Music

Song Lyric Sunday — Legs

Fandango15 Comments

Jim Adams continues with his body parts obsession for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme. His focus this time is on arms, elbows, knees, and legs. Unable to help myself, I chose ZZ Top’s “Legs.”

“Legs,” written by ZZ Top band members Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, andFrank Beard, appeared on the band’s1983 albumEliminator. It was released as a single in 1984 and reached number 8 on theBillboard Hot 100 in the U. S.

According to Gibbons, he got the inspiration for this song when he was driving in Los Angeles and there was this unusual downpour. “And there was a real pretty girl on the side of the road,” he said. “I passed her, and then I thought, ‘Well, I’d better pull over’ or at least turn around and offer her a ride, and by the time I got back she was gone. Her legs were the first thing I noticed. Then I noticed that she had a Brooke Shields hairdo that was in danger of falling. She was not going to get wet. She had legs and she knew how to use them.”

9105A8BD-CC34-4776-A4BC-8CCAF6B66575In “Legs,” the main character is a girl. The music video of the song leverages the same three “Eliminator Girls” — Wendy Frazier, Kymberly Herrin, and Daniele Arnaud — who were featured in several other ZZ Top music videos. But in this case, instead of sweeping a guy off in the Eliminator (a chopped, cherry red 1933 Ford coupe owned by Gibbons), the trio rescues a girl who desperately needs some confidence. They give her a makeover and teach her how to handle guys to get what she wants.

There was a lot of criticism of the song at the time from feminist groups who complained that it objectified women. Listening to the lyrics, I think they had a good point.

Here are the lyrics to “Legs.”

She’s got legs, she knows how to use them
She never begs, she knows how to choose them
She’s holdin’ leg wonderin’ how to feel them
Would you get behind them if you could only find them?
She’s my baby, she’s my baby
Yeah, it’s alright

She’s got hair down to her fanny
She’s kinda jet set, try undo her panties
Every time she’s dancin’ she knows what to do
Everybody wants to see if she can use it
She’s so fine, she’s all mine
Girl, you got it right

She’s got legs, she knows how to use them
She never begs, she knows how to choose them
She’s got a dime all of the time
Stays out at night movin’ through time
Oh, I want her, said, I got to have her
The girl is alright, she’s alright (oh)

Song Lyric Sunday — Lyin’ Eyes

Fandango17 Comments

Let’s face it, Jim Adams had facial features on his mind when he chose “Chin, Ears, Eyes, Face, Mouth, and Nose” as the theme for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme. I am keen on people’s eyes, and there are tons of songs about eyes. But I’m also keen on The Eagles, which is why I chose “Lyin’ Eyes.”

“Lyin’ Eyes” was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, although Henley said that Frey was the main writer of the song. It was recorded in 1975 by The Eagles, with Frey singing lead vocals. Their second single from their album One of These Nights, “Lyin’ Eyes” reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 8 on the Billboard Country chart.

This song is about a woman who cheats on her husband. She is confused and lonely, and tells her rich, old husband, whose hands are as cold as ice, that she is going to see a friend when she is actually going to meet her lover across town. When she gets there, she falls into his arms, but has to leave to go back home. She swears someday she will come back forever, because she is happy there.

When they were a struggling band in LA, The Eagles saw a lot of beautiful women around Hollywood who were married to wealthy, successful men, and wondered if they were unhappy. One night they were drinking in at their favorite watering hole, Dan Tana’s, when they spotted a beautiful young woman accompanied by a much older, fat, rich guy. As they were half laughing at them, Frey said, “Look at her, she can’t even hide those Lyin’ eyes!”

Frey realized he had a song title and he, Henley, and the other band members began grabbing cocktail napkins and writing down lyrics to go with Frey’s observation.

Here are the lyrics to “Lyin’ Eyes.”

How to open doors with just a smile
A rich old man and she won’t have to worry
She’ll dress up all in lace and go in style

Late at night a big old house gets lonely
I guess every form of refuge has its price
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice

So she tells him she must go out for the evening
To comfort an old friend who’s feelin’ down
But he knows where she’s goin’ as she’s leavin’
She is headed for the cheatin’ side of town

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

On the other side of town a boy is waiting
With fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the night anticipating
‘Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel

She rushes to his arms, they fall together
She whispers that it’s only for awhile
She swears that soon she’ll be comin’ back forever
She pulls away and leaves him with a smile

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

She gets up and pours herself a strong one
And stares out at the stars up in the sky
Another night, it’s gonna be a long one
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry

She wonders how it ever got this crazy
She thinks about a boy she knew in school
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
She’s so far gone she feels just like a fool

My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things
You set it up so well, so carefully
Ain’t it funny how your new life didn’t change things
You’re still the same old girl you used to be

You can’t hide your lying eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
Honey, you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes

Song Lyric Sunday — Time to Eat

Fandango23 Comments

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday, Jim Adams has given us the food-related words bounty, dessert, eat, feast, food, hungry, and turkey for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme. How could I possibly resist going with the classic Weird Al Yankovic parody, “Eat It”?

“Eat It” was written as a parody of Michael Jackson’s song, “Beat It.” Reaching number 12 in the U.S., “Eat It,” was a commercial and critical success. The song is about a fussy eater who needs to work on his table manners.

Yankovic’s record company sent Michael Jackson the first chorus, and Jackson was receptive. Al finished the song and Jackson approved it. Yankovic said, “I was very surprised to get permission from Michael Jackson. This was 1984 when I did ‘Eat It,’ when Michael was the King of Pop. We sent him a request, can we do a parody of your song and call it ‘Eat It?’ We thought we’d never hear back, it took a few weeks but we heard back and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine.'”

