The Beatles – Don’t Let Me Down

This is my contribution to Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Around/Down/Sideways/Up

The song reached #35 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on May 24, 1969.

From Songfacts

John Lennon dedicated this song to Yoko Ono. It was the first song he wrote for Yoko, whom he married on March 20, 1969.

Released as the B-side of “Get Back,” this song was recorded the same day. It was going to be on the Let It Be album, but when the tapes from the sessions were turned over to Phil Spector to produce, he took it out.

This was one of the songs The Beatles played at their impromptu rooftop concert in 1969. The concept of the album was The Beatles performing new songs for a live audience, with film footage of their rehearsals used to make a documentary TV special. George Harrison didn’t like the idea, and when things got tense during recording, he left the sessions and returned only after they agreed to cancel the live performance. The Beatles were still under contract to make another movie, so they decided to use the rehearsal footage as their last movie, Let It Be. In order to end the movie, they needed a big scene, so they went to the roof of Apple Records and started playing. John Lennon forgot some of the words to this song while the Beatles were playing their rooftop concert.

Billy Preston, who The Beatles met when he was on tour with Little Richard in 1962, played keyboards on this track. Preston was one of the few outside musicians (excluding members of orchestras) to play on any Beatles song. George Harrison brought him in to smooth tensions in the studio. He did the same thing during The White Album sessions, when he brought in Eric Clapton. The presence of a musician The Beatles respected had a way of making them put aside their differences.

Don’t Let Me Down

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

Nobody ever loved me like she does
Oh, she does, yeah, she does
And if somebody loved me like she do me
Oh, she do me, yes, she does

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

I’m in love for the first time
Don’t you know it’s gonna last
It’s a love that lasts forever
It’s a love that had no past

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me down, don’t let me down

And from the first time that she really done me
Oh, she done me, she done me good
I guess nobody ever really done me
Oh, she done me, she done me good

Don’t let me down, don’t let me down
Don’t let me downWriter/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – Joey

From their 2005 album, Nothing But The Water. The song did not chart. The live video was shot at Red Rocks in Colorado

Joey

I come home from workin’ hard
I pull up to my yard and there’s a man I used to know
He used to love me right
But then we had a little fight and now he’s on parole

Well, he’s lookin’ mighty mean
He’d like to cause a scene
Just hit reverse and pull out slow

And don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more
And don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more

He wears his shirt untucked
He’s got one eye covered up and he’s got a big ‘ol 44
He likes to drink ’til late and then he’ll break down your gate
And he’ll throw you to the floor

Well, he looks me in the eye
He’ll hit me ’till I cry
He’s tryin’ to get inside my door

Don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more
Don’t pay no mind to Joey
Joey don’t treat me good no more

Well, well, well, well, well
You can’t even stop and shout
‘Cause it’s all over now
And there ain’t nothin’ left to say

Don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more
Don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more

He saw me with another man
But he did not understand that I grew up with him in the same crib
Joey started flaming red
He didn’t hear a word I said and now my brother’s got a broken rib

Well, the judge and jury all agreed
Joey did a dirty deed
And 50 years is what the order said

But don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more
Don’t pay no mind to Joey
Joey don’t treat me good no more, no more

Well, he didn’t understand
The judge raised up his hand
And said, ? You’d better leave that girl alone, leave her alone?

Don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more
Don’t pay no mind to Joey
‘Cause Joey don’t treat me good no more

Don’t pay no mind to Joey
Joey don’t treat me good no more, no more
That’s what I said
I said, don’t pay no mind, pay no mind
Pay no mind, pay no mind, pay no mind, pay no mind
No mind, pay no mind, pay no mind, pay no mind

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: POTTER GRACE / BURR MATTHEW P / DONDERO BRYAN / TOURNET SCOTT

The Hoodoo Gurus – Bittersweet

From their 1985 album, Mars Needs Guitars! The song did not chart in the U.S. but did chart in Australia, It reached #10 on the Melbourne Record chart.

From Medialoper

From its slow opening build to its all-hands-on-deck fadeout, “Bittersweet” is everything I could want from a pop song: smart, catchy and ever-changing while hewing to a steady central riff.

A musical descendent from the always-fruitful “Sweet Jane” tree, “Bittersweet” establishes its basic riff early on as Dave Faulkner sings about a relationship gone sour and at exactly the right moment, his bandmates lend him support.

Bittersweet

You are my sword.
Your love is its own reward.
My heart, I have found,
Gets carved surely by the pound.

God knows. I tried,
Tried to hold you with all my might
But time has won,
And I could never be that strong.
(Don’t cry) I couldn’t be that strong,
(Don’t cry) That used to be my favourite song.
(Don’t cry) Tears so bittersweet
Fill my eyes whenever we meet,
It’s always bittersweet.

I cut and I bleed.
You seem to find that so hard to believe!
That’s just too, too bad.
You could never touch the love that we had.

For the love we had,
(Don’t cry) Sometimes we try to take it back.
(Don’t cry) Tears so bittersweet
Kiss my cheeks whenever we meet.
It’s always bittersweet.

For a love-gone-wrong
(Don’t cry) That used to be my favourite song
(Don’t cry) Tears so bittersweet
Kiss my eyes whenever we meet.
Anyway…

We’ve grown and times change.
When we meet now it feels so strange.
I hold you like a sword
You won’t cut me like you did before.
It’s always bittersweet.

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Dave Faulkner

The Dead Daisies – Dead And Gone

From their 2018 album, Burn It Down. The song did not chart but Happy Halloween!

From Blabbermouth.net

THE DEAD DAISIES have released a new single and music video for “Dead And Gone”, one of the crowd favourites off their latest album, “Burn It Down”. The clip combines classic performance elements intertwined with appearances from the Undead, which were created, filmed and edited by legendary horror visionary Tony Valenzuela.

Singer John Corabi states about “Dead And Gone”: “‘Dead And Gone’ is one of those tracks that must be played LOUD!!! It’s got a great groove, and it’s basically about living life, (responsibly) having fun, and not letting ANYBODY judge you for wanting to have a great time!!!!”

Dead And Gone

I ain’t a man
To cast a stone
Brother I believe
To every man each his own
Yeah I ain’t here to preach
People come and people go
Some are born to lose
Well I just wanna live my life
Live the way I choose

Let the devil be my witness
To everything I’ve done
Cause it ain’t nobody’s business
And I’m not the only one
Let me hear you say yeah, yeah
Come on come on yeah, yeah
So fire it up and turn me on
Until I’m dead and gone

One thing my daddy said
When I was just a boy
Let no man take from you
Things that bring you joy
From that day on I held my own
And there’s no looking back
God helps those who helps themselves
Brother, that’s a fact

Let the devil be my witness
To everything I’ve done
Cause it ain’t nobody’s business
And I’m not the only one

Let me hear you say yeah, yeah
Come on come on yeah, yeah
So fire it up and turn me on
Until I’m dead and gone

Say yeah yeah
C’mon c’mon yeah yeah
So fire it up, light it up
Until I’m dead and gone

Yeah

When I’m dead and gone

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Martin Frederiksen / John Corabi / Douglas Aldrich / Marco Mendoza / David Lowy

Billy Joel – Say Goodbye To Hollywood (Live 1981)

From his 1981 album, Songs In The Attic. The song reached #17 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on November 7, 1981.

From songfacts

This song is a look at the temporary nature of most relationships, as people are always coming in and out of our lives. It’s told through the eyes of two characters, Bobby (in the first verse) and Johnny (in the second). They do their time in Hollywood, but now find themselves moving on with their lives, a natural progression in the series of hellos and goodbyes in life.

Musically, Joel wrote this in the style of The Ronettes, specifically their song “Be My Baby,” a wall-of-sound Phil Spector production. Joel was a big fan of ’60s girl groups and loved both Phil Spector’s production and Ronettes lead singer Ronnie Spector’s voice. In “Say Goodbye To Hollywood,” he pays homage to Ronnie’s vibrato, emulating it when he sings the would “boulevard.” Joel met Ronnie a few times over the years, but only after he wrote the song.

When he wrote this, Joel had recently moved from Los Angeles to New York, which helped inspire this song. Like many Long Island natives, the West Coast was not to his liking.

This was released in the US as the B-side to “I’ve Loved These Days” a month before it was put out as an A-side single. Neither song charted, but in 1981, a live version recorded at the Milwaukee Arena was released on Joel’s Songs In The Attic album and hit #17 in the US. Songs In The Attic was the first digitally recorded live album.

Ronnie Spector, who was an influence on this song, released her own version in 1977. She said at the time: “In a way it’s my life story ’cause I was married in Hollywood, I lived in Hollywood, my life fell apart in Hollywood and now I am saying goodbye to Hollywood.”

