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James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Sweet Baby James
Released: 1970

Sweet Baby James Lyrics

There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range
His horse and his cattle are his only companions
He works in the saddle and sleeps in the canyons
Waiting for summer, his pastures to change
And as the moon rises he sits by his fire
Thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire
He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear
As if maybe someone could hear

Goodnight you moonlight ladies
Rockabye Sweet Baby James
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose
Won't you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby James

Now the first of December was covered with snow
So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston
The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting
With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go

There's a song that they sing when they take to the highway
A song that they sing when they take to the sea
A song that they sing of their home in the sky
Maybe you can believe it if it helps you to sleep
But singing works just fine for me

So goodnight you moonlight ladies
Rockabye sweet baby James
Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose
Won't you let me go down in my dreams
And rockabye sweet baby James

Writer/s: JAMES TAYLOR, JAMES V TAYLOR
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Sweet Baby James

James Taylor is not singing about himself in this song, but about the child who was named in his honor. Taylor wrote the song in 1969, when he drove on his way to Richmond, Virginia to see his older brother, the late Alex Taylor. James had recently returned to America after recording his first album in England, and he was shocked to learn that Alex had become a father for the first time in his absence.

Alex and his wife, Brent Taylor, had given birth to their first child, a baby son, which Brent wanted to name Richmond, after the city in which he was born. However, Alex wanted to name the child James, after his younger brother. So after a few arguments, the couple named the boy James Richmond Taylor. James was elated to discover that he had a new baby nephew, also named James. So the title can be a little confusing, since both the singer and his nephew are named James. The singer is James Vernon Taylor, while his nephew is James Richmond Taylor.

This song is a soft lullaby that tells the story of a young cowboy who spends his lonely nights in the canyons, with nothing to keep him company but his horse and his cattle - he occupies his long and lonely hours of darkness singing himself to sleep.

There are some ways this song associates with its writer. As a young child, James Taylor, along with his siblings, often sang each other to sleep at night. The story goes that James couldn't stand it when his mother sang, because she only sang opera. And because James' mother was a lyric soprano, she never sang lullabies. James' father never sang lullabies either, because he didn't exactly have the knack for music.

So when he was a little boy, the young James Taylor was often put in the position of having to sing himself to sleep each night, hence the line, "Singin' works just fine for me."

Some translations of the lyrics:

"Dogies" (Pronounced Doe-gies), is a Western Cowboy Slang term for "Cattle." "As the dogies retire" translates to: "As the cattle settle down for the night."

"Good night, you Moonlight Ladies" - This line is often misinterpreted, as many listeners are fooled into believing that the moonlight Ladies are prostitutes. The "Moonlight Ladies" are actually the spirits of the moon, which come out of the sky and shine their lights as the evening darkness falls.

"Rockabye, Sweet Baby James" - This line is loosely based on the nursery rhyme, "Rockabye Baby." James wanted to make this song sound smooth and calm for his baby nephew, so instead of singing the familiar lullaby "Rockabye Baby," he softly sang, "Rockabye, Sweet Baby James."

Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2015, Taylor said this was his best song. "It starts as a lullaby, then the second half of the song - 'the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston' - talks about what music means to me. It gets pretty spiritual by the end."

This was Taylor's first single released on Warner Bros. Records. He started with Apple Records, the label owned by The Beatles, but the dream became a nightmare when after releasing his debut album in 1968, Apple fell into disarray and Taylor was dropped.

With Warners, he got better promotion and gradually made a name for himself, becoming a top artist of the '70s. The "Sweet Baby James" single never charted but remains one of his most enduring songs. It was his next single, "Fire and Rain" that was his commercial breakthrough.

The Dixie Chicks did a cover of this song with Taylor at a benefit concert in September of 2005, to honor the many victims of Hurricane Katrina who lost their homes in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Like Joe Cocker's version of "With A Little Help From My Friends" and Billy Joel's "Piano Man," this is written in waltz time (3/4).

Grateful Dead - Casey Jones

Grateful Dead - Casey Jones Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Workingman's Dead
Released: 1970

Casey Jones Lyrics

Drivin' that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you better, watch your speed
Trouble ahead, trouble behind
And you know that notion just crossed my mind

This old engine, makes it on time
Leaves Central Station at a quarter to nine
Hits River Junction at seventeen to
At a quarter to ten you know it's travelin' again

Drivin' that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you better, watch your speed
Trouble ahead, trouble behind
And you know that notion just crossed my mind

Trouble ahead, The Lady in Red
Take my advice you'd be better off dead
Switchman sleepin', train hundred and two
is on the wrong track and headed for you

Drivin' that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you better, watch your speed
Trouble ahead, trouble behind
And you know that notion just crossed my mind

Trouble with you is the trouble with me
Got two good eyes but we still don't see
Come 'round the bend, you know it's the end
The fireman screams and the engine just gleams

Writer/s: JEROME J. GARCIA, ROBERT C. HUNTER
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Casey Jones

"Casey Jones" is (very) loosely based on the real life happenings of the heroic engineer Casey Jones, who was the subject of the famous 1902 song "The Ballad Of Casey Jones." It was doubtful that Jones was high on cocaine when he took over the train, and although his life was ended when he was hit by a train traveling the wrong way, he sacrificed his life so those on board could be saved.

In the book Garcia: A Signpost to New Space, Jerry Garcia was asked if this song grates on him when he hears it. The Dead frontman replied: "Sometimes, but that's what it's supposed to do. It's got a split-second little delay, which sounds very mechanical, like a typewriter almost, on the vocal, which is like a little bit jangly, and the whole thing is, I always thought it's a pretty good musical picture of what cocaine is like. A little bit evil. And hard-edged. And also that sing-songy thing, because that's what it is, a sing-songy thing, a little melody that gets in your head."

Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter came up with the line "Drivin' that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones you'd better watch your speed," which he wrote down and put in his pocket. He didn't think of it as part of a song until he looked at it later and decided to complete the lyrics.

When they put the song together, Hunter looked for ways to omit the word "cocaine," which at the time was a controversial word for song lyrics (they had taken some heat for using "Goddamn" in "Uncle John's Band"). Hunter tried some other phrases - "whipping that chain," "lugging propane" - but couldn't find an acceptable substitute, so Casey Jones ended up high on cocaine as originally written.

Sly & the Family Stone - Everybody Is A Star

Sly & the Family Stone - Everybody Is A Star Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Greatest Hits
Released: 1970

Everybody Is A Star Lyrics

Everybody Is A Star
Who the rain, chase the dust away
Everybody wants to shine
Ooh, come out on a cloudy day
'Til the sun that loves you proud
When the system tries to bring you down
Every hand to shine tonight
You don't need darkness to do what you think is right, hee hee

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh,

Everybody is a star
I can feel it when you shine on me
I love you for who you are
Not the one you feel you need to be
Ever catch a falling star
Ain't no stopping 'til it's in the ground
Everybody is a star
One big circle going round and round

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, shine, shine, shine, shine

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, shine, shine, shine, shine

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
Ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Writer/s: SYLVESTER STEWART
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Everybody Is A Star

This song is about how everyone is equal and how people try to change themselves to be what the media wants them to be. For black individuals, it can be about how we try to change ourselves to "act white" but in the end the system brings us down, yet we bring ourselves back up with the help of our people.

This was released as a double-A-side single with "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)." The single went to #1 in the US, so under Billboard methodology at the time, the chart position is attributed to both songs combined.

Like many Sly & the Family Stone songs of this era - "Everyday People" and "Stand!" among them - "Everybody Is A Star" has a message of togetherness and self-worth. These song were set against joyful melodies that kept them from sounding preachy. They went over very well at live shows where a sense of community formed.

The Band - Stage Fright

The Band - Stage Fright Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Stage Fright
Released: 1970

Stage Fright Lyrics

Now deep in the heart of a lonely kid
Who suffered so much for what he did,
They gave this ploughboy his fortune and fame,
Since that day he ain't been the same.

[Chorus]
See the man with the Stage Fright
Just standing up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.

I've got fire water right on my breath
And the doctor warned me I might catch a death.
Said, "You can make it in your disguise,
Just never show the fear that's in your eyes."

See the man with the stage fright
Just standing up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.

Now if he says that he's afraid,
Take him at his word.
And for the price that the poor boy has paid,
He gets to sing just like a bird, oh, ooh ooh ooh.

Your brow is sweating and your mouth gets dry,
Fancy people go drifting by.
The moment of truth is right at hand,
Just one more nightmare you can stand.

See the man with the stage fright
Just standing up there to give it all his might.
And he got caught in the spotlight,
But when we get to the end
He wants to start all over again.

You want to try it once again,
Please don't make him stop,
Let him take it from the top,
Let him start all over again.

Writer/s: ROBBIE ROBERTSON
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Stage Fright

Band bassist Rick Danko was chosen to sing this. His voice had a tendency to sound somewhat nervous.

Fillmore owner and operator Bill Graham once called this the greatest song about performing ever written.

The album was mixed twice by two different people. The Band was looking for a different sound from their homey first pair of albums, and so they hired Todd Rundgren to mix Stage Fright. However, Band drummer Levon Helm disliked Rundgren greatly at the time, and Glyn Johns (famous for his work with Led Zeppelin at the time) was brought in. As a result, there were two mixes used for the original album. In later years, the album would be reissued numerous times with varying ratios of Rundgren and Johns material.

Cat Stevens - On The Road To Find Out

Cat Stevens - On The Road To Find Out Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Tea For The Tillerman
Released: 1970

On The Road To Find Out Lyrics

Well I left my happy home
To see what I could find out
I left my folk and friends
With the aim to clear my mind out

Well I hit the rowdy road
And many kinds I met there
And many stories told me on the way to get there

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
So much left to know, and I'm On The Road To Find Out

In the end I'll know
But on the way I wonder
Through descending snow
And through the frost and thunder

I listen to the wind come howl
Telling me I have to hurry
I listen to the robin's song
Saying not to worry

So on, and on I go, the seconds tick the time out
So much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out

Well I found myself alone
Hoping someone would miss me
Thinking about my home and the last woman to kiss me

Well sometimes you have to moan
When nothing seems to suit you
But never the less you know
Your locked towards the future

So off and on you go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know and I'm on the road to find out

And I found my head one day
When I wasn't even trying
And here I have to say
Cause there is no use in lying, lying

Yes the answer lies within
So why not take a look now
Kick out the devils sin
Pickup, pickup a good book now

Yes the answer lies within
So why not take a look now
Kick out the devils sin
Pickup, pickup a good book now

Yes the answer lies within
So why not take a look now
Kick out the devils sin
Pickup, pickup a good book now

Writer/s: YUSUF ISLAM, CAT STEVENS
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

On The Road To Find Out

This is about a young man who wants to see the world for himself, so he sets out on a journey into the world where he can clear his mind and see what he can discover.

"On The Road To Find Out" was inspired by a deep spiritual emptiness in the composer's life. He was not writing about traveling in a literal sense but in finding out who he was and the purpose if any of his existence. Cat Stevens had fame and fortune thrust upon him at an early age, and like so many people in a similar position he looked at what he'd accomplished and realized it had brought him neither happiness nor peace of mind. This was one of the songs he wrote after recovering from tuberculosis, a disease that had all but been eradicated in the Western world by the time he contracted it, and which in his case was caused by personal neglect and fast living.
In 1977, he converted to Islam after several years of serious contemplation of religion. He played his final concert in November 1979 then withdrew totally from music for over two decades. In 2004, after his return as Yusuf Islam, he featured in a TV documentary where he told presenter Alan Yentob that his songs were a narrative to his life – none more so than "On The Road To Find Out."

