Song Lyric Sunday 21/07/2019 – Wedding /Marry /Diamond /Ring /Cake

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of familiar, and some not so familiar, songs.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

The theme for this week includes Wedding, and I’m choosing White Wedding by Billy Idol.

William Broad became Billy Idol, helped by his Chemistry teacher who wrote on his school report that he was “idle”. He started his musical career as a guitarist in the punk rock band “Chelsea”, in 1976, soon moving to “Generation X”, and then going solo in 1982. He still tours extensively and, in 2014, published his autobiography “Dancing with Myself.”

The music video, featuring Idol attending a goth wedding, is one of his best-known. The bride is played by Perri Lister, Idol’s real-life girlfriend at the time. She is also one of the three dancers clad in black leather, who slap their buttocks in time with the clap track in the song as they shimmy downwards near the end. “That’s the kind of thing they love in England”, says Idol.

In one scene from the video, Idol forces the barbed-wire wedding ring onto the bride’s finger and cuts her knuckle. Lister insisted that her knuckle actually be cut in order for the scene to appear more realistic.  MTV initially removed this scene from the video.   Also controversial were the apparent Nazi salutes made by the crowd toward the couple. Director David Mallet says he was merely “playing with the power of crowd imagery” when he had the extras reach toward the bride and did not realize how it looked until after it was filmed. (2 paragraphs courtesy of wikipedia)

I hope you enjoy the song: (There are 2 alternative versions at the bottom which I think are brilliant. You may wish to watch those!)

 

White Wedding

Billy Idol

Hey little sister, what have you done?
Hey little sister, who’s the only one?
Hey little sister, who’s your superman?
Hey little sister, who’s the one you want?
Hey little sister, shotgun!

It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again

Hey little sister, who is it you’re with?
Hey little sister, what’s your vice or wish?
Hey little sister, shotgun, oh yeah
Hey little sister, who’s your superman?
Hey little sister, shotgun!

It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again

Pick it up!
Take me back home, yeah

Hey little sister, what have you done?
Hey little sister, who’s the only one?
I’ve been away for so long
I’ve been away for so long
I let you go for so long

It’s a nice day to start again
Come on it’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again

There is nothing fair in this world
There is nothing safe in this world
And there’s nothing sure in this world
And there’s nothing pure in this world
Look for something left in this world start again!

It’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day to start again

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: BILLY IDOL

White Wedding lyrics © Chrysalis Music, Boneidol Music, Woolly Puddin’ Music, Scrapin’ Toast Music, Irving Berlin Music Company, ESSEX MUSIC INC, CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP INC OBO BONEIDOL MUSIC

Acoustic version with revealing explanation of the writing of the song.

Rock music flash mob of 400 musicians in Hungary 2018

 

 

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Song Lyric Sunday 14/07/2019 – Haunted /Magic /Mystery /Supernatural /Trick

 

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of familiar, and some not so familiar, songs.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

The theme for this week includes Magic. Anyone who has been following the Brexit news for the past 3 and a bit years will have seen the bus that Boris took great delight in, claiming that the money saved by leaving the EU would be able to fund the NHS to the tune of  £350 million per week.

Of course, that particular bus was a Magic Bus, and that is the song we’re sharing this week!

Written in 1965 by Pete Townshend, but not recorded until 1968, “Magic Bus” became one of The Who’s most popular songs.

The song is usually performed as a duet, where the “Rider”, usually singer Roger Daltrey when live, is riding on the bus every day to see his girl. In the song he asks the “Driver”, usually Townshend, if he can buy the bus from him, with the driver’s initial answer being no. After haggling for a while, the driver finally lets him have it and he vows to drive it to his girlfriend’s house every day!

Looking at the lyrics now, makes me wonder if any other magic was involved in the writing. Magic Mushrooms perhaps?

Magic Bus

The Who

Every day I get in the queue (Too much, Magic Bus)
To get on the bus that takes me to you (Too much, Magic Bus)
I’m so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, Magic Bus)
You house is only another mile (Too much, Magic Bus)

Thank you, driver, for getting me here (Too much, Magic Bus)
You’ll be an inspector, have no fear (Too much, Magic Bus)
I don’t want to cause no fuss (Too much, Magic Bus)
But can I buy your Magic Bus? (Too much, Magic Bus)

Nooooooooo!

