Song Lyric Sunday

Song Lyric Sunday — Diamond Girl

Fandango3 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us the words Wedding, Marry, Diamond, Ring, and Cake to consider. The song I chose for this week’s theme is “Diamond Girl” by Seals & Crofts.

“Diamond Girl” was written by Jim Seals and Dash Crofts and was released in May 1973 as a single from the duo’s fifth studio album, Diamond Girl. It reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Technically speaking, the song isn’t about weddings, marriage, rings, or cake. But it has the word “diamond” in the title and I’ve always been fond of the melodic harmonies of Seals & Crofts. The song is essentially depicting the love for a woman, although some believe they were singing about their commitment to God.

The singer-songwriters were deeply religious and committed to the Baha’i religion. Their radiant harmonies and always positive lyrics were a direct reflection of that commitment and their desire to advance the Baha’i faith through their music.

Until I did the research on the duo for this post, I never realized that their songs had any religious significance. I simply enjoyed the sound of their voices, their harmonies, and the music. It was always light, breezy, and positive.

Here are the lyrics to “Diamond Girl.”

Diamond Girl – you sure do shine
Glad I found you – glad you’re mine
Oh my love you’re like a precious stone
Part of earth where heaven has rained on

Makes no difference where you are
Day or nighttime you’re like a shinin’ star
And how could I shine without you
When it’s about you that I am

Diamond Girl – roamin’ wild
Such a rare thing – radiant child
I could never find another one like you
Part of me is deep down inside you

Can’t you feel the whole world’s a-turnin’
We are real and we are a-burnin’
Diamond Girl now that I’ve found you
It’s around you that I am

Diamond Girl – you sure do shine
Diamond Girl – you sure do shine
Diamond Girl – you sure do shine
Diamond Girl – you sure do shine

Song Lyric Sunday — Magic

Fandango5 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us Haunted, Magic, Mystery, Supernatural, and Trick. It took me about two seconds to think of “Do You Believe In Magic” by The Lovin’ Spoonful.

“Do You Believe In Magic” was written by John Sebastian and released by his group, The Lovin’ Spoonful, in 1965. It was the first single from the band’s debut studio album, Do You Believe in Magic. The single peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year.

The magic referenced in the title is the power of music to supply happiness and freedom to both those who make it and those who listen to it. Sebastian said that on one particular night as the band was playing at local club in Greenwich Village, he looked out in the audience and saw this beautiful 16-year-old girl just dancing the night away. He remembered thinking that the young girl symbolized the fact that their audience was changing and it was like magic. He wrote the song the next day.

Here are the lyrics to “Do You Believe In Magic.”

Do you believe in magic in a young girl’s heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it’s magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I’ll tell you about the magic, and it’ll free your soul
But it’s like trying to tell a stranger ’bout rock and roll

If you believe in magic don’t bother to choose
If it’s jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen it’ll start with a smile
It won’t wipe off your face no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can’t seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind

If you believe in magic, come along with me
We’ll dance until morning ’til there’s just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I’ll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we’ll go dancing, baby, then you’ll see
How the magic’s in the music and the music’s in me

Yeah, do you believe in magic
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl’s soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Ohh, talking ’bout magic

Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe, believer
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic

Song Lyric Sunday — Zodiac Animals

Fandango14 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams gave us a list of zodiac animals. I’m not a follower of astrology, but I do know that one of the signs of the zodiac is Leo and that the symbol for Leo is a lion. So naturally I picked the song by the Tokens titled “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” But then I reread the list of zodiac animals Jim provided and guess what — there isn’t a lion on the list.

So back to the drawing board, eh? Well, fortunately, the tiger is a zodiac animal, so my next choice, Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” works. Yay!

“Eye of the Tiger” was released as a single in 1982 from Survivor’s third album of the same name. It was also the theme song for the film Rocky III. The song was written by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik, and was recorded at the request of Rocky III star, writer, and director Sylvester Stallone. Stallone originally wanted to use the Queen song, “Another One Bites the Dust, but was unable to get the band’s permission.

“Eye of the Tiger” was a mega-hit. It held number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks and spent fifteen consecutive weeks in the top ten. Survivor won a 1982 Grammy Award for “Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group With Vocal” at the 25th Annual Grammy Awards.