The last couplet reads "...the answer lies within, so why not take a look now? Kick out the Devil's sin, pick up, pick up a good book now."
When asked about this he told Yentob that – as far as he recalled - he had originally written "pick up the Good Book now" - an obvious allusion to the Bible, but had altered it to avoid its being taken up by "Bible bashers."

Although they are separated by three decades, and the latter is written in the third person singular, "On The Road To Find Out" is strikingly similar in content to "Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)," which was inspired by an entirely different subject, but has been and can be interpreted as a voyage of self-discovery.

Grateful Dead - Box Of Rain

Grateful Dead - Box Of Rain Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: American Beauty
Released: 1970

Box Of Rain Lyrics

Look out of any window
Any morning, any evening, any day
Maybe the sun is shining
Birds are winging or
Rain is falling from a heavy sky,
What do you want me to do,
To do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed
One afternoon long ago
Walk out of any doorway
Feel your way, feel your way
Like the day before
Maybe you'll find direction
Around some corner
Where it's been waiting to meet you,
What do you want me to do,
To watch for you while you're sleeping?
Well please don't be surprised
When you find me dreaming too

Look into any eyes
You find by you, you can see
Clear through to another day
Maybe been seen before
Through other eyes on other days
While going home,
What do you want me to do,
To do for you to see you through?
It's all a dream we dreamed
One afternoon long ago

Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams
To another land
Maybe you're tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted
With words half spoken
And thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through
A Box Of Rain will ease the pain
And love will see you through

Just a box of rain,
Wind and water,
Believe it if you need it,
If you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower,
Wind and rain,
In and out the window
Like a moth before a flame

And it's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it's just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long long time to be gone
And a short time to be there

Writer/s: LESH, PHILIP / HUNTER, ROBERT C.
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Box Of Rain

This song was written for Phil Lesh's father who was dying. Lesh wanted a song to sing to his father before he died. He wrote the music and recorded it and gave the tape to Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Hunter listened to the music and wrote the lyrics after listening to the tape only a few times. Lesh would practice singing the song in the car on the way to the hospital. He was able to sing the song to his father before he died.

This song was often sung in response to Deadheads chanting "We Want Phil!" It was also the last song the Grateful Dead ever played. On July 9, 1995, they played it as a second encore after "Black Muddy River" during their last show, which took place at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Robert Hunter says in his lyrics anthology , which is named after this song, that "If if a lyric wrote itself, this did-as fast as the pen would pull."

Santana - Se Acabo

Santana - Se Acabo Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Abraxas
Released: 1970

Se Acabo Lyrics

Se Acabo

Before the original Abraxas album was released on CD, the spelling of this song title was "Se A Cabo," which is grammatically incorrect Spanish. When Columbia Records re-released the first three Santana albums (Santana, Abraxas, Santana III), they fixed the error.

The Five Stairsteps - O-o-h Child

The Five Stairsteps - O-o-h Child Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Stairsteps
Released: 1970

O-o-h Child Lyrics

Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get brighter
Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get brighter
Some day, yeah
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter
Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna be easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get be brighter
Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna be easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get be brighter

Some day, yeah
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter
Some day, yeah
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter
Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get brighter
Ooh-oo child
Things are gonna get easier
Ooh-oo child
Things'll get brighter
Right now, right now
(You just wait and see how things are gonna be)

Writer/s: Vincent, Stan
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

O-o-h Child

The Five Stairsteps were formed in Chicago in 1965 and comprised of Burke family members Clarence Jr., James, Aloha, Kenneth and Dennis. They got their name when "Momma Stairsteps" (as Betty Burke was affectionately called) noticed that her kids looked like stair steps when stood next to each other according to age.

This song of comfort and hope was written by Soul songwriter/producer Stan Vincent, who also worked with The Soul Generation and The Legionnaires.

Other artists to record this include Richie Havens, Daryl Hall and The Edwin Hawkins Singers.

Verizon used this in a commercial television advertisement campaign. In 2007, the song was also used in a commercial for the ADHD Road Map to Success Kit.

This features in a scene in Boyz and the Hood when Laurence Fishburne's character is riding in his car with his son. When "O-o-h Child" comes up on the radio, he declares, "Man, I love this song!" and starts singing along to it.

A cover by Dino peaked at #27 on the Hot 100 in 1993. It was the fifth and last single to reach the Top 40 for the Pop-Dance singer.

Cubie Burke, the youngest member of the group, was only five years old when he sang on this.

Santana - Mother's Daughter

Santana - Mother's Daughter Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Abraxas
Released: 1970

Mother's Daughter Lyrics

Got no time for foolin' with you baby
Your stupid game is about to end.
You played it out.
Thought you had it made.
And it looks like someone passed you by again.

I left her standin' in her corner
She told me she was tryin' to find her way.
I've got to leave before I get much older
Cause she ain't moved in nearly forty days.

I've got a woman that's treatin' me better.
She takes her time and she ain't so cruel.
I've got someone to take you over
Your mother ain't so bad,
What happened to you?

Writer/s: ROLIE, GREGG
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Mother's Daughter

Told from the first-person point of view, this is about a man who is tired of being mistreated by his girlfriend. At the end there's a twist... the man apparently had an affair with the girl's mother.

Gregg Rolie got sole credit for writing this song. From 1966 to 1972, almost all of his contributions to the band dealt with heartbreak and loneliness ("You Just Don't Care," "Hope You're Feeling Better").