Yankovic gave Michael Jackson songwriting credit on the parody, since Jackson wrote “Beat It.” After the child abuse allegations  levied against Michael Jackson in HBO’s Leaving Neverland documentary, Weird Al stopped performing this song in his personal appearances.

Here are the song’s lyrics.

How come you’re always such a fussy young man
Don’t want no Captain Crunch, don’t want no Raisin Bran
Well, don’t you know that other kids are starving in Japan
So eat it, just eat it

Don’t wanna argue, I don’t wanna debate
Don’t wanna hear about what kind of food you hate
You won’t get no dessert ’til you clean off your plate
So eat it

Don’t you tell me you’re full
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Get yourself an egg and beat it
Have some more chicken, have some more pie
It doesn’t matter if it’s boiled or fried

Just eat it, eat it, just eat it, eat it
Just eat it, eat it, just eat it, eat it, ooh

Your table manners are a cryin’ shame
You’re playin’ with your food, this ain’t some kind of game
Now, if you starve to death, you’ll just have yourself to blame
So eat it, just eat it

You better listen, better do what you’re told
You haven’t even touched your tuna casserole
You better chow down or it’s gonna get cold
So eat it

I don’t care if you’re full
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Open up your mouth and feed it
Have some more yogurt, have some more spam
It doesn’t matter if it’s fresh or canned

Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Don’t you make me repeat it
Have a banana, have a whole bunch
It doesn’t matter what you had for lunch

Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it

Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
If it’s gettin’ cold, reheat it
Have a big dinner, have a light snack
If you don’t like it, you can’t send it back

Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Get yourself an egg and beat it (oh lord)
Have some more chicken, have some more pie
It doesn’t matter if it’s boiled or fried

Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
Don’t you make me repeat it (oh no)
Have a banana, have a whole bunch
It doesn’t matter what you had for lunch
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it

No Way Out

Fandango8 Comments

AA21E4FB-FBC2-49EE-A12D-B7737BEFF2ABIn his Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Music Challenge post on Friday, Jim Adams gave us the Allman Brothers Band song “One Way Out” and asked us to use that song as inspiration for our own post.

As Jim explained, the song is about a man having an affair with another man’s woman in an upstairs apartment. He realizes that he is trapped when he hears another man has showed up downstairs. He figures that this is probably her man, so he decides to jump out the window to avoid any confrontation.

This reminded me of a similar “adventure” I had back when I was still a single man and was playing the dating game. I was seeing a woman, Judy, who was separated from her husband, the father of her two-year-old twin boys. She lived with her boys in a small, two bedroom garden apartment in Northern Virginia.

Judy had invited me over one night to watch TV. The twins were asleep in their bedroom, and Judy and I were on her living room couch, let’s just say, getting to know one another a little better. We were interrupted by a knock at her door, and Judy got up and looked through the peephole in the door. She turned to me and said that it was her husband and his mother.

Judy panicked, told me to go into her bedroom and suggested, once she let her husband and his mother in through the front door, that I exit through her bedroom’s window. Her husband was a big, beefy guy, and I was a tall, lanky guy. And like the man in Jim’s song, I wanted to avoid a confrontation. So once I heard her open her front door and let them in, I made my escape.

But there was something neither Judy nor I had anticipated. He brought his mother over to her apartment so she could try to persuade Judy to reconcile with him and to take him back. His plan was to leave the two of them alone to talk. So he dropped his mother off and left. He walked out of the apartment building’s front door at the exact moment that I had just snuck out through Judy’s bedroom window.

Needless to say, bedlam ensued when he spotted me crawling out through his wife’s bedroom window, and before I knew it, this big, beefy guy was pounding the shit out of me.

So thank you, Jim Adams, for triggering, with your post, this long-suppressed, very unpleasant memory.Music Challenge Large

Song Lyric Sunday — Do It Again

Fandango17 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has given us the theme words “Did, Didn’t, Do, Don’t, Does, and Doesn’t.” And with that, the song I chose is “Do It Again” by Steely Dan.

“Do It Again” was written and composed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and performed by their group Steely Dan. The song was released as a single from their 1972 debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill. It reached number 6 on the US charts in 1973, making it Steely Dan’s second highest charting single, behind “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

Some critics claim that it’s hard to make sense of the lyrics of most Steely Dan songs. This songs seems to be about some combination of addiction, second chances, and the inevitability of fate. It’s another example of a Steely Dan song that doesn’t make literal sense, but creates a mood. The group’s sound has always been considered to be unusual, and when asked to explain it, they sometimes described it as “smart rock.” I enjoy Steely Dan’s music because I like new age/light jazz music as well as classic rock, and I consider Steely Dan’s sound to be a fusion of rock, jazz, and blues.

Unfortunately, Walter Becker died in September 2017 at the age 67. Donald Fagen is still performing under the name Steely Dan.

By the way, an interesting factoid: Steely Dan was named after a dildo in William Burroughs’ 1959 novel, “Naked Lunch.”

Here are the song’s lyrics.

In the mornin you go gunnin’
For the man who stole your water
And you fire till he is done in
But they catch you at the border
And the mourners are all sangin’
As they drag you by your feet
But the hangman isn’t hangin’
And they put you on the street

You go back, Jack, do it again
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round
You go back, Jack, do it again

When you know she’s no high climber
Then you find your only friend
In a room with your two timer
And you’re sure you’re near the end
Then you love a little wild one
And she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she’s smilin’
You’ll be on your knees tomorrow

You go back, Jack, do it again
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round
You go back, Jack, do it again

Now you swear and kick and beg us
That you’re not a gamblin’ man
Then you find you’re back in Vegas
With a handle in your hand
Your black cards can make you money
So you hide them when you’re able
In the land of milk and honey
You must put them on the table

You go back, Jack, do it again
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round
You go back, Jack, do it again