I don’t care how much I pay (Too much, Magic Bus)
I wanna drive my bus to my baby each day (Too much, Magic Bus)

I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it … (You can’t have it!)

Thruppence and sixpence every day
Just to drive to my baby
Thruppence and sixpence each day
‘Cause I drive my baby every way

Magic Bus, Magic Bus, Magic Bus …

I said, now I’ve got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)
I said, now I’ve got my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)
I drive my baby every way (Too much, Magic Bus)
Each time I go a different way (Too much, Magic Bus)

I want it, i want it, I want it, I want it …

Every day you’ll see the dust (Too much, Magic Bus)
As I drive my baby in my Magic Bus (Too much, Magic Bus)

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: PETER TOWNSHEND

Magic Bus lyrics © Sony/ATV Harmony, S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, Casa David LP, Essex Music Inc., ESSEX MUSIC INC

Here’s a live version played at Leeds

…and a version that is great for headphones

Twittering Tales #144 – 9 July 2019

 

It’s time again, for Kat Myrman’s wonderful challenge, to write a story, inspired by her picture prompt, in 280 characters or fewer.

Here is this week’s prompt and my contribution, which, this week, differs from my normal, but I like it. I hope you do!

Check out all the fabulously creative entries here and, if you’ve never had a go, why not try a story of your own? You may surprise yourself!

Photo by Lisa Fotios @ Pexels.com

Party in perpetuity

Same house,
same party,
same day,
same time.
Every year!

Same laughs,
same jokes,
same lives,
same folks.
Very queer!

Same food,
same plates,
same drinks,
same mates.
Full of cheer!

Not the same,
we died that day,
we come forlorn,
and not to play,

but

shed a tear!

(247 characters)

Song Lyric Sunday 07/07/2019 – Zodiac Animals

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of familiar, and some not so familiar, songs.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs, you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

The theme for this week is Zodiac animals. I’m choosing “Dog”, man’s best friend. I’m not choosing a song with dog in the title, or the lyrics, but a song by Three Dog Night.

Did I hear you say “Who?”

Well, I suppose it depends how old you are! I must admit that they were never amongst my favourite, go to bands, but the song I’ve chosen was amongst my collection.

Until I started to look into their history I had not realised that they are still active today, albeit with only 2 of the original line up.  They formed in 1967, the year of my first flight, a 13 hour trip in a turbo prop Brittania, on my way to my first overseas posting in Bahrain.  Ah, those were the days! The days of Radio Luxembourg, Radio Caroline, The Vietnam War, Ronald Reagan as Governor of California, the last man hanged in Australia, Muhammad Ali refused military service, Elvis married Priscilla, Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men were captured in Bolivia; they were executed the following day, The Abortion Act 1967 passed in the British Parliament and received royal assent two days later, The term “Black Hole” came into being.

We’ve come a long way since then. Or have we?

Anyway, here they are Three Dog Night. I hope you enjoy “Mama Told Me Not to Come.”

 

Mama Told Me Not to Come

Want some whiskey in your water
Or sugar with your tea
What are these crazy questions
That they’re asking of me
This is the craziest party
That there ever could be
Oh, don’t turn on the light
‘Cause I don’t want to see

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
That ain’t the way to have fun

Open up the window
Let some air into this room
I think I’m almost choking from
The smell of stale perfume
And that cigarette you’re smoking
‘Bout to scare me half to death
Open up the window sucka
Let me catch my breath

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
That ain’t the way to have fun, son
That ain’t the way to have fun, son

The radio is blasting,
Someone’s beating on the door
I’m looking at my girlfriend
She’s passed out on the floor
I seen so many things 
I ain’t never seen before
I don’t know what it is
But I don’t wanna see no more

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come
She said, that ain’t the way to have fun, son

That ain’t the way to have fun,

Mama told me, Mama told me, Mama told me
Told me, told me, 

Mama told me not to come
Mama told me not to come

That ain’t the way to have fun, no
That ain’t the way to have fun, son

That ain’t the way to have fun, no
That ain’t the way to have fun, son

That ain’t the way to have fun, no
That ain’t the way to have fun, son

That ain’t the way to have fun, no
That ain’t the way to have fun, son

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Randy Newman

Mama Told Me Not to Come lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

Twittering Tales #142 – 25 June 2019

It’s time again, for Kat Myrman’s wonderful challenge, to write a story, inspired by her picture prompt, in 280 characters or fewer.

