Tag: Song Lyric Sunday

Music

Isn’t She Lovely

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Lyrics:

Isn’t she lovely
Isn’t she wonderful
Isn’t she precious
Less than one minute old

I never thought through love we’d be
Making one as lovely as she
But isn’t she lovely, made from love

Isn’t she pretty
Truly the angel’s best
Boy, I’m so happy
We have been heaven blessed

I can’t believe what God has done
Through us he’s given life to one
But isn’t she lovely, made from love

Isn’t she lovely
Life and love are the same
Life is Aisha
The meaning of her name
Londie, it could have not been done
Without you who conceived the one
That’s so very lovely, made from love, hey

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Stevie Wonder
Isn’t She Lovely lyrics © Black Bull Music, Songtrust Ave, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Stevie Wonder wrote this song after holding his daughter Aisha for the first time. I opted to post the longer track which is from the album Songs in the Key of Life. (There are shorter versions available on YouTube.) It opens with a baby crying. That’s Aisha in the delivery room. It closes with audio of Stevie Wonder giving her a bath.

The lyrics speak for themselves. He is smitten with this child. It’s a feeling any new parent can identify with.

This is my submission for Song Lyric Sunday. This week, we are asked to find a song about a girl. October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child. “It’s purpose is to recognize girls’ rights and highlight the unique challenges, discrimination, and inequalities they face globally, such as lack of education access, forced child marriage, and gender-based violence.”

aging · Life · Music

Leaves That Are Green (turn to brown)

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This week for Song Lyric Sunday, our host Jim Adams challenges us to choose a song from an artist who was born in October. I was thrilled to discover that Paul Simon was born October 13, 1941.

If Paul Simon wrote the song when he was twenty-one years old, that would be in 1962. which is about right. He recorded it solo for his Paul Simon Song Book in 1965. The following year he recorded it with Art Garfunkel and it went on their album, Sounds of Silence. It was the B-side for Homeward Bound when that was released as a single.

I love this song.

I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song
I’m twenty-two now, but I won’t be for long
Time hurries on
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither with the wind
And they crumble in your hand

Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl
I held her close, but she faded in the night
Like a poem I meant to write
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither with the wind
And they crumble in your hand

I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripples run away
And they never made a sound
And the leaves that are green turn to brown
And they wither with the wind
And they crumble in your hand

Hello, hello, hello, hello
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye
That’s all there is
And the leaves that are green turn to brown

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Simon
Leaves That Are Green lyrics © Sony/atv Songs Llc

Growing up, growing old, changing seasons — Paul Simon captured it so well as a young man. The fact that he is still performing at the age of 84 is quite a testament.

Life · Music

Leaving on a Jet Plane

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I am late to the party, but this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to post a song that has to do with withdrawing or moving away. The song that immediately came to mind was “Leaving on a Jet Plane” — and I was quite sure that at least three other people would have already posted that song.

As of this writing, I didn’t see that anyone else had posted it.

Who knew that John Denver actually wrote the song? I grew up listening to folk music like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul and Mary. Peter, Paul and Mary performed the version that I best remember.

John Denver wrote it in 1966 and called it “Babe, I Hate to Go.” According to Wikipedia, he made several copies and gave it out as a Christmas present that year. At the urging of his then-producer, Milt Okun, he changed the name in 1967 to “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”

Peter, Paul and Mary picked it up in 1967 and put it on their album “Album 1700.” It was released as a single in 1969 when it became a hit.

Did I understand this song at the ripe old age of 9 or 10 when I first heard it? No.

Did I listen to it often enough that I learned and still know every single word? Yes.

Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go
I’m standin’ here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin’ it’s early morn
The taxi’s waitin’, he’s blowin’ his horn
Already I’m so lonesome I could cry

[Chorus]
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

[Verse 2]
There’s so many times I’ve let you down
So many times I’ve played around
I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing
Every place I go I think of you
Every song I sing I sing for you
When I come back I’ll wear your wedding ring (I’ll wear your ring)

[Chorus]
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Verse 3]
Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, I’ll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won’t have to leave alone
About the time I won’t have to say (I won’t have to say)

[Chorus]
Kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Leavin’ on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Music

Rocks and Trees and Water

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I’m writing from above the clouds over Canada on my way to visit my son in British Columbia.

I had looked at the theme for Song Lyric Sunday — a song that celebrates sandy beaches — and started scouring my brain and my list of Beach Boys songs.

Can I be honest here? I’m not beachy person.

