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Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore

Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: We Don't Talk Anymore
Released: 1979

We Don't Talk Anymore Lyrics

Used to think that life was sweet.
Used to think we were so complete.
I can't believe you'd throw it away.

Used to feel we had it made.
Used to feel we could sail away.
Can you imagine how I feel today.
Well it seems a long time ago you were the lonely one.
Now it comes to letting go you are the only one.
Do you know what you've done.

It's so funny how We Don't Talk Anymore.
It's so funny why we don't talk anymore.
But I ain't losing sleep and I ain't counting sheep.
it's so funny how we don't talk anymore.

Well it really doesn't matter to me.
I guess you're leaving was meant to be.
It's down to you now you want to be free.
Well I hope you know which way to go you're on your own again.
And don't come crying to me when you're the lonely one.
Remember what you've done.

It's so funny how we don't talk anymore.
It's so funny why we don't talk anymore
But I ain't losing sleep and I ain't counting sheep.
It's so funny how we don't talk anymore.

But I ain't losing sleep and I ain't counting sheep.
It's so funny how we don't talk.

But I ain't losing sleep and I ain't counting sheep.
It's so funny how we don't talk.

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

We Don't Talk Anymore

This was written by Alan Tarney, who wrote several other Cliff Richard hits including "My Pretty One" in 1987 and its follow up "Some People."

Cliff Richard was born Harry Webb in Lucknow, India of British parents. He joined the Dick Teague Skiffle group in 1957, leaving in 1958 with drummer Terry Smart to form Harry Webb & the Drifters and later in the year he was renamed Cliff Richard. He auditioned for the producer Norrie Paramour (who sadly died while this was at the top of the charts) in August 1958 and signed with EMI, releasing his debut single "Move It," which rose to #2 in the UK charts. His backing group in 1958 featured Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Ian Samwell and Terry Smart. The Drifters renamed themselves The Shadows in 1959 to avoid confusion with the US R&B act of the same name. He went on to become Britain's most successful home-grown solo act, with 13 #1s and appearances with Band Aid 2 and The Young Ones on other #1 hits. When "Saviours Day" hit #1 in the UK in 1990 he became the first artist to have #1s in the UK in 5 consecutive decades and he nearly made it six as "Millennium Prayer" was #1 in December 1999. In 1995 he received a knighthood.

In the mid-1960s, Richard became a Christian and since then he has recorded a number of inspirational albums. He is arguably the most well known Christian in the British music business and every December he releases a Christmas-themed single, which rarely fails to reach the UK Top 20.

Alan Tarney (from 1000 UK #1 Hits

by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh): '"If you play C,F and G7, you would normally expect to return to C, but I chose to leave it unresolved and go somewhere else. There's a lot of that in We Don't Talk Anymore and it keeps the suspense going. Cliff lost his place at the end, but he is such a brilliant improviser that he kept going. When he sings the bit about losing sleep, he doesn't know where he is."

This was Cliff Richard's biggest selling hit worldwide. He was a sensation in Great Britain, but never made a major impact in the United States. This was released when his career in America was at its peak.

Barry Manilow - One Voice

Barry Manilow - One Voice Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: One Voice
Released: 1979

One Voice Lyrics

Just One Voice
Singing in the darkness
All it takes is one voice
Singing so they hear what's on your mind
And when you look around you'll find
There's more than

One voice
Singing in the darkness
Joining with your one voice
Each and every note another rock
And hands are joined and fears unlock

If only one voice
Would start it on it's own
You need just one voice
Facing the unknown
And then that one voice
Would never be alone
It takes that one voice

Pa pa pa pa pa, pa pa pa pa

It takes that one voice
Just one voice
Singing in the darkness
All it takes just one voice
Shout it out and let it ring
Just one voice
It takes that one voice
And everyone will sing

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

One Voice

According to Manilow, this song came to him in a dream: "It woke me up and I croaked it into my cassette recorder and then went back to sleep. When I woke up and played it back, there it was. A whole song. Amazing."

All the background voices are actually sung by Barry Manilow. (thanks, Ariel - Rehovot, Israel, for above 2)

Pink Floyd - Empty Spaces

Pink Floyd - Empty Spaces Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

Empty Spaces Lyrics

What shall we use
To fill the Empty Spaces
Where we used to talk?
How shall I fill
The final places?
How should I complete the wall

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

Empty Spaces

If part of this song is played backwards, you can hear this: "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont...
-Roger! Carolyne's on the phone!
-Okay.

Pink was the main character in Pink Floyd's film The Wall.

After this first message, the voice of engineer James Guthrie is heard over an intercom, shouting out "Roger! Carolyne's on the phone!" This is a reference to Carolyne Christie, who was Roger Waters' wife from 1976-1992.

In the movie, an extended version was used, whereas in the album it ends with "How can i complete the wall?" which is only the sixth line. (thanks, charlie - Thomaston, DC)

The version used in The Wall is called "What Shall We Do Now." This shortened version was used on the album because there wasn't enough room for the the longer track. (thanks, Sarah - Guess, Canada)

On the album version, the song is more than half over when the lyrics begin. The first 1:28 of the song are completely instrumental and the song is a total of 2:08. The secret message at the beginning, however, begins at around 1:12, which is also over halfway through the song. (thanks, Chris - Bradenton, FL)

Pink Floyd - Mother

Pink Floyd - Mother Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

Mother Lyrics

Mother do you think they'll drop the bomb?

Mother do you think they'll like this song?

Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?

Ooh, ah
Mother should I build the wall?
Mother should I run for President?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing mine?
Ooh ah,
Is it just a waste of time?

Hush now baby, baby, don't you cry.
Mama's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mama's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby,
Of course mama's gonna help build the wall.

Mother do you think she's good enough?
For me?
Mother do you think she's dangerous,
To me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooh ah,
Mother will she break my heart?

Hush now baby, baby don't you cry.
Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you.
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through.
Mama's gonna wait up until you get in.
Mama will always find out where you've been.
Mama's gonna keep baby healthy and clean.
Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby,
You'll always be baby to me.

Mother, did it need to be so high?

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

Mother

The movie The Wall is a semi-autobiographical story about a young boy that loses his father in the war and is raised by his overly protective mother. The child grows up alone as an outsider that absolutely does not fit in. He feels trapped by his overly protective environment while being shunned by the men around him.

Roger Waters: "If you can level one accusation at mothers, it is that they tend to protect their children too much. Too much and for too long. This isn't a portrait of my mother, although one or two of the things in there apply to her as well as to I'm sure lots of other people's mothers." (thanks, Mike - Mountlake Terrace, Washington, for above 2)

Waters told Mojo magazine December 2009: "The song has some connection with my mother, for sure, though the mother that Gerald Scarfe visualises in his drawings couldn't be further from mine. She's nothing like that." (For the film version of The Wall, cartoonist Gerald Scarfe visualised the mother as a huge monstrous woman with a brick-wall bosom.)
Waters went on to admit to Mojo that the overly protective suffocating mother portrayed in the song has some similarities to his own mum. He said: "My mother was suffocating in her own way. She always had to be right about everything. I'm not blaming her. That's who she was. I grew up with a single parent who could never hear anything I said, because nothing I said could possibly be as important as what she believed. My mother was, to some extent, a wall herself that I was banging my head against. She lived her life in the service of others. She was a school teacher. But it wasn't until I was 45, 50 years old that I realised how impossible it was for her to listen to me."
Mojo asked Waters if his mother saw herself in the song? He replied: "She's not that recognisable. The song is more general, the idea that we can be controlled by our parents' views on things like sex. The single mother of boys, particularly, can make sex harder than it needs to be."

Pearl Jam performed this song on September 30, 2011 as part of a week long Pink Floyd tribute on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The Shins, Foo Fighters, MGMT, and Dierks Bentley all played Pink Floyd songs on the show that week.

Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason didn't play on this track. According to Roger Waters, this was because Mason had trouble with the 5/4 time signatures and other changes, as "his brain doesn't work that way." Jeff Porcaro, who was a session drummer and also a member of the band Toto, took his place. Mason was also replaced on drums (this time by Andy Newmark) on the track "Two Suns in the Sunset" from the album The Final Cut.

Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines recorded a cover version in 2013 which was the title track to her first solo album. She decided to cover the song after hearing Roger Waters perform it on his Wall tour. Waters loved her rendition, telling Rolling Stone, "I get goosebumps just talking about it."

ABBA - Chiquitita

ABBA - Chiquitita Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Voulez-Vous
Released: 1979

Chiquitita Lyrics

Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong
You're enchained by your own sorrow
In your eyes there is no hope for tomorrow
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I'm a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you've broken a feather
I hope we can patch it up together

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

So the walls came tumbling down
And your love's a blown out candle
All is gone and it seems too hard to handle
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
There is no way you can deny it
I see that you're oh so sad, so quiet

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

Writer/s: ANDERSSON, BENNY GORAN BROR / ULVAEUS, BJOERN K. / KUNZE, MICHAEL
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Chiquitita

Originally, this was called "In The Arms Of Rozellita." Bjorn Ulvaeus, who wrote the song, liked the title but couldn't find a matching story, so it became "Chiquitita." (thanks, royi - Rishon Le Zion, Israel)

ABBA performed this song in 1979 at the Music for UNICEF Concert. ABBA donated half the proceeds from the song to UNICEF. (thanks, Vineeta - Rockville, MD)

Chiquitita, in Spanish, means "Very Little Girl." (thanks, Kyre - Atlanta, GA)

To facilitate a breakthrough in South America, ABBA recorded a Spanish-language version of this song, despite the fact the band had never learned the language. The Swedes sang the song phonetically and their efforts enhanced their popularity in a number of Latin America countries.

This song reached #1 in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Rhodesia, South Africa, Spain and Switzerland. (thanks, Jerro - New Alexandria, PA)

Leona Lewis performed this while she was a contestant on The X Factor (UK) in 2006.