The Spinners - It's A Shame

The Spinners - It's A Shame Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Second Time Around
Released: 1970

It's A Shame Lyrics

It's A Shame, the way you mess around with your man
It's a shame the way you hurt me
It's a shame, the way you mess around with your man
I'm sitting all alone, by my telephone
Waiting for your call, when you don't call at all

It's a shame (shame) the way you mess around with your man
It's a shame (shame) the way you play with my emotions
It's a shame (shame) the way you mess around with your man
You're like a child at play, on a sunny day
But you play with love, and then you throw it away

(Why do you use me, try to confuse me
How can you stand, to be so cruel
Why don't you free me, from this prison
Where I serve my time as your fool)

It's a shame (shame) the way you mess around with your man
It's a shame (shame) the way you hurt me
It's a shame (shame) the way you mess around with your man
I try to stay with you, show you love so true
But you won't appreciate, the love we try to make

Oh, it's got to be a shame

Why do you use me, try to confuse me
How can you stand, to be so cruel
Why don't you free me, from this prison
Where I serve my time as your fool

Got to be a shame (shame) the way you mess around with your man
Oh, it's a shame (shame) the way you hurt me
It's a shame (shame) babe babe, the way you mess with your man
You've got my heart in chains, and I must complain
And I just can't be confined, oh look my ooh my

So gotta be a shame
The way it hurt me eh eh

Writer/s: WONDER, STEVIE/WRIGHT, SYREETA/GARRETT, LEE
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

It's A Shame

Written by Stevie Wonder, this is about a breakup he had with his girlfriend at the time, Syreeta Wright. Wonder wrote the song with Lee Garrett, a songwriter who also co-wrote Wonder's hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."

G.C. Cameron had joined the band as lead singer at the time of this song's initial release. In 1972, The Spinners switched record labels and moved from Motown to Atlantic. Cameron stayed with Motown as a solo artist, and was replaced in The Spinners by Philippé Wynne, who sang lead on most of the group's hits in the '70s.

Jazz guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. made a smooth Jazz version of this song for his album Still Small Voice. Paul's version was also featured on the compilation album Blue Note Plays Stevie Wonder, a series of covers that was a tribute to Wonder.

In 1990, British-born singer and rapper Simone Wilson, the artist better known as Monie Love, sampled this as part of "It's a Shame (My Sister)," a song that also talks about the emotions of a breakup after the accusations of an alleged love affair.

Lethal Bizzle, a former member of More Fire Crew, sampled this on his 2005 song "Fire."

The Jamaican Rock Steady singer Alton Ellis recorded a version of this song that appears on his album Darker than Blue: Soul from Jamdown.

Deep Purple - Child In Time

Deep Purple - Child In Time Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Deep Purple In Rock
Released: 1970

Child In Time Lyrics

Sweet Child In Time
You'll see the line
The line that's drawn between
Good and bad

See the blind man
Shooting at the world
Bullets flying
Ohh taking toll

If you've been bad
Oh Lord I bet you have
And you've not been hit
Oh by flying lead

You'd better close your eyes
Ooohhhh bow your head
Wait for the ricochet

Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Ooo, ooo ooo
Ooo ooo ooo

Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Ooo, ooo ooo
Ooo ooo ooo

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh
Aah I wanna hear you sing

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh
Aaahhhh

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh

Sweet child in time
You'll see the line
The line that's drawn between
Good and bad

See the blind man
Shooting at the world
Bullets flying
Mmmm taking toll

If you've been bad
Lord I bet you have
And you've not been hit
Oh by flying lead

You'd better close your eyes
Ooohhhhhhh bow your head
Wait for the ricochet

Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Ooo, ooo ooo
Ooo ooo ooo

Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Oooooo ooooooo ooooooo
Ooo, ooo ooo
Ooo ooo ooo

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh
Aah I gotta hear you sing

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh
Aah

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh
Aah

Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aaaahh aaaahh aaaahh
Aahh, aahh aahh

Oh..God oh no..oh God no..oh..ah..no ah
AAh..oh..
Aawaah..ohh

Writer/s: Lord, Jon / Paice, Ian Anderson / Gillan, Ian / Glover, Roger David / Blackmore, Ritchie
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Child In Time

Running 10 minutes and 15 seconds, this is a protest song to the United States' war in Vietnam. The lyrics were written by lead singer Ian Gillan.

This features a keyboard/guitar solo by Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore respectively.

This album was released by the Mark II version of the group which is Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Roger Glover (Bass), Jon Lord (keyboard), and Ian Paice(drums). This song was played during the Deep Purple Mark II reunion tour "Come Hell or Highwater" in 1993. Ritchie Blackmore quit the tour after the European portion - he also ended the original Mark II by quitting because of Ian Gillan's "lack of work ethic."

Ian Gillan said in an interview in 2002: "There are two sides to that song - the musical side and the lyrical side. On the musical side, there used to be this song 'Bombay Calling' by a band called It's A Beautiful Day. It was fresh and original, when Jon was one day playing it on his keyboard. It sounded good, and we thought we'd play around with it, change it a bit and do something new keeping that as a base. But then, I had never heard the original 'Bombay Calling'. So we created this song using the Cold War as the theme, and wrote the lines 'Sweet child in time, you'll see the line.' That's how the lyrical side came in. Then, Jon had the keyboard parts ready and Ritchie had the guitar parts ready. The song basically reflected the mood of the moment, and that's why it became so popular." (courtesy: Deep Purple Appreciation Society )

Lars Ulrich of Metallica cites this as one of his favorite songs of all time. He says that when he was 9 years old, his father took him to a Deep Purple show, and it changed his life. "This is their most iconic moment," he told Rolling Stone regarding the song. "I've heard it 92,000 times, and it never sounds anything less than great."

