna roll myself up
In a big ball and die
My, my

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Gordon Kelly L / Thompson Dean K
That’s Life lyrics © Bibo Music Publishing, Inc.

♫ Don’t Know Much ♫ (Redux)

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I have had this bloomin’ song stuck in my head for two whole days now, so you guys know what that means, right?  Yes, it means I simply must share it before it drives me nuts.  Mind you, I love this song … but anything that inhabits your sleeping as well as waking moments really needs to be shared.  I last played this in September 2018, so it’s time to feature it again.

The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this with Tom Snow, who is known for his work on music for movies such as Footloose.  The song first appeared on Mann’s self-titled album in 1980. Bill Medley recorded it in 1981, and Bette Midler released a version called “All I Need To Know” in 1983. But the version that stands above the crowd is this one, a duet with Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville.

Ronstadt and Neville met at the 1984 World’s Fair when both were performing there and realized their mutual admiration. When they decided to work together, they picked this song, which was brought to their attention by producer Steve Tyrell.  This won a Grammy for Best Vocal Performance by a Pop Group or Duo. Ronstadt and Neville would team up for another Grammy-winning song, “All My Life,” which earned the same prize in 1990.

Neville and Ronstadt portray in the song’s music video a couple still in love in their middle age. Neville told Mojo magazine February 2013 that despite the rumors, he and Ronstadt were no more than friends. He said: “The guy who directed called us in a room and said, ‘Look – if y’all ain’t gonna make this thing believable, there ain’t no sense in doin’ it.’ Linda’s a pretty woman – it wasn’t hard to portray that. But they had all kinda stupid rumors out. None of ’em were true ‘cos we’re friends. We respected each other. But I look at the video and it looks kinda suspect (laughs).”

Don’t Know Much
Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville

Look at this face I know the years are showing
Look at this life I still don’t know where it’s going

I don’t know much but I know I love you
That may be all I need to know

Look at these eyes they never seen what matters
Look at these dreams so beaten and so battered

I don’t know much but I know I love you
That may be all I need to know

So many questions still left unanswered
So much I’ve never broken through
And when I feel you near me, sometimes I see so clearly
That only truth I’ll never know is me and you

Look at this man so blessed with inspiration
Look at this soul still searching for salvation

I don’t know much but I know I love you
That may be all I need to know

I don’t know much but I know I love you
That may be all I need to know

I don’t know much but I know I love you
That may be all there is to know

Songwriters: Tom Snow / Cynthia Weil / Barry Mann
Don’t Know Much lyrics © Karen Schauben Publishing Administration

♫ 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

♫ Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) ♫

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It’s funny how you can go for years without thinking of a certain artist or a song, then you hear him/her mentioned and 💡 it’s what I call a lightbulb moment … the sound, the songs, all come rolling back!  A fellow-blogger happened to mention Billy Ocean the other day, and this song has been stuck in my head ever since!

The first version of this song was titled “European Queen (No More Love On The Run)” and released in the UK. In went nowhere, so Ocean and his team edited the song, changing it to “Caribbean Queen.” This version was a hit in both the U.S. and UK, hitting #1 in the U.S. and #6 in the UK.  A third version, “African Queen,” was made for that continent. The video was edited for the different versions so ocean would be singing the right words.

This won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance. It gave Billy Ocean his first #1 U.S. hit.  

Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)
Billy Ocean


She dashed by me in painted on jeans
And all heads turned ’cause she was the dream
In the blink of an eye I knew her number and her name yeah
Ah she said I was the tiger she wanted to tame


Caribbean queen
Now we’re sharing the same dream
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run


I lose my cool when she steps in the room
And I get so excited just from her perfume
Electric eyes that you can’t ignore
And passion burns you like never before


I was in search of a good time
Just running my game
Love was the furthest
Furthest from my mind


Caribbean queen
Now we’re sharing the same dream
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run


Caribbean queen
Now we’re sharing the same dream
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run


Caribbean queen
Now we’re sharing the same dream
And our hearts they beat as one
No more love on the run


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Billy Ocean / Keith Vincent Alexander / Leslie Sebestian Charles
Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network

♫ Monday, Monday ♫

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I thought this one appropriate for the day …

While awaiting the release of California Dreamin’, band member Denny Doherty was prodding songwriter John Phillips to come up with some new material. Phillips said he would come back in the morning with “A song with universal appeal.”  Monday, Monday was that song, which Phillips said took him all of about 20 minutes to write.

Interestingly, Doherty, who sang lead on this song for The Mamas & the Papas thought very little of Monday Monday when they recorded it.

“Nobody likes Monday, so I thought it was just a song about the working man. Nothing about it stood out to me; it was a dumb f–kin’ song about a day of the week.”

As you can imagine, he was taken by surprise when the song became a huge hit. Doherty wasn’t alone in his incredulity: Mama Cass and Michelle Phillips didn’t like the song either, and John Phillips claimed he had no idea what the song meant.