The Muppets - Rainbow Connection

The Muppets - Rainbow Connection Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Muppet Movie Soundtrack
Released: 1979

Rainbow Connection Lyrics

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what's on the other side
Rainbows are visions
But only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide

So we've been told
And some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong, wait and see
Some day we'll find it
The Rainbow Connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

Who said that every wish
Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star
Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it
And look what it's done so far

What's so amazing
That keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

All of us under its spell, we know that it's probably magic

Have you been half asleep?
And have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name
Is this the sweet sound
That called the young sailors?
The voice might be one in the same

I've heard it too many times to ignore it
It's something that I'm supposed to be
Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me

La da da di da da dum da duh da da dum di da ohhh

Writer/s: WILLIAMS, PAUL / ASCHER, KENNY
Publisher: Walt Disney Music Company
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Rainbow Connection

This was written by songwriters Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher for The Muppet Movie, which came out in 1979. In the film, it is sung by Kermit The Frog as the Muppets set out to find adventure. In our interview with Williams, he said: "Rainbow Connection was the first number in The Muppet Movie. It's the one that establishes the lead character. We find Kermit sitting in the middle of the swamp. Kenny Ascher and I sat down to write these songs, and we thought... Kermit, he's like 'every frog.' He's the Jimmy Stewart of frogs. So how do we show that he's a thinking frog, and that he has an introspective soul, and all that good stuff? We looked at his environment, and his environment is water and air - and light. And it just seemed like it would be a place where he would see a rainbow. But we also wanted to show that he would be on this spiritual path, examining life, and the meaning of life.

It tells you that he's been exposed to culture: 'Why are there so many songs about rainbows?' Which means, obviously, he's heard a lot of songs. This is a frog that's been exposed to culture, whether it's movies, or records, or whatever. And I also like the fact that it starts out with the negative: 'Rainbows are only illusions, rainbows have nothing to hide.' So the song actually starts out as if he's going to pooh-pooh the whole idea, and then it turns: 'So we've been told, and some choose to believe it. I know they're wrong, wait and see.' And again, he doesn't have the answer: 'Someday we'll find it.'"

Paul Williams has acted in many TV shows and movies, and had a regular role on the soap opera The Bold And The Beautiful. He wrote several songs that were recorded by the Carpenters, as well as "Evergreen," which won an Oscar when it was used in the 1976 movie A Star Is Born. Says Williams: "The best part of being a songwriter - beyond being able to make a living at it - is what I call the 'heart payment' of a song. That's when somebody comes up after a concert and says, 'My mom was a single mom, and 'You And Me Against The World' was a really important song to us.' Or 'We got married to 'We've Only Just Begun'' or 'Evergreen.' Or 'I Won't Last A Day Without You' got me through some hard times.' That's heart payment for a songwriter."

Williams was a guest star on the first season of The Muppet Show, and Jim Henson asked him to write music for Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, which they filmed in Canada where they had a Muppet workshop. Williams told us: "We tried a bunch of things that wound up in The Muppet Movie. You know, Kermit riding a bicycle. When they made The Muppet Movie in 1979, the Muppets were at the absolute peak of popularity. It was a really big deal. [Jim] asked me again if I would write the songs for it. I said yes, but I wanted to bring in Kenny Ascher, who I'd been working with, because his melodies are so classically beautiful. I brought Kenny in and we wrote the songs, and just had a ball. Jim Henson gave you more [creative] freedom than anybody I've ever worked with in my life. I said, 'You want to hear the songs as we're writing them?' He said, 'No. I'll hear them in the studio. I know I'm gonna love them.' You just don't get that kind of freedom on a project these days."

Sarah McLachlan sang a poignant version on the album For The Kids, proceeds of which are go to Canadian and American music education programs. Johnny Mathis, Phil Ramone and The Dixie Chicks recorded it, as did Williams in a duet with Willie Nelson. Says Williams, "Willie and I doing the duet of 'Rainbow Connection' is one of my favorite recordings ever in life. The two of us, like two old guys, just talking. It's very conversational. And to hear those lines come out of Willie... One of my favorite voices ever was the guy that did the voice of Jiminy Cricket, Ukelele Ike. 'A dream is a wish your heart makes.' Just this wonderful, sweet, sweet, sweet voice. It felt like mail from home. And Willie's voice is like that to me. There's such a warmth there, an authenticity, an intimacy. So to hear Willie Nelson singing those words was a real high for me."

Regarding the lyrics, "The sweet sound that calls the young sailors," Paul Williams explained in our interview: "I think that I've always had a fascination with the sea. It's a metaphor for the call to adventure, you know? That voice is something inside us that says you can do anything. There's a great mysterious world out there, let's go see it."

Jim Henson, who created The Muppets, was the voice of Kermit The Frog. He died of a sudden virus in 1990 at age 53.

The Carpenters recorded this in 1980, but decided not to release it. In 2001, Richard Carpenter included it on his album As Time Goes By. In the liner notes, he explained:
"As with 'Leave Yesterday Behind,' Karen's vocal on this track is a 'work lead'; the singers and orchestra were added in 1999. Fans, knowing of the track's existence, have been writing me for years, asking for it's release. I try to be accommodating."

This was used as the main theme for a Japanese TV show called Where Is Love?.