The Beach Boys song I kept going back to had nothing to do with beaches — but I knew that Brian Wilson had written the Pet Sounds album largely from his sandbox — in his living room — with his piano placed in the sandbox so he could feel the sand between his toes while he wrote. For that album, he wrote the song, “God Only Knows” with Ted Asher in less than an hour. It is my all time favorite Beach Boys song.

But the song doesn’t mention sand or beaches or anything.

And I’m in an airplane flying over Canada.

After the border crossing, while driving in Canada, some people passed in their pickup truck and made awful faces at us. Honestly, it made me laugh.

I mean, yes, I’m from New York. But Lake Ontario will be Lake Ontario to me no matter what anyone says.

And Canadians are the nicest people in the world no matter what anyone says.

So I hearkened back to an Arrogant Worms song called “Rocks and Trees.”

What is sand but ground up rocks?

And what is a beach but those ground up rocks near water?

So basically Canada is one big beach, right?

Lyrics:

My country’s bigger than most
And if asked I boast
‘Cause I’m really proud
So I shout it loud
Though our numbers are few
We will welcome you

Although we don’t have history
Gold medal winning teams
Heroes or prisoners
World famous volcanoes
Still what we’ve got’s glorious

‘Cause we’ve got
Rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And water

All right, everyone!
We’ve got
Rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And rocks and trees
And trees and rocks
And water

In Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada,
Ca-an-a-da, Can-a-da.
Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada,
Ca-an-a-da, Canada.

I’m going to put this here, too. It’s a song about dependency and vulnerability and the complex relationships we have with those we love most.

Besides, God only knows where we’d be without Canada — and I don’t want to find out.

Music

Self-Conscious

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This week’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday is to find a song that mentions bare, birthday suit, buff, exposed, liberated, naked, naturist, nude, or skin. The song I chose — Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini — doesn’t mention any of those words, and yet I think it fits the prompt.

Bryan Hyland made it a hit in 1960. The songwriter, Paul Vance, wrote the words after watching his 2 year old daughter playing on the beach in small yellow bikini. I remember hearing the song as a kid and loving it. It made me laugh — mostly because I could relate.

The bikini debuted in 1946. If you’re interested in the history of the bikini, it’s all here on History.com: Bikini Introduced

Have I worn a bikini? Maybe yes — but it was a long time ago. Eight kids later, I don’t think I would even try. I’ll take my one-piece suit, thank you very much.

Just the other day, one of my daughters told me about being cat-called. She’s a beautiful girl so I’m not surprised. “I don’t like it,” she said. I’m not surprised at that either.

Women want to be seen for who they are — which is so much more than their body. I’m not sure going topless would change that. The Song Lyric Sunday theme was chosen because to acknowledge “Go Topless Day.” I, for one, will keep my top on and wear my one-piece swimsuit.

Lyrics:

She was afraid to come out of the locker
She was as nervous as she could be
She was afraid to come out of the locker
She was afraid that somebody would see

Two, three, four
Tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
So, in the locker, she wanted to stay

Two, three, four
Stick around we’ll tell you more
(Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop-op-op-op-op-op-op)

She was afraid to come out in the open (bop-op-op-op)
And so a blanket around her she wore (bop-op-op-op)
She was afraid to come out in the open (bop-op-op-op)
And so she sat, bundled up on the shore (bop-op-op-op)

Two, three, four
Tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
So, in the blanket, she wanted to stay

Two, three, four
Stick around we’ll tell you more
(Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop-op-op-op-op-op-op)

Now she’s afraid to come out of the water (bop-op-op-op)
And I wonder what she’s gonna do (bop-op-op-op)
Now she’s afraid to come out of the water (bop-op-op-op)
And the poor little girl’s turning blue (bop-op-op-op)

Two, three, four
Tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow, polka dot bikini
So, in the water, she wanted to stay

From the locker to the blanket
From the blanket to the shore
From the shore to the water
Guess there isn’t any more

Songwriters: Paul Vance / Lee Julien Pockriss

Life · Music

The Loneliness Inside

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Today’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt is to choose a song that reflects different types of behavior that people exhibit.

I never read the book or saw the film “Georgy Girl” but I’ve known the song by The Seekers for what seems like my whole life.

We all wear masks, don’t we? The inspiration for the prompt is that August 16 is Authenticity Day “which encourages people to show their true personalities. It emboldens people to embrace their true selves, do things their own way, and move beyond simply conforming to expectations.”

This song speaks to that behavior, the behavior of being inauthentic because we feel the need to hide who we really are.