Here is this week’s prompt and my contribution.

Check out all the fabulously creative entries here and, if you’ve never had a go, why not try a story of your own? You may surprise yourself!

Photo by sasint at pixabay.com

He was renowned for it, but today he had exceeded his previous best.

He counted up the left overs, and had his team check to make sure his figures were perfect.

The figure on the table was not so perfect!

There were 7 bits left over, but everything seemed to be working.

“OK close up!”

(280 characters)

Song Lyric Sunday 23/06/2019 – Cards /Dice /Gamble /Lose /Win

Thank you for the music! (hint, hint). Jim Adams tirelessly hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week seems to mirror life itself, with games, gambling, losing, and winning. We’ve probably all experienced a little bit of each of these. Hopefully with no excess that overwhelmed us.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

Today I’m sharing a song from ABBA, released as the first single from their Super Trouper album on 21 July 1980.

The Winner Takes It All which had the original demonstration title “The Story of My Life” – was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with Agnetha Fältskog singing the lead vocal.

Björn always denied the song was about his and Agnetha’s divorce, but it always seemed to be a bit of a coincidence, especially considering the original title. It is certainly sung with great passion, and seemingly with pain etched on Agnetha’s face.

In a 1999 poll for Channel 5, “The Winner Takes It All” was voted Britain’s favourite ABBA song. This feat was replicated in a 2010 poll for ITV. In a 2006 poll for a Channel Five programme, “The Winner Takes It All” was voted “Britain’s Favourite Break-Up Song.”

I hope you enjoy it.

 

The Winner Takes It All

ABBA

I don’t wanna talk
About things we’ve gone through
Though it’s hurting me
Now it’s history

I’ve played all my cards
And that’s what you’ve done too
Nothing more to say
No more ace to play

The winner takes it all
The loser’s standing small
Beside the victory
That’s her destiny

I was in your arms
Thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
Building me a fence

Building me a home
Thinking I’d be strong there
But I was a fool
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear

The winner takes it all (Takes it all)
The loser has to fall (Has to fall)
It’s simple and it’s plain (It’s so plain)
Why should I complain (Why complain)

But tell me does she kiss
Like I used to kiss you
Does it feel the same
When she calls your name

Somewhere deep inside
You must know I miss you
But what can I say
Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide (Will decide)
The likes of me abide (Me abide)
Spectators of the show (Of the show)
Always staying low (Staying low)

The game is on again (On again)
A lover or a friend (Or a friend)
A big thing or a small (Big or small)
The winner takes it all (Takes it all)

I don’t wanna talk
If it makes you feel sad
And I understand
You’ve come to shake my hand

I apologize
If it makes you feel bad
Seeing me so tense
No self-confidence

But you see

The winner takes it all
The winner takes it all

So the winner takes it all
And the loser has to fall

Throw the dice, cold as ice
Way down here, someone dear

Takes it all, has to fall
And it’s plain, I complain

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: ULVAEUS BJOERN K / ANDERSSON BENNY GORAN BROR

……and a bonus of:

Thank you for the music.

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 26/05/2019 – Cool /Groovy /Hip /Nifty /Radical /Swell

Thank you to Jim Adams, who tirelessly hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week is all about something, or someone, that is special or awesome, and I’m choosing COOL to offer a song that I think fits the bill perfectly.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

I don’t listen to this song often, but, when I do, so do my neighbours! It is made for dancing and, if you fancy letting your hair down, I would turn up the volume and choose the extended Meow mix at the bottom.

“Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” gets ’em up every time. It was a huge hit back in early 1972 when it peaked at #2 for two weeks, kept out of the top spot by Gilbert O’Sullivan’s poignant “Alone Again (Naturally)”. The Hollies got started with Allan Clarke and Graham Nash first meeting back in 1962, with Eric Haycock and Don Rathbone joining soon after. Tony Hicks became the fifth and final member when they were signed to EMI Records in the UK. During that time, they released classic Brit Pop like “Bus Stop”, “Stop Stop Stop”, “On A Carousel” and “Carrie Anne”. They shifted into the the 70’s with Allan testifying to brotherhood of man with “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”. Soon, band members quit with Allan Clarke going solo in 1971. After the break up, One track from their final LP “Distant Light” was this rockin’ dance tune that did not do well in the UK, and they expected it to tank in the US too. “Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)” did just the opposite, the song proved irresistable to the Americans, who took it to their heart and never forgot about it. Clarke delivers a Grammy-worth effort along with his bandmates that sounds worlds away from the inner tensions that had already broken up the band. The success of this one led Clarke to reconsider and rejoined the band in 1973, recording “The Air That I Breathe”, a #6 ballad and another rock classic. Clark flew the coop again but returned, recording “Russian Roulette” with the band in 1976 and in 1983 Graham Nash’s return reunited them and they had a #29 hit with their cover of 60’s chestnut “Stop! In The Name Of Love”. I always think of Cher when I hear this one…cos she WAS the long cool lady in a black dress.

DJDiscoCatV2

Published on 21 Sep 2018

The lyrics are included on this video.

If you want to see a version showing the group, here is a video of a TV performance,  but they are miming to a recording, as they often did at that time.

If you really want to dance here is the Extended Meow Mix!

https://youtu.be/MNXDlSt9nJ8

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 21/04/2019 – Seasons

Thank you to Jim Adams, who tirelessly hosts Song Lyric Sunday and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week is Seasons/Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

I don’t think that many will have heard of the singer on my chosen song this week, and you’ll have to be alert to catch him because there are only 19 words in all!

The artist is a man who had a tragic accident in June 1973 that left him using a wheelchair, paralysed from the waist down, after an inebriated fall from a 4th floor window. He claims, ironically, that this accident probably saved his life, because he was, at the time, an alcoholic, often matching Keith Moon drink for drink.

Like Keith Moon, Robert Wyatt was a drummer. He was a founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole. After his accident he continued to play drums, adopting  more of a jazz style, obviously not using his feet. Although, on reflection, he always did favour jazz.

This track is taken from the album Shleep, produced in 1997. I think you may find it different from your normal listening, but I hope you enjoy it!

 

Out of Season

This song is by Robert Wyatt and appears on the album Shleep (1997).

A late sparrow fledging
Bathing in dust
Beneath the gaping mouth
Of the post box
(Hungry for letters home)

BONUS

A bonus this week, is an instrumental, from Rick Wakeman, called Seasons of Change.

https://youtu.be/9x54uMcZnTs

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 14/04/2019 – Glitter Freeze

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday, and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week is Freeze/Cold/Ice

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

I’ve previously shared songs on SLS where I couldn’t find the lyrics. Never before have I offered a song by a group that doesn’t exist!

Well, there’s a first time for everything because Gorillaz are a British virtual band created in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. The band primarily consists of four animated members: 2-D(lead vocals, keyboards, melodica), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitars, occasionally keyboards and vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums and percussion). Their fictional universe is explored through music videos, interviews, and other short cartoons. In reality, Albarn is the only permanent musical contributor, and often collaborates with other musicians.

In March 2001, Gorillaz played their first show at the Scala in London before embarking on a UK tour later that summer, with one date in Paris and two in Japan. During this tour the live band played behind a giant projector screen which covered the whole stage, on which was projected various visuals and images created by Hewlett. After taking a short break over the holidays, the tour resumed with a North American leg in February 2002

The song I’ve chosen, released in 2010, features Mark E. Smith of the Fall, and includes some Morse code at the beginning. After Mark asks “Where’s North from ‘ere”, the code answers “ Plastic Beach” which is the name of the album.

Apparently, Mark wanted to do his part facing north and asked ‘Where’s North from ‘ere?’ They left the words in!

Like ‘Punk’ on the first album, and ‘White Light’ on ‘Demon Days’, this is the album’s rawkus section of chaos. Every album’s got to have one.“ – band member Murdoc Niccals in an interview with NME

The song is Glitter Freeze – I hope you enjoy it.

There are very few lyrics, and, unless you want to analyse them in detail, they probably are purely incidental.

[Intro : Mark E. Smith]
Where’s North from here?

[Morse code for Plastic Beach]

[Interlude : Mark E. Smith]
It was
The glitter freeze
Doctor F
Listen
You wouldn’t credit
Or believe this
Aha ha ha
Ship him far!