The Brothers Cazimero recorded a Hawaiian language version with the Honolulu Boys Choir in the 1980s. The final verse is in English as a final affirmation of the song's message. (thanks, Patrick - Wahiawa, HI, for above 2)

Justin Timberlake performed this on an episode of Saturday Night Live. In the skit, he sings it with a Kermit look-a-like puppet, who gets angry when Justin steps on him. Timberlake ends up attacking the puppeteer, who calls him a dirty name through the Kermit puppet. (thanks, Lauren - Coppell, TX)

Paul Williams performed this on a 2008 episode of the kids' TV show Yo Gabba Gabba!, where he ventured inside a rainbow, and found it quite trippy.

Pink Floyd - One Of My Turns

Pink Floyd - One Of My Turns Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

One Of My Turns Lyrics

"Oh my God! What a fabulous room! Are all these your guitars?
"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to startle you!"
"This place is bigger than our apartment!"
"Let me know when you're entering a room"
"Yes sir!"
"Um, Can I get a drink of water?"
"I was wondering about..."
"You want some, huh?"
"Yes"
"Oh wow, look at this tub? Do you want to take bath?"
"I'll have to find out from Mrs. Bancroft what time she wants to meet us, for her main..."
"What are watching?"
"If you'll just let me know as soon as you can ... Mrs Bancroft" "Mrs Bancroft..."
"Hello?"
"I don't understand..."
"Are you feeling okay?..."

Day after day, love turns grey
Like the skin of a dying man.
And night after night, we pretend its all right
But I have grown older and
You have grown colder and
Nothing is very much fun any more.
And I can feel One Of My Turns coming on.
I feel cold as a razor blade,
Tight as a tourniquet,
Dry as a funeral drum.

Run to the bedroom,
In the suitcase on the left
You'll find my favorite axe.
Don't look so frightened
This is just a passing phase,
One of my bad days.
Would you like to watch T.V.?
Or get between the sheets?
Or contemplate the silent freeway?
Would you like something to eat?
Would you like to learn to fly?
Would'ya?
Would you like to see me try?

Would you like to call the cops?
Do you think it's time I stopped?
Why are you running away?

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

One Of My Turns

This was inspired by Roy Harper, a friend of the band and lead singer on Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar." The specific inspiration was an incident where Harper trashed his caravan at the 1975 Knebworth festival. (thanks, Jim - Birmingham, England)

The Wall's producer Bob Ezrin thought of the album as a theatrical experience, and he cites this song as an example of that vision. He told Rolling Stone: "My vision for it was informed by the LP of the 1966 film A Man For All Seasons - all the dialogue, music and sound effects. I used to put it on and close my eyes - it was an eyelid movie."

Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin'

Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rappin' Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Best Of Kurtis Blow
Released: 1979

Christmas Rappin' Lyrics

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
Hold it now! Wait, hold it. That's played out. Hit it!

Don't you give me all that jive about things you wrote before I's alive
'Cause this ain't 1823 -- ain't even 1970
Now I'm the guy named Kurtis Blow and Christmas is one thing I know
So every year just about this time, I celebrate it with a rhyme

Gonna shake it, gonna bake it, gonna make it good
Gonna rock shock clock it through your neighbourhood
Gonna read, gonna sing it till it's understood
My rappin' bout to happen like a knee you've been slapping
Or a toe you've been tapping on a hunk of wood

Bout a red-suited dude with a friendly attitude
And a sleigh full of goodies for for the people on the block
Got a long white beard, maybe looks kind a weird
And if you ever see him, he could give you quite a shock

Now people let me tell ya bout last year
When the dude came flying over here
Well, the hog was out, snow's on the ground
Folks stayed in to party down
The beat was thumping on the box, and I was dancing in my socks
And the drummer played at a solid pace
And a taste of the bass was in my face
And the guitar player layed down a heavy layer
Of the funky junky rhythm of the disco beat
And the guy with the 88's started to participate
And I could sure appreciate a sound so sweat

We were all in the mood so we had a little food
And a joke, and a smoke, and a little bit of wine
When I thought I heard a hoof on the top of the roof
Could it be or was it me? I was feeling super fine
So I went to your attic where I thought heard the static
On the chance that the prance was somebody breaking in
But the noise on the top was a reindeer clop
Just a trick St. Nick, and I let the sucker in

He was roly, he was poly, and I said, "Holy moly!
You got a lot of whiskers on your chinny chin chin"
He allowed he was proud of the hairy little crowd
On the point of his jaw where the skin should've been
Gets cool for a fool going out every Yule
For a day on a sleigh when the cold went low
So the beard may be weird but I'll never have it sheared
'Cause it's warm in the storm when it's ten below

I said, "You're right, it's cold tonight
But can you stop for a drop before you go?"
He said, "Why not if the music's hot?
And I'll chance a dance beneath the mistletoe"
So he went downstairs and forgot his guests
And he rocked the spot and danced like a pro
And every young girl tried to rock his world
But he boogie oogie oogied til he had to go

And before he went, this fine old gent
Brought a gift with a sift through his big red bags
In the top or the bottom, he reached in and got 'em
Toys for the boys, for the girls glad rags
And the grownups got some presents too
A new TV and a stereo
A new Seville bout as blue as the sky
The best that money couldn't buy
'Cause money could never ever buy the feeling
The one that comes from not concealing
The way you you feel about your friends
And this is how the story ends

