I set out to play a single song by Hall & Oates, She’s Gone.  I found several versions, but the one that sounded best was this compilation of three songs from a Midnight Special in 1977.  Now, I knew She’s Gone, and have heard Sara Smile and like it fine.  The third, Rich Girl, I hadn’t heard before, and I’m still undecided as to whether I like it or not … a song generally has to grow on me.

Hall & Oates wrote She’s Gone while they were consoling each other over heartbreaks. Daryl had just divorced from his wife Bryna Lublin, and a New Year’s Eve date had stood up John.  This song was written by both Hall and Oates, and according to Daryl Hall …

“We sat down together, and the first line that came out was, ‘Everybody’s high on consolation’.  It was one of those things where the lines just flowed out, and we were banging it back and forth. To me that is the ultimate Daryl and John song, because that was so collaborative, and so much a part of both of our experiences and lives thrown together. It’s very autobiographical. What we wrote about was real, even though it was two different situations. And it’s very thematic with us: this soaring melody and uplifting chord progression, but about a very sad thing.”

Daryl Hall wrote Sara Smile for his collaborator/girlfriend Sara Allen.  Though they never married, Daryl and Sara were together for about 28 years before they broke up in 2001.  Said Hall …

“That was a postcard to Sara Allen, who was my partner for many, many years, a ‘having a great time, wish you were here,’ kind of thing. I cannot tell you how many girls have told me they were named for it!”

Despite the fact that I have never heard it before tonight, Rich Girl was the first Hall & Oates single to hit #1 on the Billboard Top 100, and it propelled them to superstardom.  The character in this song is based on a real person, the spoiled heir to a fast food fortune who had dated Sara Allen, Daryl Hall’s aforementioned girlfriend. Her stories of him inspired Hall to write this song, but he had to change the character to a girl, since he was the one who would be singing it.

In an interview with American Songwriter, Daryl Hall revealed that the guy he wrote this song about is named Victor Walker. He says Walker came to their apartment acting very strange, and Daryl realized that he could get away with it, since his father would pay to make his problems go away. Hall says that Walker knows the song is about him.

Daryl Hall was shocked to find out that the infamous serial killer David “Son Of Sam” Berkowitz claimed he was inspired to murder by this song. It is unlikely that this song actually compelled Berkowitz to kill, as it was released after he started his killing spree, and Berkowitz cited many influences, including his neighbor’s dog, when asked why he killed. Nonetheless, it was very disturbing for Hall and Oates to have their song associated with Berkowitz.

I am only including the lyrics for She’s Gone … lyrics for the other two available upon request.

She’s Gone
Hall & Oates

Everybody’s high on consolation
Everybody’s trying to tell me what is right for me, yeah
My daddy tried to bore me with a sermon
But it’s plain to see that they can’t comfort me

Sorry, Charlie, for the imposition
I think I’ve got it (got it), I got the strength to carry on, yeah
I need a drink and a quick decision
Now it’s up to me, ooh, what will be

She’s gone, she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I better learn how to face it
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I’d pay the devil to replace her
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I
What went wrong?

Get up in the mornin’, look in the mirror
I’m worn as her tooth brush hangin’ in the stand, yeah
My face ain’t lookin’ any younger
Now I can see love’s taken her toll on me

She’s gone, she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I better learn how to face it
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I’d pay the devil to replace her
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I
What went wrong?

Think I’ll spend eternity in the city
Let the carbon and monoxide choke my thoughts away
And pretty bodies help dissolve the memories
They can never be what she was (was) to (to) me

And she’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I better learn how to face it
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I, oh I
I’d pay the devil to replace her
She’s gone, and she’s gone
Oh I
What went wrong?

She’s gone
Oh I
I better learn how to face it
She’s gone, she’s gone
I can’t believe that she’s gone
Oh I
I’d pay the devil to replace her
She’s gone
Oh I
I better learn how to face it
She’s gone, she’s gone
I can’t believe that she’s gone
Oh I
I’d pay the devil to replace her
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)
She’s gone (she’s gone)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Daryl Hall / John Oates
She’s Gone lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc