This week the award goes to Carly Simon for a song which only recently made it on to the waiting list (currently containing 86 songs including this one) when Tim Webster reminded me of the song by playing it a week or so ago.
The song is “You’re So Vain”.
Son of a gun
You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed that they’d be your partner
They’d be your partner, and…
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair
And that you would never leave
But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me
I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?
I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee
Clouds in my coffee, and…
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (you’re so vain)
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you?
Well I hear you went up to Saratoga and your horse naturally won
Then you flew your lear jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
Well you’re where you should be all the time
And when you’re not you’re with
Some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend
Wife of a close friend, and…
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain (so vain)
I’ll bet you think this song is about you
Don’t you? Don’t you? Don’t you?
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
You’re so vain
You probably think this song is about you
This week the award goes to the UK group “Free”, and the feature song is “All Right Now”.
There she stood in the street
Smiling from her head to her feet
I said “Hey, what is this”
Now baby, maybe she’s in need of a kiss
I said ” Hey, what’s your name baby”
Maybe we can see things the same
Now don’t you wait or hesitate
Let’s move before they raise the parking rate
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
Let me tell you now
I took her home to my place
Watching every move on her face
She said “Look, what’s your game baby
are you tryin’ to put me in shame?”
I said “slow don’t go so fast,
don’t you think that love can last?”
She said “Love, Lord above,
now you’re tryin’ to trick me in love”
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
I said, don’t you know
Oh yeah
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
All right now
Baby, it’s all right now
I’m a couple days late with this (and I completely forgot last week) so I’m glad that the random number generator has picked a song that I was listening to the other day and thinking “I must make sure that this is on the Musicians Of The Week waiting list”. Last time I mentioned this song I was helpfully informed that I am “most likely a sheltered, white-bread, middle-class anglo-saxon who has never been met with even a small amount of hardship”, a statement which is at least half wrong…hooray for stereotypes!
Anyway, the award this week goes to (if you haven’t already worked that out from the previous paragraph) The Eagles, and the feature song is “Get Over It”.
(I can only assume that the person who decided to find semi-related anime clips for this video was very bored at the time…it’s the only embeddable video of the song with decent sound quality that I can find though).
I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin’ “Don’t blame me”
They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your mumma’s too thin; your daddy’s too fat
Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let’s kill all the lawyers, kill ’em tonight
You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing
Get over it
Get over it
If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it
It’s like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You’re makin’ the most of your losin’ streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down
You bitch about the present and blame it on the past
I’d like to find your inner child and kick its little ass
Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
Get over it
Get over it
It’s gotta stop sometime, so why don’t you quit
Get over it, get over it
This week’s award goes to Jessy Greene and the feature song is “Brand New Day’. If you’re not familiar with the song, you may recall that an extract was used by the ABC in their television idents earlier this year, prior to ABC TV and ABC 2 being relaunched as ABC1 and ABC2 respectively.
As I don’t appear to be able to locate a video of the song, the ABC ident with an extract of the song appears below.
I’m waiting on a fairytale
Its presence is my virtue
It’s a brand new day and I did not desert you
Nothing now can hurt us now
Pain’s the bottom dollar
I’m spending all I have earned
loving my tomorrows
Laugh at me if you want to
I’m so bashfully exposed
Here I stand before you
In the emperors new clothes
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
You’ve got a pretty little thing
A pretty little thing indeed
Everything you need is falling down at your feet
Can you leave this
You got to feed it if you stay
Think too hard and you’ll never get away
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
Laugh at me if you want to
I’m so bashfully exposed
Here I stand before you
In the emperors new clothes
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
It’s a brand new day
I can feel a change is coming
This week’s award goes to Roy Orbison, and the feature song is “Pretty Woman”.
Pretty woman, walkin’ down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
Pretty woman
I don’t believe you, you’re not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy
Pretty woman, won’t you pardon me
Pretty woman, I couldn’t help but see
Pretty woman
And you look lovely as can be, are you lonely just like me?
Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, give your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you’ll stay with me
‘Cause I need you
I’ll treat you right
Come to me baby
Be mine tonight
Pretty woman, don’t walk on by
Pretty woman, don’t make me cry
Pretty woman, don’t walk away
OK
If that’s the way it must be, ok
I guess I’ll go on home, it’s late
There’ll be tomorrow night
But wait, what do I see?
Is she walking back to me?
Yeah, she’s walking back to me
O-oh
Pretty woman
The musician(s) of the week award returns from a hiatus, and this week’s winner is U2, and the feature song is “New Year’s Day”.
It could just be my memory playing tricks on me here, but I’m almost certain that 2CC used the intro from this song as one of their music returns for a while.
All is quiet on New Year’s Day.
A world in white gets underway.
I want to be with you, be with you night and day.
Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.
On New Year’s Day.
I… will be with you again.
I… will be with you again.
Under a blood-red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspaper says, says
Say it’s true, it’s true…
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one.
I… I will begin again
I… I will begin again.
Yeah-oh-oh
Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh.
Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Oh, oh.
Oh, maybe the time is right.
Oh, maybe tonight.
I will be with you again.
I will be with you again.
And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes
On New Year’s Day
On New Year’s Day
On New Year’s Day
Better late than never. This week’s award goes to John Farnham, and I’ll save “Sadie The Cleaning Lady” for another week, as this week’s feature song is “Pressure Down”.
It’s funny how wrong it is possible to be about the lyrics of a song until you read them. In this case I could never make sense of the lines “Take the pressure down, ‘Cause I can feel it, It’s rising like a stone” until today when I realised that I had managed to get it wrong for a very long time, as you will see below.
Set the wheels in motion
And watch them turning ’round
I want to sail across the ocean
I’ve grown weary of this town
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels and turn them around
Take the pressure down
In this city full of danger
We lead our separate lives
And I was frightened by a stranger,
with desperation in her eyes
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels and turn them ’round
Take the pressure down
Someone turned the pressure on
I called your name and you were gone
And I was trapped like a prisoner in this lonely town
I’m gonna let things slide
Until the pressure comes down
Oh the winner tells his story
The loser hides in shame
The winner steals the glory
While the loser takes the pain
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels and turn them around
Take the pressure down
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels and turn them around
Take the pressure down
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels and turn them around
Take the pressure down
Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels, turn them around
Take the pressure down
Oh, Take the pressure down
‘Cause I can feel it
It’s rising like a storm
Take hold of the wheels, turn them around
Take the pressure down
This week’s award goes to George Harrison, and the feature song is one of my favourite George Harrison songs, one which was played by Mike Welsh when he filled in for John Kerr on 2UE on Sunday, “All those years ago”.
As Mike said on Sunday in reference to The Beatles and George Harrison, “you know it’s a good band when even the drummer can have a successful solo career” (paraphrased…or perhaps he said something slightly different and I misheard it).
I’m shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it so clear
All those years ago.
Talking all about how to give –
They don’t act with much honesty
But you point the way to the
truth when you say:
All you need is love.
Living with good and bad
I always looked up to you.
Now we’re left cold and sad
By someone the devil’s best friend
Someone who offended all.
We’re living in a bad dream
They’ve forgotten all about mankind.
And you were the one they
backed up to the wall
All those years ago.
You were the one who Imagined it all
All those years ago.
All those years ago.
All those years ago.
Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you.
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of the lies
And all else that we despised:
They’ve forgotten all about God –
He’s the only reason we exist.
Yet you were the one that
they said was so weird
All those years ago.
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago.
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago.
All those years ago.
All those years ago.
All those years ago.
This week’s award goes to Gilbert O’Sullivan and the feature song is “Alone Again, Naturally”. Before I run the lyrics, I should probably say a few words about this song.