The dude in red's back at the Pole
Up north where everything is cold
But if he were right here tonight
He'd say, Merry Christmas and to all a good night

Writer/s: J. MOORE, D. MILLER, L. SMITH, R. FORD, K. WALKER
Publisher: NEUTRAL GRAY MUSIC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Christmas Rappin'

This was the first rap song released on a major label. Kurtis recorded this with the help of producers Robert Ford and J.B. Moore. They took it to Mercury Records, who signed Kurtis to a two-single deal, under the condition that If both singles were successful, he would get an album deal. "Christmas Rappin'" was the first single, and it did very well. The second single was "The Breaks," and it became the first rap song to be certified as a gold record, selling over 500,000 copies. Kurtis got the album deal and became the first rapper signed to a major label.

Like many early rap songs, this one doesn't have a chorus, which means it also doesn't have an obvious title. In many of these songs, the word "rap" was incorporated into the title (see: "Rapper's Delight"), and in this case, "Christmas Rappin'" made for a clever play on the phrase "Christmas Wrapping." Two years later The Waitresses released a song with that title as a play on Kurtis' song.

This was the first successful Christmas rap song. It tells the story of Santa dropping in at a house party and joining in the fun.

In our interview with Kurtis Blow, he explained: "J.B. Moore wrote the first half of the song, the Christmas part. I did all of the party part, the second half of the song. I wrote all of that on a train ride down to the studio around Christmas time."

Unlike many rap songs, this one contains no samples. J.B. Moore and Robert Ford put the track together using live musicians. The music is very disco-influenced and similar to what group Chic was doing.

This song stays true to the spirit of Christmas in that while Santa drops off significant swag, Kurtis closes by explaining what's really important:

Money could never ever buy the feeling
The one that comes from not concealing
The way you you feel about your friends
And this is how the story ends

Every Christmas, this would sell more copies. After eight years, it went gold.

The R&B group Next interpolated a piece of this at the beginning of their song "Too Close," earning the "Christmas Rappin'" writers credits on the track. This turned out to be very lucrative, as "Too Close" became a huge hit in 1998, going to #1 in the US for five weeks.

The song starts with a reading of the 1822 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas ("The Night Before Christmas"), with Kurtis interrupting the tale to deliver his own story.

The 12" single runs 8:11, but the 7" single and radio edit are a more compact 3:58.

The part where Kurtis interrupts the poem by saying "Hold it now!" was sampled by the Beastie Boys on their 1986 song "Hold It Now, Hit It."

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Here Comes My Girl

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Here Comes My Girl Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Damn The Torpedoes
Released: 1979

Here Comes My Girl Lyrics

You know sometimes, I don't know why
But this old town just seems so hopeless
I ain't really sure, but it seems I remember the good times
Were just a little bit more in focus

But when she puts her arms around me
I can somehow rise above it
Yeah, man when I got that little girl standin' right by my side
You know, I can tell the whole wide world to shove it, hey

Here Comes My Girl
Here comes my girl
Yeah, and she looks so right, she is all I need tonight

Every now and then I down to the end of the day
And I have to stop and ask myself why I've done it
It just seems so useless to have to work so hard
And nothin' ever really seems to come from it

But then she looks me in the eye and says
We're gonna last forever
And man, you know I can't begin to doubt it
No, 'cause it just feels so good and so free and so right
I know we ain't never goin' to change our minds about it hey

Here comes my girl
Here comes my girl
Yeah, and she looks so right, she is all I need tonight (watch her walk)

Every time it seems like there ain't nothin' left no more
I find myself having to reach out and grab hold of something
Yeah, I just catch myself wondering, waiting, worrying
About some silly little things that don't add up to nothin'

But then she looks me in the eye and says
We're gonna last forever
And man, you know I can't begin to doubt it
No, 'cause it just feels so good and so free and so right
I know we ain't never gonna' to change our minds about it, hey

Here comes my girl
Here comes my girl
Yeah, and she looks so right, she is all I need tonight

Writer/s: PETTY, TOM / CAMPBELL, MICHAEL W.
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Here Comes My Girl

This was written the same week as "Refugee." Both songs started as demos written by Heartbreakers guitar player Mike Campbell on a 4-track recorder in his house.

In our interview with Mike Campbell, he explained: "'Here Comes My Girl' was interesting because we had the chorus and Tom wasn't sure how to do the verse, he kept trying to sing it different ways and he finally came across sort of half-talking it, and that's when the song seemed to come to life."

This was the first album the band released on a major label. Their first two albums came out on a small label called Shelter Records, which was acquired by MCA. After some legal maneuvering where Petty filed for bankruptcy and the label sued the band, MCA set up a label called Backstreet Records, which was dedicated to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This didn't end the tension between Petty and MCA. Petty held back the tapes for their next album, Hard Promises, when MCA tried to raise the price from $8.98 to $9.98. Petty won that battle and the album came out at the lower price.

Cockney Rejects - Police Car

Cockney Rejects - Police Car Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Greatest Hits Vol. 1
Released: 1979

Police Car Lyrics

Police Car

In 2010, Jeff Turner of Cockney Rejects published his autobiography - co-written with Gary Bushell. In this book he relates two incidents which between them inspired no less than three songs: "I'm Not A Fool," "Police Car" and "(They're Gonna) Put Me Away."