Here are the lyrics to “Eye of the Tiger.”

Rising up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat
Hanging tough, staying hungry
They stack the odds still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Rising up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I’m not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger
The eye of the tiger

And just for guns and giggles, here are the two other songs I mentioned in this post:

Song Lyric Sunday — Don’t Worry Baby

Fandango15 Comments

For today’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams has given us “Who, What, When, Where, Why, How.” The first thing I thought of was a journalism class I took when my professor said that any good reporter must answer the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how in a newspaper or magazine article. But since this is a music prompt, I chose the classic song by The Beach Boys, “Don’t Worry Baby.” It contains the words “how,” “why,” “when,” and “what.”

“Don’t Worry Baby” was written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian. The song is a tender ballad with falsetto lead vocal by Wilson. It was first released on The Beach Boys’ 1964 album Shut Down Volume 2, and as the B-side of The Beach Boys’ first U.S. number-one single, “I Get Around.” “Don’t Worry Baby” reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in its own right.

The song is sung from the perspective of a teenage boy who reluctantly agrees to a car race challenge from a rival after rashly bragging about his car. He is reassured by his girlfriend’s plea to take her love with him when he races.

“Don’t Worry Baby” was conceived as a follow-up to the Ronettes’ hit song “Be My Baby.” When Wilson heard the Ronettes’ song on the radio, he wondered aloud if he could match it. Wilson’s wife Marilyn reassured him, saying, “Don’t worry, baby.” Wilson remembered it when it came time to write songs with his DJ friend Roger Christian.

Here are the lyrics to “Don’t Worry Baby.”

Well its been building up inside of me
For oh I don’t know how long
I don’t know why
But I keep thinking
Something’s bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says “Don’t worry baby”
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby

I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut
When I started to brag about my car
But I can’t back down now because
I pushed the other guys too far

She makes me come alive
And makes me wanna drive
When she says “Don’t worry baby”
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby

She told me “Baby, when you race today
Just take along my love with you
And if you knew how much I loved you
Baby nothing could go wrong with you”

Oh what she does to me
When she makes love to me
And she says “Don’t worry baby”
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby
Don’t worry baby

Song Lyric Sunday — The Queen of Hearts

Fandango18 Comments

For today’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, Jim Adams gave us Cards/Dice/Gamble/Lose/Win. There are lots of songs that covers those topics, but the one that I chose may not be that obvious. I decided to go with the Eagles’ “Desperado.” How could I not? It’s my wife’s favorite song.

Written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley, “Desperado” appeared on the 1973 album Desperado. Although the song was never released as a single, it is one of the Eagles’ best known songs. I chose it for this week’s prompt because of references to the Queen of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts.

Ostensibly, this song is about a cowboy who refuses to fall in love, but some have suggested that it’s a metaphor about a young man who discovers guitars, joins a band, pays his dues, and suffers for his art.

Don Henley began writing parts of this in the late ’60s, but it wasn’t arranged into a song until his songwriting teammate Glenn Frey came along. Henley explained in the liner notes for an Eagles compilation album that, “Glenn came over to write one day, and I showed him this unfinished tune that I had been holding for so many years. I said, ‘When I play it and sing it, I think of Ray Charles and Stephen Foster. It’s really a Southern gothic thing, but we can easily make it more Western.’ Glenn jumped right on it, filled in the blanks and brought structure. And that was the beginning of our songwriting partnership. That was when we became a team.”

Linda Ronstadt, who was a huge recording star at the time, recorded this song and released her version on her album Don’t Cry Now, which was issued a few months after the Eagles version. Before the Eagles formed, members of the group played in Ronstadt’s backup band. Her recording of the song gave it a big boost.

Here are the lyrics to “Desperado.”

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now
Oh, you’re a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow

Don’t you draw the Queen of Diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able
You know the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet

Now, it seems to me some fine things
Have been laid upon your table,
But you only want the ones that you can’t get

Desperado, oh, you ain’t gettin’ no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they’re drivin’ you home

And freedom, oh freedom, well that’s just some people talkin’
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day
You’re losin’ all your highs and lows;
Ain’t it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences; open the gate
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late