Van Morrison - Moondance

Van Morrison - Moondance Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Moondance
Released: 1970

Moondance Lyrics

Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

Well, I want to make love to you tonight
I can't wait 'til the morning has come
And I know now the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that you're never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you can't hide

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And I'm trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with you, my love

One more moondance with you in the moonlight
On a magic night
La, la, la, la in the moonlight
On a magic night
Can't I just have one more dance with you my love

Writer/s: MORRISON, VAN
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Moondance

Van Morrison comes up with songs many different ways, sometimes a lyric or title idea sparks a song, and other times it's a melody. "Moondance" started as a Jazz saxophone instrumental, and Van played that original sax solo he wrote for the song. He told Rolling Stone magazine: "I used to play this sax number over and over, anytime I picked up my horn."

That Rolling Stone quote is about all you're going to get from Van regarding the song. He is notoriously fickle when it comes to speaking about his music, as he feels that the songs should speak for themselves. The liner notes to the Moondance album were written by his girlfriend Janet Planet, and instead of a traditional explanation of the recording process or a list of thank-you's these notes are a fable, telling the story of an artist in ancient times who has a great gift but keeps it to himself. When his wife gets sick, he cures her using his gift of song. She then asks, "But who will ease your pain, who will save you?"

The flute is a big part of this song. It was played by Collin Tilton, who replaced John Payne on the instrument for the Moondance album.

This song plays throughout the sex scene in the 1981 movie An American Werewolf in London (Director John Landis also asked Cat Stevens for the use of "Moonshadow," but was turned down). It was also used in a 2002 episode of the TV series The West Wing.

Pianist and organist Jeff Labes recalled the recording of the track to Uncut: "I remember 'Moondance' itself was a big question mark. It was jazzy, and didn't seem to belong to the pack. The first time we recorded it, it came out really well, but Van thought there must be a catch. So we did it about a dozen times, and ended up going back to the first one, He liked to sing live along with the track, because Sinatra did that. He loved having a first-take vocal. He was looking for the magic."

Sly & the Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Sly & the Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Greatest Hits
Released: 1970

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) Lyrics

Lookin' at the devil, grinnin' at his gun
Fingers start shakin', I begin to run
Bullets start chasin', I begin to stop
We begin to wrestle I was on the top

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Stiff all in the collar, fluffy in the face
Chit chat chatter tryin', stuffy in the place
Thank you for the party but I could never stay
Many things is on my mind, words in the way

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Dance to the music
All night long
Everyday people
Sing a simple song
Mama's so happy
Mama start to cry
Papa still singin'
We can make it if we try

I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Flamin' eyes of people fear, burnin' into you
Many men are missin' much, hatin' what they do
Youth and truth are makin' love
Dig it for a starter
Dyin' young is hard to take
Sellin' out is harder

Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin
I want to thank you falettinme be mice elf agin

Writer/s: STEWART, SYLVESTER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Sly Stone wrote this because he was upset that people were not listening to the messages in his songs even though the band was more popular then ever. They were an integrated band and tried to spread the message of racial harmony, but Stone thought that message was getting lost. The lyrics are scathing and mostly directed at Sly himself, but once again, many people lost the message in the powerful groove.

Larry Graham played the innovative bass line using a technique where thumped the strings. He learned this technique when he was playing in a duo with his mother, who played the organ. He thumped the strings to make up for a lack of drummer. This bass style became very popular on Funk records for years to come, and was a big influence on artists like Prince and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The title is a funky way of spelling "Thank you for letting me be myself again."

The lyrics include references to some of Sly & the Family Stone's earlier hits, including "Dance To The Music" and "Everyday People."

Janet Jackson sampled the bass riff from this on her 1990 hit "Rhythm Nation."

In 2008, Brooke Hogan, who is the daughter of wrestling star Hulk Hogan, released a version of this song called "Thnku4lettinmebmahself," where she sings about the trappings of fame. Her cover, which strips all Funk from the original, was released ahead of her second album.

The Pipkins - Gimme Dat Ding

The Pipkins - Gimme Dat Ding Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Gimme Dat Ding
Released: 1970

Gimme Dat Ding Lyrics

That's right, That's right
I'm sad and blue
'Cause I can't do the Boogaloo
I'm lost, I'm lost
Can't do my thing
That's why I sing

Gimme, Gimme Dat Ding Ah...
Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Dat
Gimme Dat Ding, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat Ding
Gimme Dat, Gimme, Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dat Ding (Oh Sing it one more time Momma)
Oh,Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Dat
Gimme Dat Ding, Gimme Dat
Gimme, Gimme Dat, Gimme Dat Ding
Gimme Dat, Gimme, Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dat Ding (Ah, you ain't doin' that late at night)
Ah, what good's a metronome
Without a bell for ringing
Not once, can't anybody ever tell he's swinging
How can you tell the rythmn written on the bar
How can you ever hope to know where you are?

Writer/s: A. HAMMOND, M. HAZLEWOOD
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Gimme Dat Ding

Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood wrote this song. Some other hit songs they wrote include "The Air That I Breathe," "Free Electric Band" and "It Never Rains In Southern California," which was a hit for Hammond.

Hammond and Hazlewood wrote this for the children's television show Oliver And The Overlord. Later, it the became background tune used on The Benny Hill show.

The Pipkins were not a real group - the song was recorded by producer Roger Greenaway and session singer Tony Burrows. For live appearances, The Pipkins were Davey Sands and Len Marshall.

This was used on the TV show Ally McBeal several times, for John Cage (played by Peter MacNicol) to do his "Angry Dance" to.

Singer Tony Burrows told the story of the song to Mojo magazine August 2010: "It was written for a children's TV programme called Oliver In The Underworld. "Freddie Garrity (of Freddie and the Dreamers) was the artist. It was the only song Freddie didn't do on the album, Roger Greenaway and I were booked to do backing vocals for the album at Abbey Road. Basically we made (Ding) in the studio. It was a conversation between a metonome and a pianola - the metronome had lost its click, so it was originally called Gimme Dat Click. But that wouldn't sing, so we changed it."