Spector’s version was produced by Little Steven Van Zandt, who she met while singing backup for Bruce Springsteen in 1976. Springsteen’s E Street Band played backup for her.

Say Goodbye To Hollywood

Bobby’s driving through the city tonight
Through the lights
In a hot new rent-a-car
He joins the lover in his heavy machine
It’s a scene down on Sunset Boulevard

[Chorus: ]
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby
Say goodbye to Hollywood
Say goodbye my baby

Johnny’s taking care of things for awhile
And his style is so right for Troubador’s
They got him sitting with his back to the door
Now he won’t be my fast gun anymore

[Chorus: ]

Moving on is a chance that you take every time you try to stay together
Say a word out of line and you find that the friends you had are gone
Forever…forever
So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again

[Chorus: ]

(Repeat 3rd verse)

[Chorus: ]Writer/s: BILLY JOEL

Chris Rea – Fool If You Think It’s Over

From his 1978 album, Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?. The song reached #12 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on September 16, 1978.

From songfacts

The song’s lyric came out of conversations Rea had with his younger sister, who was dealing with her first breakup. He assured her that her life was not over, even though it felt that way.

This was the first single from Chris Rea’s major-label debut album. Surprisingly, it initially made little impact in his native Great Britain, but was a big hit in the United States, where it peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It later scored on the British charts, where it peaked at #30.

Fool If You Think It’s Over

Dyin’ flame, you’re free again
Who could love, do that to you
All dressed in black, he won’t be comin’ back
Look, save your tears
Got years and years
The pains of seventeen’s
Unreal they’re only dreams
Save your cryin’ for the day

[Chorus]
Fool if you think it’s over
Cause you said goodbye
Fool if you think it’s over
I’ll tell you why

New born eyes always cry with pain
At the first look at the mornin’ sun
Fool if you think it’s over
It’s just begun

Miss Teenage Dream, such a tragic scene
He knocked your crown and ran away
First wound of pride, and how you cried and cried
But save your tears, got years and years

[Chorus]

(Fool if you think it’s over)
(Fool if you think it’s over)

I’ll buy you first good wine
We’ll have a real good time
Save your cryin’ for the day
That may not come
But anyone who had to pay
Would laugh at you and say

[Chorus]

New born eyes always cry with pain
At the firstWriter/s: CHRISTOPHER ANTON REA

Attila – Wonder Woman

From their 1970 self-titled album. The song never charted but one of the band’s members would later go on to become a solo superstar. Can you guess who that band member is?

From Wikipedia

Their only album, Attila, was released on July 27, 1970. Attila has been selected by AllMusic critics as one of the worst rock albums of all time.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, “Attila undoubtedly is the worst album released in the history of rock & roll — hell, the history of recorded music itself. There have been many bad ideas in rock, but none match the colossal stupidity of Attila.”

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman with your skin so fair
Wonder Woman with your long red hair
You have the velvet touch
You have her I want so much
My love is burning fire
My need is one desire

Hey hey, oh yeah yeah yeah
Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh

Wonder Woman stole my heart away
Wonder Woman making war today
You came in a dead of night
You brought me a fire of light
My brain has lost control
Learn how to freeze it cold

Hey hey hey, oh oh oh, ooh ooh ooh ooh

Well I’m trying to tear you down
But I really can’t explain
I’ve been out just trying to do all
But you’re giving me pleasure when it comes to me, baby
Oh yeah yeah yeah

Haaaaaaa, Wonder Woman I’ve heard the call
Wonder Woman, slap ‘em to the wall
I can’t believe you’re mine
Your body feels so fine
My sensors have been drowned
You came and shot me down

Oh yes you did, oh you know it
Ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh

Wonder Woman, you have got me in a spin
Jesus Christ, I can’t believe the shape I’m in
Everything is all mixed up and upside down
Everything in this world is twirling ‘round
Oh no no no, whoa, round and round and round

Awwwww, come on!
Wonder Woman with your skin so fair
Wonder Woman with your long red hair
You have the velvet touch
You have her I want so much
My sensors have been drowned
You came and shot me down

Oh yeah, ooh ooh ooh oooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Oh yeah ooh hoo

Chris Rea – Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?

This is my contribution to Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt…Lost/Found/Hide/Seek.

The title song from his 1978 album. The song reached #71 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on November 25, 1978.