Some people see it as a suicide song, a description I vehemently disagree with. The lyrics are, admittedly, dark and sombre, but it is a reflection of various aspects of life. The song is certainly not uplifting, but as somebody who has been suffering from depression I can attest to the song making me feel a bit better; whether or not that is because it paints a picture of their being somebody much worse off than me, I don’t know.
Another theme of the song is the central fictional character’s lack of faith in God. Whilst I believe in God, I don’t believe that we have a micro-managing, meddling god who solves every little problem in the world (I think the facts of everyday life on this planet prove that), rather I believe that God provides general guidance and oversight. We have a thing called “free will”, and although it was fiction, I think Morgan Freeman summed it up quite nicely when he portrayed God in the film “Bruce Almighty”:
Parting your soup is not a miracle, Bruce, It’s a magic trick.
A single mum, who’s working two jobs, and still finds time to take her kid to soccer practice, that’s a miracle.
A teenager who says no to drugs and yes to an education, that’s a miracle.
People want me to do everything for them, what they don’t realise is they have the power.
You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.
Anyway, on with a song I find rather soothing, the song which at this point in time has been on my Musicians Of The Week waiting list the longest, Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again, Naturally”.
In a little while from now
If I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top
Will throw myself off
In an effort to
Make it clear to whoever what it’s like when you’re shattered
Left standing in the lurch
At a church where people saying
“My God, that’s tough, she’s stood him up
No point in us remaining
We may as well go home”
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally
To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to
Well who wouldn’t do
The role I was about to play
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much, as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
Talk about God and His mercy
For if He really does exist
Why did He desert me
In my hour of need
I truly am indeed
Alone again, naturally
It seems to me that there are more hearts
Broken in the world that can’t be mended
Left unattended
What do we do? What do we do?
Alone again, naturally
Now looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul,
Couldn’t understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
Alone again, naturally
This week’s award goes to Alannah Myles and the feature song is Black Velvet, a song apparently about Elvis Presley.
Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high
Mama’s dancin’ with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin’ like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything
Always wanting more, he’d leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Up in Memphis the music’s like a heatwave
White lightening, bound to drive you wild
Mama’s baby is in the heart of every school girl
“Love me tender” leaves ’em cryin’ in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he’d leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Every word of every song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?
(Guitar Solo)
Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Black velvet and that little boy’s smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that’ll bring ya to your knees
Black velvet if you please
If I do this today, then again on the regular day of Sunday, and then again in the middle of next week, I will have caught up with the Musicians Of The Week awards that I have missed.
This award goes to Katrina and The Waves and the feature song is “I’m Walking On Sunshine”.
Oh!
Ohhhh yeeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I’m sure
And I just can’t wait ’til the day when you knock on my door
Now everytime I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
‘Cause I just can’t wait ’til you write me you’re coming around
Now, I’m walking on sunshine, wooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
And don’t it feel good
Hey, alright now
And don’t it feel good
Hey yeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it’s true
And I don’t want to spend my whole life, just a-waiting for you
Now I don’t want you back for the weekend, not back for a day
No no no
I said baby I just want you back, and I want you to stay
Woah yeah now
I’m walking on sunshine, wooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
I’m walking on sunshine, woooah
And don’t it feel good
Hey, alright now
And don’t it feel good
Yeah, oh yeah now
And don’t it feel good
Walking on sunshine
Walking on sunshine
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that’s really real
I’m on sunshine baby, oh
Oh yeah
I’m on sunshine baby, oh
I’m walking on sunshine wooah
I’m walking on sunshine wooah
I’m walking on sunshine wooah
And don’t it feel good
Hey alright now
And don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Oooh yeah now
And don’t it feel good
Now don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it feel good
I’ll say it, I’ll say it, I’ll say it again now
And don’t it feel good
Now don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it, don’t it
And don’t it feel good
Now tell me, tell me, tell me again now
And don’t it feel good
Oooh yeah now
And don’t it feel good
Oh Don’t it feel good, don’t it feel good
Now don’t it feel good
This week’s award goes to the group Propellerheads and singer Shirley Bassey; the feature song is one they produced together called “History Repeating”. I suppose, for the first Musicians Of The Week award following Clive Robertson’s departure from 2UE’s overnight show, a song I first heard on his show is appropriate.