Burrows admitted to Mojo: "I was surprised it was a hit. It was banned in Italy, they thought it was vulgar."

Burrows was part of four different acts that had a hit song around this time. In addition to The Pipkins, he sang lead on Love Grows (where My Rosemary Goes) by Edison Lighthouse, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, and "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Man. Burrows performed all three of these songs just mentioned in addition to "Gimme Dat Ding" on the BBC music show Top of the Pops in 1970. He told Mojo: "The producer said, 'The word has come from above that you're not to be used any more, people are beginning to think it's a con.' They banned me from Top of the Pops. I was not played by the BBC for two years."

Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime

Mungo Jerry - In the Summertime Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: In the Summertime
Released: 1970

In the Summertime Lyrics

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

In the Summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women, you got women on your mind
Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton an' twenty-five
When the sun goes down
You can make it, make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea
We're always happy
Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Dee dee dee-dee dee
Dah dah dah-dah dah
Yeah we're hap-happy
Dah dah-dah
Dee-dah-do dee-dah-do dah-do-dah
Dah-do-dah-dah-dah
Dah-dah-dah do-dah-dah

Alright ah

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

When the winter's here, yeah it's party time
Bring your bottle, wear your bright clothes
It'll soon be summertime
And we'll sing again
We'll go drivin' or maybe we'll settle down
If she's rich, if she's nice
Bring your friends and we'll all go into town

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh
Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

In the summertime when the weather is hot
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women, you got women on your mind
Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal
If her daddy's poor just do what you feel
Speed along the lane
Do a ton or a ton an' twenty-five
When the sun goes down
You can make it, make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people
We're not dirty, we're not mean
We love everybody but we do as we please
When the weather's fine
We go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea
We're always happy
Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us
Dee dee dee-dee dee
Dah dah dah-dah dah
Yeah we're hap-happy
Dah dah-dah
Dee-dah-do dee-dah-do dah-do-dah
Dah-do-dah-dah-dah

Writer/s: DORSET, RAY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

In the Summertime

This buoyant tune was written by Ray Dorset, who was the group's lead singer and guitarist. He penned the song in 1968 when he was working for Timex in the UK - his band was just getting started and music was more of a hobby at the time. Dorest says that the famous melody just popped into his head one day, and the next day he wrote the lyrics very quickly.

"It's got no chorus; all it's got is a melody that goes over and over again with a set of lyrics that conjure up a celebration of life," he said. "Especially if you're a young person: it's a great day, you've managed to get a car - preferably with the top off - you're cruising around, and if you're a guy you're picking up girls."

The band was known as Memphis Leather and The Good Earth before getting a record deal and changing their name to Mungo Jerry (after the character Mungojerrie from the T. S. Eliot book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - later the basis for the Broadway play Cats).

Barry Murray, a producer at Pye Records, was a friend of Ray Dorset's and signed the group to the label's more adventurous imprint, Dawn Records, which released "In The Summertime" as their first single. The song took off, going to #1 in their native UK and making #3 in America. The UK fortunes of the song were aided by the group's appearance at the Hollywood Music Festival in Staffordshire England on May 23, 1970, shortly after the song was released. Playing on low on a bill with the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Free and Traffic, the song got the attention of the 35,000 or so fans in attendance, giving it a huge lift.

The American appeal of this song can be attributed to the lyrical inspiration: American beach movies that lead singer Ray Dorset grew up watching. "That was the teenage dream," he said. "What more can you want?"

There is some very interesting instrumentation on this track. Ray Dorset did the vocals and played guitars (acoustic and electric), as well as a shaker instrument called cabasa. Paul King played banjo and jug; Mike Cole played string bass; Colin Earl played piano.

Note that there are no drums, although you can hear Dorset stomping his foot to the rhythm. This was influenced by John Lee Hooker, who often used his foot as a percussion instrument.

Another structural anomaly: the title is repeated just twice in the song.

Few songs have endured like this one, which finds its way onto playlists every summer and is constantly being commissioned for movies, TV shows and commercials. "It's an honor for me to have a song that I wrote that people want to associate with so many different moods and feelings and events," Ray Dorset said. "The longer it goes on, the more it becomes like 'Happy Birthday,' because when everybody thinks of the summer, they think of 'In The Summertime.'"

Around the two-minute mark, the song stops and we hear a car drive by, punctuating the line, "we'll all go into town." This was a recording of the engineer's sports car driving by the studio.

The band made a video for this song, which some UK groups did to promote their wares on European TV shows. Like most videos of the time, it's a performance piece, but thanks to the jug and upright bass it was a very unusual performance. Also distinguishing the video: lead singer Ray Dorset's sweet mutton chops, scarf and fishnet shirt.

The Reggae artist Shaggy covered this in 1995. His version, which features the singer Rayvon, reached #5 in the UK. Ray Dorset re-recorded his guitar part for Shaggy's version.

In the UK, this was issued as a "maxi-single," which was a 7-inch record played at 33 1/3 RPM instead of the standard 45, which allowed for more music in the limited space. Also included on the single were two other songs: "Mighty Man" and "Dust Pneumonia Blues."

In the US, "In The Summertime" was issued as a standard single and also included on the album of the same name. In the UK, the group's first album was called Mungo Jerry, and did not include this song.

Mungo Jerry never again charted in the US, but fared very well in the UK, where the following year "Baby Jump" went to #1 and "Lady Rose" made #5. The group scored five more Top 40 UK hits by 1974. They have since been sporadically active under Ray Dorset's guidance with a number of different lineups.

This sold over 16 million copies worldwide and was Britain's biggest-selling single in 1970. In that territory, it really was the "song of the summer," peaking in June that year. By the time the song caught on in America, summer was coming to an end - it reached it's peak position on September 12.