The Mamas & the Papas used top-tier Los Angeles studio musicians on their recordings. On this track, Larry Knechtel played keyboards, Joe Osborn played bass, Hal Blaine was on drums and P.F. Sloan played guitar. Sloan was the baby of the bunch, just 20 years old when the song was released in 1966.

On March 2, 1967, the Mamas & the Papas won a Grammy Award for this song, in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.  The song was performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The performance was filmed for the movie of the festival, but not included in the final print.

The song charted at #1 in Canada and the U.S., #3 in the UK

Monday, Monday
The Mamas & the Papas

Bah da bah da da da
Bah da bah da da da
Bah da bah da da da

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin’, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday mornin’, Monday mornin’ couldn’t guarantee
That Monday evenin’ you would still be here with me

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day
Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday mornin’ you gave me no warnin’ of what was to be
Oh Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A you can find me cryin’ all of the time

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin’, it was all I hoped it would be
But Monday mornin’, Monday mornin’ couldn’t guarantee
That Monday evenin’ you would still be here with me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A you can find me cryin’ all of the time

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day
Monday, Monday, it just turns out that way
Oh Monday, Monday, won’t go away
Monday, Monday, it’s here to stay
Oh Monday, Monday
Oh Monday, Monday

Writer/s: JOHN EDMUND ANDREW PHILLIPS
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ Another Day In Paradise ♫

Posted on by under music, Social commentary

I’ve had a song stuck in my head all day, and I have no idea where it came from or why it chose today to pop into my poor head, but it did.  I was rather mindlessly humming it, with intermittent bursts of lyrics emitting in my warbling, wheezy voice that nobody would mistake for Patti LaBelle, when I decided that I rather liked having the song in my head after all.  First, I love … that’s LOVE with a capital ‘L’ … Phil Collins, love the tune to this song, but perhaps what I like most is that it has meaning … is socially conscious.  And so … since I need to sleep for a few hours without Phil Collins singing in my ear … wait a minute, what am I saying???  Anyway, I shall try to transfer my earworm to you for a few hours, eh?

The song, published in 1989, is about the consequences of ignoring the needy and homeless.  According to Collins …

“It was begun at the piano. I started playing and put it down on a tape so I wouldn’t forget it. Then I decided to see what would happen when I started singing. When I began, the words just came out, ‘She calls out to the man on the street.’ I didn’t set out to write a song about the homeless. Those were just the words I happened to sing. It was only then that I decided that was what the song would be about.”

This song was Collins’ seventh and final Billboard Hot 100 #1 single, the last #1 single of the 1980s and the first #1 single of the 1990s. It was also a worldwide success, eventually becoming one of the most successful songs of his solo career. It won Collins and co-producer Hugh Padgham the Grammy Award for Record of the Year at the 1991 awards ceremony, while it was also nominated for Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male and Best Music Video, Short Form. Another Day in Paradise also won an award for British Single at the 1990 Brit Awards.

Despite the awards gained following its release, the song also generated some controversy over its subject matter and has received a largely negative reaction from music critics.  Singer-songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg was scathing of the song.

“Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless, but if he doesn’t have the action to go with it he’s just exploiting that for a subject.”

Andrew Collins described the song as a “bland redress” for the subject of homelessness.  Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian dismissed the track in 2007 as “a song that addressed the issue of homelessness with the same insight as Sporty Spice’s ‘If That Were Me'”.  David Sheppard described the song’s lyrics as “cringe-worthy” and gave it as an example of Collins “painting the bull’s-eye on his own forehead” when it came to his negative status with music critics.  Hugh Wilson contrasted Collins’ concern for the homeless in the song with his concern as a multimillionaire at the prospect of the UK’s election of a tax-raising socialist government.

Despite all that criticism, the fact remains that this song was a hit in many countries from Australia to Zimbabwe!

Another Day in Paradise
Phil Collins

She calls out to the man on the street
‘Sir, can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?’

He walks on, doesn’t look back
He pretends he can’t hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

Oh think twice, it’s another day for you and me in paradise
Oh think twice, ’cause it’s just another day for you,
You and me in paradise, think about it

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she’s been crying
She’s got blisters on the soles of her feet
She can’t walk but she’s trying

Oh think twice, ’cause it’s another day for you and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it’s just another day for you,
You and me in paradise, think about it

Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh Lord, there must be something you can say

You can tell from the lines on her face
You can see that she’s been there
Probably been moved on from every place
Cause she didn’t fit in there

Oh think twice, ’cause another day for you and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it’s just another day for you,
You and me in paradise, just think about it, think about it

It’s just another day for you and me in paradise
It’s just another day for you and me in paradise, paradise
It’s just another day for you and me in paradise
It’s just another day for you and me in paradise, paradise
It’s just another day for you and me
It’s just another day for you and me
It’s just another day for you and me in paradise
In paradise

Songwriters: Phil Collins
Another Day in Paradise lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Concord Music Publishing LLC