The word is about, there’s something evolving,
whatever may come, the world keeps revolving
They say the next big thing is here,
that the revolution’s near,
but to me it seems quite clear
that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
The newspaper’s shout a new style is growing,
but it don’t know if it’s coming or going,
there is fashion, there is fad
some is good, some is bad
and the joke is rather sad,
that it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
And I’ve seen it before
and I’ll see it again
yes I’ve seen it before
just little bits of history repeating
Some people won’t dance, if they don’t know who’s singing,
why ask your head, it’s your hips that are swinging
life’s for us to enjoy
woman, man, girl and boy,
feel the pain, feel the joy
aside set the little bits of history repeating
Just little bits of history repeating
and I’ve seen it before
and I’ll see it again
yes I’ve seen it before
just little bits of history repeating
Thanks for that song Clive! I hope you’re getting a bit more sleep now that you’re not working all night.
This week’s award goes to The Kinks, and the feature song is “A Well Respected Man”.
‘Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
‘Cause his world is built ’round punctuality,
It never fails.
And he’s oh so good,
And he’s oh so fine,
And he’s oh so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And his mother goes to meetings,
While his father pulls the maid,
And she stirs the tea with councilors,
While discussing foreign trade,
And she passes looks, as well as bills
At every suave young man
‘Cause he’s oh so good,
And he’s oh so fine,
And he’s oh so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
‘Cause he’s better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father’s loot,
When Pater passes on.
‘Cause he’s oh so good,
And he’s oh so fine,
And he’s oh so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
And he plays at stocks and shares,
And he goes to the Regatta,
He adores the girl next door,
‘Cause he’s dying to get at her,
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes.
‘Cause he’s oh so good,
And he’s oh so fine,
And he’s oh so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He’s a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.
This week’s award goes to Tina Turner, and the feature song is “Simply The Best”. I recall when it was the theme song for Australian Rugby League and the accompanying video was of Tina Turner singing the song on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I think that was probably the best promotion the ARL or related bodies have produced for rugby league.
Tim Webster also played this song a few weeks ago, and when he did that I finally understood what Wayne Mac was referring to when he was talking about the great sound of music pumping through an AM radio…this song really does sound fantastic on AM radio.
I call you when I need you, my heart’s on fire
You come to me, come to me wild and wild
When you come to me
Give me everything I need
Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams
Speak a language of love like you know what it means
And it can’t be wrong
Take my heart and make it strong baby
You’re simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I ever met
I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say
Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead
In your heart I see the star of every night and every day
In your eyes I get lost, I get washed away
Just as long as I’m here in your arms I could be in no better place
You’re simply the best, better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I ever met
Oh, I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say
Oh, Tear us apart (no no no), baby I would rather be dead
Each time you leave me I start losing control
You’re walking away with my heart and my soul
I can feel you even when I’m alone
Oh baby, don’t let go
Oh, you’re the best
Better than all the rest
Better than anyone, anyone I ever met
Oh, I’m stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say
Oh, Tear us apart (no no), baby I would rather be dead
Oh, you’re the best
It’s the Chinese year of the rat, and whilst there are a couple songs by that name, I don’t like them, so I’m going with the closest match that I do like for the Musician Of The Week award this week. The award goes to Al Stewart and the feature song is “Year Of The Cat”.
On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolour in the rain
Don’t bother asking for explanations
She’ll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat
She doesn’t give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow ’till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears
By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There’s a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat
Well, she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what’s waiting inside
The year of the cat
Well, morning comes and you’re still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you’ve thrown away your choice and lost your ticket
So you have to stay on
But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the new-born day
You know sometime you’re bound to leave her
But for now you’re gonna to stay
In the year of the cat