Music

Song Lyric Sunday — Me and My Arrow

Fandango11 Comments

It’s time for another one of Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday prompts. This time, Jim is asking us about pets: dogs, cats, fish, and birds. For my song the week, I chose Harry Nilsson’s “Me and My Arrow,” where Arrow is the loyal dog the song’s narrator sings about.

“Me and My Arrow” was written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson for his 1970 album The Point! It was also released as a single in 1971, reaching number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Nilsson wrote this track as part of his whimsical fable The Point!, the story of a unique boy named Oblio, who is the only person with a round head in his Pointed Village, and his trusty dog, Arrow. In a period of drug-fueled creativity, Nilsson said that he came up with the idea while exploring the woods near his Laurel Canyon, California home. “I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses came to points. I thought, ‘Oh, everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.'”

The Point! was made into a TV movie in 1971. In the original telecast, Dustin Hoffman voiced the part of the narrator/father , but the home video release featured Ringo Starr in that role. Just a couple years earlier, Hoffman starred in the acclaimed film Midnight Cowboy, which featured Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’.”

According to Songfacts, Nilsson could well relate to being the odd man out. Part lovable drunk, part mad musical genius, no one knew what to expect from him. His “arrow” often pointed him in different directions, resulting in an eclectic mix of work that would include Beatles-inspired rock songs, heart-wrenching ballads, and goofy novelty tunes.

Here are the lyrics to “Me and My Arrow.”

Me and my arrow
Straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, everyone knows
It’s me and my arrow

Me and my arrow
Taking the high road
Wherever we go, everyone knows
It’s me and my arrow

And in the morning when I wake up
She may be gone, I don’t know
And if we make up just to break up
I’ll carry on, oh yes, I will

Me and my arrow
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, every one knows
It’s me and my arrow

Me and my arrow

Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Me and my arrow
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, straighter than narrow
Wherever we go, every one knows
It’s me and my arrow

If you’ve never seen The Point!, and have about an hour and 15 minutes to spare, I suggest that you take that time to watch the whole thing. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Song Lyric Sunday — Imaginary Lover

Fandango12 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, Jim Adams themes are “fiancé,” “husband,” “lover,” and “wife.” The song that immediately came to mind was “Imaginary Lover” from the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

“Imaginary Lover” was a 1978 hit single by the Atlanta Rhythm Section, an American Southern rock band, formed in 1971. It was written by lead singer Perry Carlton “Buddy” Buie, drummer Robert Nix, and keyboardist Dean Daughtry. “Imaginary Lover” was the first release and biggest hit from the band’s album Champagne Jam. The song reached number 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

As the title suggests, the song is about the virtues of fantasy and “private pleasure” as being an easy way to guaranteed satisfaction in the absence of an actual lover. It’s about how fantasized lovers can often be superior to real, flesh and blood lovers. Imaginary lovers are flawless, the song implies, while real people have flaws. Fantasy lovers eliminate the complications of relating to an actual partner as well as the possibilities of disagreement, rejection, or boredom. In an interview, Buie was asked if the song was about masturbation. He emphatically answered, “Yes!”

Here are the lyrics to the song.

Imaginary lovers
Never turn you down
When all the others turn you away
They’re around
It’s my private pleasure
Midnight fantasy
Someone to share my
Wildest dreams with me
Imaginary lover you’re mine anytime
Imaginary lovers, oh yeah

When ordinary lovers
Don’t feel what you feel
And real-life situations lose their thrill
Imagination’s unreal
Imaginary lover, imaginary lover
You’re mine anytime

Imaginary lovers never disagree
They always care
They’re always there when
You need satisfaction guaranteed
Imaginary lover, imaginary lover
You’re mine all the time
My imaginary lover
You’re mine anytime

Song Lyric Sunday — Beginnings

Fandango14 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adam’s has given us the theme words, “begin,” “end,” “finish,” and “start.” The first thing that popped into my head was the song “Only the Beginning” from Chicago.

“Only the Beginning” (sometimes referred to just as “Beginnings”) was written by Robert Lamm for the band Chicago and was recorded for its debut album Chicago Transit Authority, which was released in 1969. The song was the band’s second single (after “Questions 67 and 68”), but failed to chart on its initial release. It was re-released in June 1971, backed with “Colour My World.” Both sides became U.S. radio hits, and the combined single climbed to number seven on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. Lamm said “Beginnings” was inspired by a performance by Richie Havens that he attended at the Ash Grove music club in Los Angeles when the group moved to that area.

The song is about when a new relationship begins. It oozes promise and possibilities and that feeling one gets just being with that person…that’s all that matters. The feelings are so intense that the singer is having a hard time putting them into words, and thus, remains mostly silent.

Here are the lyrics to “Only the Beginning.”