Some of the many TV shows to use this song include:

The Simpsons (2004)
Life on Mars (2007)
New Girl (2014)

Movies include:
The Substitute (1996)
Breaking Out (1999)
Mr. Deeds (2002)
Anita and Me (2002)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Neil Young - After The Goldrush

Neil Young - After The Goldrush Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: After The Goldrush
Released: 1970

After The Goldrush Lyrics

After The Goldrush

After The Goldrush is an acoustic album that led to many other confessional singer/songwriter works in the early '70s (James Taylor, Carole King, etc.). Young had injured his back lifting a slab of polished walnut and standing up to play his electric guitar was impossible. In addition, he had dropped Crazy Horse as his backing band so he prepared an album of acoustic songs.

In his extensive biography on Mr. Young, author Jimmy McDonough reveals that After the Goldrush was an album loosely conceptualized around a screenplay of the same named written by child star, and Neil Young neighbor, Dean Stockwell. Apparently the only two songs on the album that are based on the as-yet-unproduced screenplay are this song and "Crippled Creek Ferry," the closing song on the album. (thanks, Chris - Philadelphia, PA)

New York songwriter Patti Smith recorded a stark piano-and-vocal cover of this ecological paean for the closing track of her 2012 album Banga. Her version features a children's choir singing the chorus at the end. " 'Constantine's Dream,' the song before it, is such a dark song," Smith explained to Billboard magazine. "It ends so darkly, with Columbus having a dream of the environmental apocalypse of the 21st century. Even though I fear that myself, I didn't want to end the record that way. I wanted to write a song that was more like the dawn that gave some kind of hope. Then I happened to hear 'After the Gold Rush;' I was sitting in a cafe and thought at least the two verses of Neil's song said what I wanted to say because it has a sense of optimism, but it's also at a cost. So I thought I'd just sing that, because that's what I wanted to say... And having children sing that with all their innocence and purity, I felt that brings out the danger of what he wrote."

The song has been covered a variety of artists, including Thom Yorke of Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds.

When Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt recorded it in 1999 for their collaboration Trio, they got some unique insight into the song from the man who wrote it. Said Parton: "When we were doing the Trio album, I asked Linda and Emmy what it meant, and they didn't know. So we called Neil Young, and he didn't know. We asked him, flat out, what it meant, and he said, 'Hell, I don't know. I just wrote it. It just depends on what I was taking at the time. I guess every verse has something different I'd taken.'"

In live performances, Neil replaces the flute solo with a harmonica performance. Additionally, he's amended the final line to "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st century" (it was originally "in the 1970's").

The Ides of March - Vehicle

The Ides of March - Vehicle Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Vehicle
Released: 1970

Vehicle Lyrics

Hey well
I'm a friendly stranger in a black sedan
Won't you hop inside my car.
I got pictures, got candy
I'm a lovable man
And I can take you to the nearest star.
I'm your Vehicle baby
I'll take you anywhere you want to go.
I'm your vehicle woman
But I'm not sure you know
That I love ya
I need ya
I want ya,
Got to have you child,
Great God in heaven you know I love you.
Well if you want to be a movie star
I'll get a ticket to Hollywood.
But if you want to stay just the way you are
You know I think you really should.
I'm your vehicle baby
I'll take you anywhere you want to go.
I'm your vehicle woman
But I'm not sure you know
That I love ya
I need ya
I want ya,
Got to have you child,
Great God in heaven you know I love you.
Hey well
I'm a friendly stranger in a black sedan
Won't you hop inside my car.
I got pictures, got candy
I'm a lovable man
And I can take you to the nearest star.
I'm your vehicle baby
I'll take you anywhere you want to go.
I'm your vehicle woman
But I'm not sure you know
That I love ya
I need ya
I want ya,
Got to have you child,
Great God in heaven you know I love you.
And I'm your vehicle babe.
You know
I love ya
I need ya
I want ya,
Got to have you child,
Great God in heaven you know I love you.

Writer/s: JAMES PETERIK
Publisher: THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Vehicle

This was written by Jim Peterik , who was the group's guitar player and lead singer. He told us how the song came together:

"On April 9, 1968 while I was waiting to see one of my favorite groups, The Turtles, at Riverside Brookfield High School in the Chicago Suburb of Riverside, my eyes wandered to the girl standing in front of me - she was a vision in knee socks and orange culottes - long silky hair and huge blue eyes. As I was trying to screw up the courage to say hello, she turned to me and said, 'Aren't you Peterik?' Turns out she had seen the Ides Of March a month previously when we opened for the New Colony Six at Morton West High School. I said, 'Yeah,' and from there the conversation just seemed to flow. Never had I met a girl I had so much in common with. Karen and I sat together at the show, and by 'Happy Together' she had placed her leg on top of mine (a very positive sign for a first date).

After about six months of great dates, good times, meadows, making out and serenades, Karen informed me that it was over between us, that she wanted to 'See other people." I was thoroughly heartbroken. I spent the next few months writing sad songs, depressive melodies, introspective garbage, and forcing the Ides to do long Blues jams for our show encores (as the audience streamed out of the Grand Ballroom at State Pier). I was also on a mission to find another Karen. There was a girl who looked a lot like her, but when we started dating, I realized that personality was 9/10's of the law. I guess I had to somehow win her back!

One day I got a call from Karen. My heart jumped into my throat. She asked me if I could drive her to modeling school (she knew I had a pristine white '64 Valiant with mag wheel covers). Instead of playing it cool, I found myself saying, 'I'll be right over.' I figured our proximity would remind her how much she really loved me. It was great riding next to her again, though I had to make sure I controlled my hands and my heart. This pattern continued for a few weeks with Karen asking me to drive her to various appointments and functions. We even sang at a few coffee houses as a duo (we called ourselves "Genesis" predating the famous group by about three years). Though it was great to be with her, the newly platonic nature of our relationship was bummin' me out.