Hey there, Georgy girl
Swinging down the street so fancy-free
Nobody you meet could ever see the loneliness there inside you
Hey there, Georgy girl
Why do all the boys just pass you by?
Could it be you just don’t try or is it the clothes you wear?

You’re always window shopping but never stopping to buy
So shed those dowdy feathers and fly a little bit

Hey there, Georgy girl
There’s another Georgy deep inside
Bring out all the love you hide and, oh, what a change there’d be
The world would see a new Georgy girl

Hey there, Georgy girl
Dreaming of the someone you could be
Life is a reality, you can’t always run away
Don’t be so scared of changing and rearranging yourself
It’s time for jumping down from the shelf a little bit

Hey there, Georgy girl
There’s another Georgy deep inside
Bring out all the love you hide and, oh, what a change there’d be
The world would see a new Georgy girl

Wake up, Georgy girl
(Hey there, Georgy girl)
Come on, Georgy girl
(Hey there, Georgy girl)
Wake up, Georgy girl

Songwriters: Jim Dale / Tom Springfield

Music

Tenderness and Thyme

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This week for Song Lyric Sunday the theme is to find a song that mentions a spice.

Hmm… when I thought about cooking songs, the theme song for Milton the Monster immediately came to mind. This show ran 1965 – 68. It’s about a Frankenstein-like monster created in a spooky looking mansion by a mad professor. At a key moment in the process though, Professor Weirdo’s elbow is bumped and too much “Tincture of Tenderness” goes in. The result — a very goofy monster named Milton. I still can sing every word of the intro song.

Is Tincture of Tenderness a spice? It certainly adds “flavor.” Honestly, a lot of folks these days could use an elbow-bump of it.

Narrator:
On top of old Horror Hill, in a secret laboratory
Professor Weirdo and Count Kook were in their monstrous glory

Professor Weirdo:
Six drops of The Essence of Terror
Five drops of Sinister Sauce

Count Kook:
When the stirring’s done, may I lick the spoon?

Professor Weirdo:
Of course! A-ha! Of course!
Now for the Tincture of Tenderness
But I must use only a touch
For without a touch of tenderness
It might destroy me…

[Kook accidentally knocks Weirdo’s arm]

Professor Weirdo:
…Oops! Too much!
Better hold your breath, it’s starting to tick!

Count Kook:
Better hold my hand, I’m feeling sick!

[the monster arises]

Milton the Monster:
Hello, Daddy!

Professor Weirdo:
What have I done?

Milton the Monster:
I’m Milton, your brand new son!

The other song that came to mind was “Wild Mountain Thyme.” Below is a video of Kate Rusby — whose voice is GORGEOUS — singing this traditional irish/Scottish song. In the 18th century, poet Robert Tannahill wrote “The Braes of Balquhither.” Then, in the 1950s, Belfast musician Francis McPeake adapted these lyrics and melody into the version known today. The song goes by many names — “Wild Mountain Thyme”, “Blooming Heather”, “Purple Heather”, and “Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go.”

I know — thyme is an herb, not a spice. You’ll have to agree, though, that this is a lovely song.

Lyrics:
Oh, the summer time is coming,
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.

Will you go, lassie, will you go?
And we’ll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go, lassie, go?

I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain,
And all around the bower,
I’ll pile flowers from the mountain.

I will roam the country o’er
Through that dark land so dreary;
And all the spoils I find,
I’ll bring to my darling dearie.

If my true love, she won’t have me,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.

Oh, the summertime is coming
And thre trees are blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.

Music

Song Lyric Sunday: Richard Shindell

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Born August 3, 1960

I cheered when I saw that he was born in August — because that’s the challenge for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. This week the theme is to find a song that was written or performed by someone who was born in the month of August. It proved not to be an easy task.

Richard Shindell is an American folk singer. He wrote a response song to The Beatles’ song She’s Leaving Home. I’ll put both songs below. If you’re not familiar with The Beatles’ song, skip down and listen to that first. Without it, Shindell’s song, Bye Bye, may not make sense. Somewhere I remember reading that Shindell had written his song as a song-writing exercise, trying to imagine what life would have been like for the parents of the girl who left home and just left a note behind.