At the age of 14 he was in a gang, and one day they tried to shake down someone for £200,000, a sort of mini protection racket. They thought it was a laugh but ended up in court where the police spun a web of lies that made this none-too-humorous joke sound credible. Three weeks later he was arrested at a football match. This appears to have been gratuitous. When the first case came to court he was convicted and given a suspended sentence and a £100 fine. Thinking he couldn't do any worse, the second time he sacked his lawyer and defended himself.

Turner related: "It was a very simplistic argument: why would I be shouting, punching and kicking in an end full of my own supporters? I said that it beggared belief." His friend who was tried with him said the same. The magistrates agreed, obviously "because they gave the copper a grilling. Then they summed up the case in no time and said that the two of us were not guilty and we were free to go."

The very short "Police Car" was inspired by this second misadventure. It was actually recorded as The S--tters, but fortunately that didn't last long; it remains to be seen how far the band would have got had they not changed their name. (thanks, Alexander Baron - London, England)

Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army

Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Armed Forces
Released: 1979

Oliver's Army Lyrics

Don't start me talking
I could talk all night
My mind goes sleepwalking
While I'm putting the world to right

Called careers information
Have you got yourself an occupation?

Oliver's Army is here to stay
Oliver's army are on their way
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today

There was a checkpoint Charlie
He didn't crack a smile
But it's no laughing party
When you've been on the murder mile

Only takes one itchy trigger
One more widow, one less white nigger

Oliver's army is here to stay
Oliver's army are on their way
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today

Hong Kong is up for grabs
London is full of Arabs
We could be in Palestine
Overrun by a Chinese line
With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne

But there's no danger
It's a professional career
Though it could be arranged
With just a word in Mr. Churchill's ear

If you're out of luck or out of work
We could send you to Johannesburg

Oliver's army is here to stay
Oliver's army are on their way
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today
And I would rather be anywhere else
But here today, oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh

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

Oliver's Army

Elvis wrote this in 1978 on a plane coming back from Belfast. It was the first time he went to the city, and he was shocked to see very young soldiers from the British army walking around with machine guns. The song covers Northern Ireland's troubles, the end of the British empire and life in the army.

The title is a reference to Oliver Cromwell, leader of of the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War against the Royalist army of Charles 1. Among other things, he established what was called The New Model Army, which was the first professional, properly trained and drilled fighting force England had. Costello's song is a general anti-military statement, it's main target is the fact that the only real option that the unemployed have is to join the army (British unemployment figures were at an all-time high when he wrote the song in the early '80s). It doesn''t have anything particular to do with Cromwell, other than the title. (thanks, Denmark - London, England)

The line, "Call careers information/have you got yourself an occupation" refers to the habit of the British army recruiting squaddies [grunts] straight from school at 16. Many of these kids were from poor families and got bad grades.

Despite the strong political lyrics, this was very popular in England because of the pop melody. A lot of people didn't care about the social statement, but liked the way it sounded.

The piano riff was inspired by Abba's "Dancing Queen." Until the band came up with it, they considered this a B-side and were not planning to put it on the album.

This album was supposed to be Elvis' big breakthrough in America. It didn't work out that way, as songs like this never crossed over to US radio.

The line, "With the boys from the Mersey and the Thames and the Tyne" refers to the rivers of the 3 largest population centers on the coasts of England: Liverpool, London and Newcastle. These areas were economically depressed when Elvis wrote the song and it's where the Army did much of it's recruiting. (thanks, James - Allentown, RI)

In 1994, Costello described Cromwell to Time Out (London): "He was a devil incarnate to the Christian brothers. We used to sing very Catholic pieces, they'd be frowned on today as not being in the spirit of church unity, things like 'Oh Glorious Spirit of St. Patrick's' and 'Faith of Our Fathers,' lots of take on the history of England from the old-religion martyr's perspective. And we'd sing the Latin mass without knowing what it meant but loving every line." (thanks, joshoc - Greensboro, NC)

The "Murder Mile" is a section of North Belfast, Northern Ireland where Protestant loyalists routinely snatched Catholics off the streets in the 1970s to face torture and painful deaths. The phrase "Murder Mile" can also refer to any dangerous area and was often applied to Nicosia, Cyprus, because of British troops who patrolled the area. (thanks, Lefty_2ndbaseman - Chicago, IL)

Costello in Q Magazine March 2008: "I don't think its success was because of the lyrics. I always liked the idea of a bright pop tune that you could be singing along to for ages before you realize what it is you're actually singing. Of course, the downside of that is some people only hear the tune and never listen to the words. After a while I got frustrated at that."

This was not the only UK Top 10 hit to reference Oliver Cromwell. Morrissey's 2004 UK #3 hit "Irish Blood, English Heart" also brings up the 17th century military leader and statesman.