When I’m with you
It doesn’t matter where we are
Or what we’re doing
I’m with you, that’s all that matters

Time passes much too quickly
When we’re together laughing
I wish I could sing it to you, whoa oh
I wish I could sing it to you

Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh
Mostly I’m silent, hmm
Silent

When I kiss you
I feel a thousand different feelings
A cover of chills
All over my body
And when I feel them
I quickly try to decide which one
I should try to put into words, whoa oh
Try to put into words

Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh

Only the beginning
Only just the start
Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh whoa oh oh oh

Song Lyric Sunday — All In a Day’s Work

Fandango25 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, Jim Adam’s has given us the theme of Days of the Week. I am sure that there are many songs for every day of the week, so I don’t think anyone will have any problems coming up with their picks this week. The difficulty is that there are so many songs that mention days of the week that it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. But when all was said and done, I narrowed it down to “Tuesday Afternoon.”

“Tuesday Afternoon” was a 1968 single by English rock band the Moody Blues. It was the second single from their 1967 album, Days of Future Passed. The first single from that album was “Nights in White Satin.”

“Tuesday Afternoon” was written by the band’s lead singer Justin Hayward, who explained: “I sat down in a field, smoked a ‘funny African cigarette,’ and that song just came out.” Hayward had a dog named Tuesday, but the song, he said, had nothing to do with his dog. “It just so happened we were sitting in the field together, that’s all,” Hayward explained. “But it was a Tuesday afternoon and I did smoke a joint and it was down there where I come from in the West Country and this song just came out.”

It’s a lovely, melodic, symphonic song with the London Festival Orchestra performing the final orchestral rendition of the chorus on the album version (below). And as I read the lyrics, I can certainly see the influence marijuana had on the composition of the song.

Here are the lyrics to “Tuesday Afternoon.”

Tuesday afternoon
I’m just beginning to see
Now I’m on my way
It doesn’t matter to me
Chasing the clouds away

Something calls to me
The trees are drawing me near
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh

I’m looking at myself reflections of my mind
It’s just the kind of day to leave myself behind
So gently swaying through the fairyland of love
If you’ll just come with me you’ll see the beauty of
Tuesday afternoon
Tuesday afternoon

Tuesday afternoon
I’m just beginning to see
Now I’m on my way
It doesn’t matter to me
Chasing the clouds away

Something calls to me
The trees are drawing me near
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh

Song Lyric Sunday — Stupid Is as Stupid Does

Fandango6 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us “smart” and “stupid.” I decided to reach way, way back into the past with a lightweight song from Connie Francis titled “Stupid Cupid.”

“Stupid Cupid” was written by Howard Greenfield and Neil Sedaka and became a hit for Connie Francis in 1958. Connie had become discouraged from her lack of hit songs since “Who’s Sorry Now” and was searching for a new song to get her back on the charts after her next two songs failed to make the top 40. She said, “I knew I had to come up with a hit on the third record. It was crucial.” Fortunately for Francis, “Stupid Cupid” provided a reasonably strong comeback song, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 1958.

Sedaka and Greenfield were two teenager wannabee songwriters with hardly any experience and had been pounding on doors trying to get their songs produced. Sedaka asked a high school friend for a referral and was directed to the offices of Aldon music, which was a new startup from music producers Don Kirshner and Al Nevins. Kirshner listened to the two songwriters’ sales pitch, then thumbed them over to the piano to show him what they had.

Kirshner insisted that songwriters like Sedaka and Greenfield were exactly the kind of talent he’d hoped to find and invited them back to meet Connie Francis. They met at Francis’ home and, thinking that slow ballads were a good match for her style, they played one slow ballad for her after another. She hated them all, commenting that they sounded “too educated” and were putting her to sleep. Neil was actually hesitant to try “Stupid Cupid,” which he thought would be better suited for a girl group, But Greenfield asked him to at least let her hear it, since she didn’t like anything else they had played for her. Neil played a few lines of “Stupid Cupid” for Francis and as soon as she heard it, she started jumping up and down and said, “That’s it! You guys got my next record!”

Here are the lyrics to “Stupid Cupid.”

Stupid Cupid you’re a real mean guy
I’d like to clip your wings so you can’t fly
I’m in love and it’s a crying shame
And I know that you’re the one to blame
Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

I can’t do my homework and I can’t think straight
I meet her every morning ’bout half past eight
I’m acting like a lovesick fool
You’ve even got me carrying your books to school
Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

You mixed me up for good right from the very start
Hey now, go play Robin Hood with somebody else’s heart

You got me jumping like a crazy clown
And I don’t feature what you’re putting down
Well since I kissed her loving lips of wine
The thing that bothers me is that I like it fine
Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

You got me jumping like a crazy clown
And I don’t feature what you’re putting down
Well since I kissed his loving lips of wine
The thing that bothers me is that I like it fine
Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me