From songfacts

As Chris Rea tells it, when he got a record deal, his label, Magnet, suggested he change his name. He mockingly proposed “Benjamin Santini,” a name that would appeal to Jewish and Italian listeners – a big slice of the American market. At least one executive at Magnet took it seriously, telling him it was a good idea.

Rea kept his real name but came up with a backstory for Benny Santini, a promising young pop star packaged for stardom. In this song, he tells that story, with Santini falling out of favor, leaving many to ask, “Whatever happened to Benny Santini?”

Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?

They say his chances could not have been better
All the promise of a July sun in the morning sky
Laughing at the peering faces
From the windows of a limousine
Caviar with the A & R and still only in his teens
So whatever happened?

I can see him now, his face lit up in neon
One hand up in the air as he turns towards the crowd
His songs of silver arrows they tried to roll into gold
With diamond tips from painted lips
Designed and ready to be sold

They say he could not fall of
They say he could not fail
The wealth and fame would fire his flame
Just as soon as his ship set sail
So whatever happened?

Whatever happened to Benny Santini?
Whatever happened to the guy on the wall?
Where did he go to if he could not fall of
They tell you they don’t know
They don’t know at all.

Writer/s: CHRISTOPHER ANTON REA

Soul Asylum – Misery

From their 1995 album, Let Your Dim Light Shine. The song reached #20 on Billboards Hot 100 chart on July 15, 1995, and #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

From songfacts

In 1995, the Alternative/Modern Rock scene had become something corporate, as bands that led the way early in the decade found themselves under the constraints of the music industry. There was always a lot of angst to go along with the heavy guitars, but once it started selling, it was a completely different kind of misery: one that was feeding the machine.

Kurt Cobain, who killed himself in 1994, proved that this disconnect could have tragic consequences, but bands like Soul Asylum were already trapped in the cycle. The band was around for a decade before hitting it big with their 1992 album Grave Dancers Union and the hit single “Runaway Train.” Their newfound success solved their financial problems, but caused many new ones, as they were now obligated to promote and perform at a relentless pace. Their fanbase became wider but more shallow, and they found themselves too often in the company of folks who were dependent on them for revenue. All this led to “Misery,” the song lead singer Dave Pirner wrote to express his frustration.

The “factory” where misery is made is visualized in the video with scenes of a CD pressing plant making copies of the single. Soul Asylum’s record company had no problem with the critique, since the song was a hit, ironically feeding the machine it was disparaging.

“Misery” became Soul Asylum’s second-biggest Pop success (after “Runaway Train”) and also went to #1 on the Alternative Rock chart and #2 for Mainstream Rock.

Misery

They say misery loves company
We could start a company and make misery

Frustrated, Incorporated
Well I know just what you need
I might just have the thing
I know what you’d pay to see

Put me out of my misery
I’d do it for you, would you do it for me
We will always be busy making misery

We could build a factory and make misery
We’ll create the cure; we made the disease

Frustrated, Incorporated
Frustrated, Incorporated
Well I know just what you need
I might just have the thing
I know what you’d pay to feel

Put me out of my misery
All you suicide kings and you drama queens
Forever after happily, making misery

Did you satisfy your greed, get what you need
Was it only envy, so empty

Frustrated, Incorporated
Frustrated, Incorporated

Frustrated, Incorporated (put me out of my misery)
Frustrated, Incorporated (I’d do it for you, would you do it for me)
Frustrated, Incorporated (forever after happily)
Frustrated, Incorporated (making misery)
etc…Writer/s: ANDREW CAIRNS

Robert Palmer – Bad Case Of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)

Free Fallin'

From his 1979 album, Secrets. The song reached #14 on Billboards Hot 100 Chart on September 29, 1979, and reached #61 on the UK singles chart. Originally written and recorded by Moon Martin in 1978.

From Songfacts.

This song was written by Moon Martin (John David Martin – he got the name Moon because he often used it in his lyrics), who released the original version on his 1978 album Shots From a Cold Nightmare. Martin is a singer/guitarist/songwriter from Oklahoma who made his way to California in the late ’60s with his band Southwind. When the group broke up in 1971, Martin took on studio work. He took up with Linda Ronstadt, and played on her self-titled album (they lived together at her farm house in Topanga Canyon for a while). He nearly joined some of Ronstadt’s other backing musicians in a little band called the Eagles, but ended…

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