Ten years to the day her father’s in the garden
He’s kept it as it was the day she went away
On every life some rain must fall
It doesn’t mean we let the roses go

Ten years to the day her mother’s in the kitchen
She’s standing at the backdoor, “Come, love, have some tea.”
It took a bit of getting used to
Only setting out two places

I could bring her back to them
With a few strokes of this fountain pen
All’s forgiven, start again

I could put her in a taxi idling at the corner
Working up her nerve and wondering what she’ll say
Remembering how she left that morning
Recalling how they both were snoring

I could bring her back to them
With a few strokes of this fountain pen
All’s forgiven, start again

That man from the motor trade
Ran off with a meter maid

Roses, wild, have spilled into the alley
Backdoor off its hinges, the grass grown high
Ten years to the day and counting
That little note she wrote? That’s all she wrote

I could bring her back to them
With a few strokes of this fountain pen
All’s forgiven, start again

But I can’t bring her back to them
That’s not how this story ends
As is written so it ends
Bye-bye

Wednesday morning at five o’clock
As the day begins
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more

She goes down the stairs to the kitchen
Clutching her handkerchief
Quietly turning the backdoor key
Stepping outside, she is free

She, … (we gave her most of our lives)
Is leaving (sacrified most of our lives)
Home (we gave her everything money could buy)

Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that’s lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
Daddy, our baby’s gone.
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly?
How could she do this to me?

She (we never thought of ourselves)
Is leaving (never a thought for ourselves)
Home (we struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She’s leaving home, after living alone, for so many years

Friday morning, at nine o’clock
She is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Greeting a man from the Motortrade

She (what did we do that was wrong)
Is Having (we didn’t know it was wrong)
Fun (fun is the one thing that money can’t buy)

Something inside, that was always denied,
for so many years, .
She’s leaving home

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Paul Mccartney / John Lennon
She’s Leaving Home lyrics © Sony/atv Tunes Llc, Mpl Communications Inc

Music

Coulter’s Candy

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Today’s Sunday Song Lyrics prompt is to find a song that mentions candy, honey, sugar or sweet.

I settled on a Scottish children’s song called Coulter’s Candy, mostly because I have wonderful memories of my granddaughter “dancing” to it when she was not quite two years old. Dancing involved running around and around the couch, occasionally stopping to pull other people into the “dance”.

Poor kid, I inundated her with Scottish songs. I played The Broon Coo, Katie Beardie, Rattlin’ Bog, and Three Craws. But she really loved Coulter’s Candy.

Coulter’s Candy is an awful song if you think about the lyrics. One verse is about a little girl being a “rickle of bones covered over with skin,” but, feed her some Coulter’s Candy and she’s getting “a wee double chin.”

How unnutritious of the song. Still, it’s a fun one to dance to.

Main Chorus:
Ally bally, ally bally bee,
Sittin’ on yer mammy’s knee,
Greetin’ for a wee bawbee, (crying) (a halfpenny)
Tae buy some Coulter’s candy. (to)

Poor wee Jeanie’s gettin’ awfy thin, (awfully)
A rickle o’ banes covered ower wi’ skin, (bones) (over)
Noo she’s gettin’ a wee double chin, (now)
Wi’ sookin’ Coulter’s Candy. (sucking)

Mammy gie’s ma thrifty doon, (give) (money box) (down)
Here’s auld Coulter comin’ roon’, (old) (around)
Wi’ a basket on his croon, (with) (crown/head)
Selling Coulter’s Candy.

When you grow old, a man to be,
you’ll work hard and you’ll sail the seas,
an’ bring hame pennies for your faither and me,
Tae buy mair Coulter’s Candy. (more)

Coulter he’s a affa funny man, (very)
He maks his candy in a pan, (makes)
Awa an greet to yer ma, (away) (cry) (your)
Tae buy some Coulter’s candy. (to)

Little Annie’s greetin’ tae,
Sae whit can puir wee Mammy dae, (so) (what) (poor) (do)
But gie them a penny atween them twae, (between) (two)
Tae buy mair Coulter’s Candy.

Life

Song Lyric Sunday: Empowerment

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This is my second stab at the blogging challenge called Song Lyric Sunday. This week the theme is to find a song that carries a message of empowerment.

The first song that came to mind was Simon and Garfunkel’s The Boxer. I won’t post all the lyrics but would encourage you to listen to the song. It’s the story of young man leaving and essentially being beat up by the world, squandering what little he had, longing to go home. The final verse is this picture of hope:

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains

The fighter still remains.

Perseverance. Grit. Sticktoittiveness. Tenacity. Call it what you want. It’s an empowering picture.

Honestly, I’m not a fan of boxing. It seems a poor way to settle anything. I found this photo of my father the other day, though, boxing with his brother at a summer camp where they worked. I’m throwing it in just because.