The song was produced by the singer-songwriter Nick Lowe, who is best known for his late 1970s hit tunes "Cruel to Be Kind"and "(I Love the Sound of) Breaking Glass." He told Uncut magazine that Costello was going to dump the song when they first started recording it. Lowe recalled: "We went through it all afternoon, and it just wasn't happening at all. Elvis didn't like it and he was getting more and more shirty. I couldn't see why. I thought it was a really good track, but it did sound very obviously poppy. Maybe that was a problem for him."

"Anyway, something about it was getting up his nose, and I'd started making overtures about this,† Lowe continued: "'Well, all is not lost, Elvis. I can take this off your hands any time.' That he wasn't really biting. Out of the blue, Steve Nieve said,'What about if I do a sort of Abba piano part on it?' Complete silence. We knew their records were good, but no one wanted to own up to it. That needs really invite them, as did Elvis, solid consensus was, 'Let's try it.' I didn't think this was going to disturb my plan to get the track for myself. Nieve did the piano part and suddenly the thing went from black-and-white to fireworks."

"I don't think it's quite the first take that you hear on the finished record but the effect was instantaneous," Lowe concluded. "It gave the record an unbelievable sound and spirit. I thought it was pretty good before, but when you piano went on it I saw my nefarious scheme going out of the window. I didn't mind too much, because it was such a great cut. And so Elvis had them massive hit – and I didn't!"

Neil Young - Thrasher

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Neil Young - Thrasher Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Rust Never Sleeps
Released: 1979

Thrasher Lyrics

Thrasher

Throughout the song, references to geological formations and farming are repeated. The song could be interpreted to be about death or the decline of rock 'n' roll, but Neil says, "Thrasher was pretty much me writing about my experiences with Crosby, Stills & Nash in the mid '70s"

The great Canyon rescue episode probably refers to an episode of one of the mid '50s Westerns. Neil has said he enjoys sci-fi films and old Westerns.

This could reflect Neil's personal philosophy about life and music, and his emphasis on being true to his own heart and soul. In a 2003 Rolling Stone article, Neil said: "That's what I know how to do (make albums) and I do that OK. Sometimes I do it and people really like it. Sometimes I do it and they get pissed off at me (smiles). Whatever." (thanks, Amy - Chicago, IL, for all above with help from Thrasher's Wheat website)

The album was recorded mostly live at San Francisco's Cow Palace, accompanied by Neil's perennial backing band, Crazy Horse. "Rust Never Sleep" references Neil's ongoing attempts at musical self-renewal so as to avoid becoming irrelevant, restless experimentation a hallmark quality of his music that has become almost synonymous with his name over the years.

The" dinosaurs" referred to in the song refer CSNY - something long dead and forgotten. More explicitly, the line goes on to state: "So I got bored and left them there, they were just dead weight to me. It's better on the road without that load."

Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps Album More Songs Lyrics

Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Partners In Crime
Released: 1979

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) Lyrics

I was tired of my lady, we´d been together too long
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain
If you´re not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape
I´m the love that you´ve looked for, write to me, and escape"

I didn´t think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad
And though I´m nobody´s poet, I thought it wasn´t half bad

"Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain
I´m not much into health food, I am into champagne
I´ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we´ll plan our escape"

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it´s you"
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew"

"That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape
You´re the love that I´ve looked for, come with me, and escape"

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain
If you´re not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape
I'm the love that you've looked for, come with me, and escape"

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

Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

Rupert Holmes has written several Broadway plays, including Say Goodnight, Gracie and The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. He has written songs that have been performed by Barbra Streisand, Judy Collins, and Britney Spears. He created a television series called Remember WENN and wrote a novel called Where The Truth Lies. His works have won Tonys, Emmys, and Edgars. Despite all this, he is best known for this song. Says Rupert, "I have a feeling that if I saved an entire orphanage from a fire and carried the last child out on my shoulders, as I stood there charred and smoking, they'd say, 'Aren't you the guy who wrote The Pina Colada Song?' It's tough when you have this one thing that pulls focus from all these other things that you've done, yet every songwriter lives to have a song that most everybody knows."