Here are a couple of alternative recordings:

Live at Glastonbury 2010

An alternative version

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 31/03/2019 – Record/Juke Box/DJ/Radio

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday, and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week is Record/Juke Box/DJ/Radio. Not all of them, you understand, but pick any one, or combine any number!

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

It’s amazing how many song lyrics don’t actually make much sense. I dare say some are drug, or alcohol induced, or influenced. Often the writer, and certainly the critics, will wax lyrical about how there is a deep, or hidden , meaning to the words. Lots of baloney will be spoken about transcendental higher planes, or searching for a new, yet unattainable awakening!

Do we really care whether Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is about LSD?

I think not, so long as the music is enjoyable, and the words are lyrical, we are content to sit back and enjoy it.

The music I’m offering to you today certainly has lyrics that, for the most part, make no sense. What’s more, the writers admit that they make no sense. Read about the song, and what R.E.M said about “Radio Free Europe.” in the Songfacts information below.

Radio Free Europe is a radio network run by the United States government that broadcasts to Europe and the Middle East. The mission of the broadcasts is to promote democracy and freedom, but R.E.M. makes the point that this can easily cross the line into propaganda.

This song was R.E.M.’s first single, released in 1981 before they signed to a major label. A better-produced version was included on Murmur, the band’s first full-length album, in 1983.

There was a good reason for Michael Stipe’s infamously indecipherable lyrics on this song: he hadn’t finished them by the time they recorded it. In a 1988 NME interview, Stipe described the lyrical content as “complete babbling.”

R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe said in a 1983 interview with Alternative America: “We were all so scared of what the other one would say, that everyone nodded their head in agreement to anything to come up. The earlier songs were incredibly fundamental, real simple, songs that you could write in five minutes. Most of them didn’t have any words. I just got up and howled and hollered a lot.

That’s true. I’ve got to write words for ‘Radio Free Europe,’ because we’re going to re-record that for the album. It still doesn’t have a second or third verse. I think there are actually lyrics to every song on the EP.”

“This song was pivotal to the continuation of our career,” drummer Bill Berry explained in Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011. “Most fans may not realize that for two years before Murmur was released, we barely made financial ends meet by playing tiny clubs around the southeast. Our gasoline budget prevented us from venturing further. Put simply, our existence was impoverished. College radio and major city club scenes embraced this song and expanded our audience to the extent that we moved from small clubs to medium-sized venues and the additional revenue made it possible to logically pursue this wild musical endeavor. I dare not contemplate what our fate would have been had this song not appeared when it did.”

Stipe noted being apparently unaware of his own genius: “The guys always said I do something harmonically here that made them all go ‘whoa,’ because it was so advanced … or something, in the ‘straight off the boat’ part. I wonder if I tricked them by accident? I still have no idea what it is they’re talking about.”

The video for this song, directed by Arthur Pierson, was shot in the famed Paradise Gardens, a folk art sculpture garden crafted by artist Howard Finster in Pennville, Georgia. Finster, a Baptist minister, also painted the album art for R.E.M.’s second album, Reckoning.

Information c/o songfacts.com

Radio Free Europe

Beside yourself if radio’s gonna stay.
Reason: it could polish up the gray.
Put that put that put that up your wall
That this isn’t country at all

Raving station beside yourself

Keep me out of country in the word
Deal the porch is leading us absurd.
Push that push that push that to the hull
That this isn’t nothing at all.

Straight off the boat where to go?
Calling on in transit calling on in transit
Radio Free Europe, radio

Beside defying media too fast
Instead of pushing palaces to fall
Put that, put that, put that before all
That this isn’t fortunate at all

Raving station, beside yourself
Calling on in transit, calling on in transit
Radio Free Europe, radio

Decide yourself, calling all of the medias too fast

Keep me out of country in the word
Disappoint is into us absurd

Straight off the boat, where to go?
Calling on in transit, calling on in transit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe

Calling on in transit, calling on in transit
Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Europe

Writer/s: BILL BERRY, PETER BUCK, MICHAEL MILLS, MICHAEL STIPE 
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Here are a couple of other recordings of the song:

From Showtime’s Rock of the 80’s – Recorded live at the Palace – Los Angeles, CA – 1984

https://youtu.be/Gt58m0h9d_M

and a compilation video

https://youtu.be/Ac0oaXhz1u8