One day in a fit of frustration, I heard myself blurt out to her 'You know, all I am to you is your Vehicle' (The word baby was added later). Just then the light bulb popped up on top of my head and I thought about all the guys like me who don't mind being taken for a ride by a beautiful girl. I said 'See you later' and started writing the song."

The Ides Of March formed in 1965 in Berwyn, Illinois - their name came from a line in the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar. Peterik was 14 at the time. The horn section was added in 1968. They were all teenagers when this was released.

Peterik: "I've always loved one word titles because of their strong impact. Musically I was working on a very simple minor key progression E minor to B minor. Rhythmically, I was doing the kind of choppy thing I first heard on the first Blood Sweat and Tears album. (The Ides were huge BS&T fans having seen them at the Kinetic Playground with Jethro Tull a few months earlier.) By the end of the day, I had morphed my emotion into a pretty slick 2:51 song."

At first, the opening line was, "I got a set of wheels pretty baby, won't you hop inside my car?" Peterik changed it when his friend showed him a government issued anti-drug pamphlet. It explained the perils of drug use and was illustrated with a little drawing of an undesirable type cruising along the curb looking for easy targets. The caption read, "I'm the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won't you hop inside my car?" The lyrics that followed, about the picture and candy, came from a warning his mother used to give him about walking home from school.

The lyrics are both a love story and a tale of an unsavory guy who's up to no good. Says Peterik, "To me, the dichotomy is kind of cool. To me, the first line is the most important of all. The original line had nothing going for it. It had no scansion, it had no rhythm to it. When I came across, 'I'm the friendly stranger in the black sedan, won't you hop inside my car,' all other concerns went out the window. At age 18 when I wrote the song, I wasn't thinking about coherency of the song or if one half fit the other half. I was just glad I was writing, just glad I had a song to play live."

Peterik: "We totally devalued it as a recording song. It went over great live, and for some reason, we thought it was a great live song but would never be a hit, maybe because it was so simple. We thought so little of it, we put it fourth of four songs on the demo we sent to Warner Brothers. They get it and go, 'Forget these first three, number four is a smash.' We go, 'You've got to be kidding.' At that point, we started thinking, 'Maybe we've got a hit here.' We went to Art Roberts, who was kind of this disc jockey/guru here at WLS, probably the most powerful jock in Chicago because he had the night slot on WLS. The managers brought it to him, and he said, 'That's a smash. All you've got to do is add the answers to the 'Love You, Need You's', and you've got a #1 record.' It's funny that we never thought of adding the answers, the call and response. It seems so obvious now, but that was his idea. We went back in the studio and all the tracks were taken up, so we ended up wild tracking onto a 2-track machine. The vocals you hear on the stereo version are different than what you hear on the mono version because we did them each separately. Nowhere on the master do the background vocals exist. When the song was used in Lock Up with Sylvester Stallone in 1990, you don't hear the background vocals because it's not on the master."

Peterik: "The real pivotal moment came at the overdub session. While we were dubbing the brass section, the second engineer pressed the wrong button and erased 13 seconds of the multi-track master (our chief engineer was already on the train home-Thanks Dick!). I still remember the ashen faces in the control room and the hushed expletives being exchanged. The Ides knew something had gone very wrong. In those risky pre-Pro Tools days we had very few options. Our saving grace turned out to be 'Take One.' In about an hour the second engineer asked us to come into the control room. He had taken 13 seconds from the same section of take one and spliced it into the multitrack of take two. Multitrack editing was still in its infancy and the chance that take one's tempo, tuning, attitude and feel were even in the same zip code seemed remote. We listened closely - it was perfect! You couldn't even tell it was a different guitar with five strings. I only had to redo the vocal in that section. (You can find the splice starting at the second 'Great God in Heaven' all the way up to the first note of the guitar solo.) Had the erasure gone through the solo, we would have lost a magical performance that I'm still not sure how I played. Someone must have been moving my fingers because after that I had to learn it note for note off the record."

1970 was a great year to have a huge hit in the US because there were so many pop festivals going on. The Ides Of March played on bills with Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead that summer.

Peterik formed Survivor in 1978 and co-wrote their hits "Eye of the Tiger," "High On You" and "The Search Is Over." He sang lead with Ides Of March, but did not sing on Survivor's hits: "When I designed Survivor, it was to be the co-lead singer with Dave Bickler. In the first year of our existence, all the demos and club performances, I was doing basically duets with Dave. You can hear that kind of concept on "Love Has Got Me" on the first album, where I sing the verses and Dave takes over on the choruses. Through the years, certain members of the band didn't want that. They wanted that Journey kind of thing where there's one singer and one focus. I don't begrudge it because it worked. Whether it would have worked as well with me co-singing or taking some of the songs, we'll never know, but I was always blessed with great singers: Dave Bickler through 'Eye Of The Tiger,' Jimi Jameson after that. I couldn't have asked for better singers, so it was kind of a mixed blessing."

After this became a hit, Peterik got back together with Karen, the girl he wrote it for. They've been together ever since, and have been married for over 30 years. Peterik told us: "To this day, she doesn't like to be in audiences where I tell that story. She feels very embarrassed by it. She knows it's true, but at the same time, she doesn't want to be thought of as this opportunistic woman who just wanted her guy to drive her around and then when the song goes to #1, calls up to do it again. It happened, but that's really not her."

Bo Bice brought this song to a new generation when he performed it on Season 4 of American Idol in 2005. His rendition went over very well, and Bice ended up placing second in the competition to Carrie Underwood. Bice released his version of the song as the B-side of his single "Inside Your Heaven."