This began as a song called "People Need Other People," which Rupert wrote years earlier for his own amusement. For his 5th album, he needed an uptempo song to balance out the ballads, so he decided to record this. Rupert describes how they recorded it:
"The drummer, Leo Adamian, suggested we have 2 drummers on the session because it was an interesting beat that was hard to pull off with one drummer alone. We got the second drummer and we did one take of the tune. It had some very interesting chord changes and changed key several times, and I'm singing away this lyric, 'people need other people.' We go in to hear back the first take and we listen to the cut, and I say 'you know, we can definitely do better than this,' and I look and I see that the second drummer was unconscious from having too much fun. We were able to wake him up and get him into a taxi, and that was that, we weren't going to record any more of that track. I figured I'd just put the song away - I wasn't that crazy about the lyric anyway. Then I found that I really desperately needed another uptempo song on the album and the budget was getting low and I wasn't sure what to do. That's when we did something that now is pretty commonplace but was pretty unusual at the time - we did a very primitive version of sampling. I found there were 16 bars of music on that first take that were very tight, everybody was in a very nice groove on it. So we duplicated those 16 bars onto another multitrack master over and over again and edited them all together. I think there were 60 edits to make up a reel that was 5 minutes long of this 16 bar vamp. I went through a million lyrics in my head. I wrote one song that went 'that's the law of the jungle in the school of the street, you get out of the kitchen if you can't take the heat.' I thought it sounded too much like a Billy Joel song. I wrote another one: 'everyone needs a victim, I believe you will find, when you're cruel to another, when you're cruel to be kind.' Right as I did that, I remembered there was a hit record out called 'Cruel To Be Kind,' so I couldn't use that. Now it's the day before the last scheduled day of recording and I have no lyrics. Because the song is just this steady vamp, I realized that I've got to make the lyrics the focal point of the song because the music is repetitive. I was in my apartment and there was a copy of The Village Voice. Sometimes I look at personal columns to get ideas for songs because people fascinate me. I saw this ad that a woman had placed in which she described herself in such glowing terms that I thought to myself, 'why on earth, if you're this wonderful, do you need to place an ad in the personal columns?' Trying not to be cynical, I thought, 'Let's be fair, maybe she's just looking for an adventure. Maybe she is as wonderful as she says, but she likes the idea of meeting a stranger and seeing what fate has in store for them. She wants something out of the ordinary.' Then I thought to myself, 'what would happen if I answered this ad,' and I thought 'With my stupid luck, I would answer the ad and find out it had been placed by the woman I was living with, never realizing that she was bored with me. The story sort of took hold of my mind. People always ask me if it was based on something true, and I know they would love to know it was based on a true incident, but it wasn't, it was based on the 'What If' scenario that I conjured up in my mind that evening."

The original lyrics said: "If you like Humphrey Bogart and getting caught in the rain." Rupert used a lot of movie references on his previous albums, so he decided to try something else: "I thought, 'What can I substitute?' Well, this woman wants an escape, like she wants to go on vacation to the islands. When you go on vacation to the islands, when you sit on the beach and someone asks you if you'd like a drink, you never order a Budweiser, you don't have a beer. You're on vacation, you want a drink in a hollowed out pineapple with the flags of all nations and a long straw. I thought, 'Let's see, there's Daiquiri, Mai Tai, Pina Colada - I wonder what a Pina Colada tastes like, I've never even had one.' I thought that instead of singing 'If you like Humphrey Bogart,' with the emphasis on 'like,' I could start it a syllable earlier and go 'if you like Pina Coladas.'

When Rupert recorded the vocal, he did it just once as a scratch track for his lead guitarist, Dean Bailen. He also ad-libbed a harmony track a third above himself on the chorus, then left the song and came back the next day to record the proper vocal. When he came back to do the perfect vocal, he could not get the energy, excitement and enthusiasm he had singing it that one time straight through. Rupert: "I said, 'These other vocals are more correct, but they're not as much fun. I was having fun when I sang that through. I was kind of making up the phrasing as I sang it and it had more spontaneity, more energy.' Jim Boyer, who was doing the album with me, agreed, and that became the vocal. When you hear The Pina Colada song, the story was written the night before, the line 'If you like Pina Coladas' was invented about 5 minutes before I started actually singing, and the vocal you hear is the first time I ever sang the song, and that became the vocal you hear on the record."

Rupert thought a song called "Him" should be the first single from the album, but the record label liked this and convinced Rupert that they should release it first. They got it played on a radio station in Washington, and people started calling in to the station asking for it. The problem was that they were asking for "The Pina Colada Song" and the official title was "Escape." This hurt sales because people would ask for "That song about Pina Coladas" at record stores and the stores had no idea what they were talking about. The record label wanted to change the title to "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and told Rupert it wouldn't sell if they didn't. Rupert replied, "I guess it's The Pina Colada Song."

Holmes: "The record vaulted up the charts. WABC-AM, which never played anything until it was top 5 everywhere else in the nation, played the record when it was #60 in Billboard with a bullet (meaning the song is rising in the chart). It was jumping sometimes 15, 20 points a week and by December of 1979 it was a #1 record, and it was also a #1 record in January of 1980, so I can honestly say that it was at the top of the Billboard charts for 2 decades without interruption."

Before this became a hit, there weren't many places you could get a Pina Colada in the US. After this came out, you could get Pina Coladas just about anywhere.

"If I had ever known that was going to be the song that I'd be most associated with, I might have had second thoughts about a lot of it. It was never meant to be heard 100 million times, it was meant to be a little short story with a little wink at the end of it."

This has been used or referred to in many movies and TV shows, including Shrek, The Sweetest Thing (Cameron Diaz sings it), American Splendor, The General's Daughter, Will And Grace, Six Feet Under and The Simpsons.

This Songfact is a Visual .

Holmes: "Everyone has in their mind what a bar called O'Mally's looks like. I have one in my mind and that's where it came from. There's an O'Mally's bar near where I live, but I didn't discover there was such a bar until after I'd written the song. It could have been O'Grady's. Everyone knows an Irish bar where people might meet each other, and I'd like to think that the one you envision is different than the one I envision. There was no specific O'Mally's."

At the end of this song, the man answers the personal ad and discovers it was placed by his wife. When asked what happens to the couple, Rupert said, "I like to think that they looked at each other with chagrin and realized that before either one of them runs off to find some fantasy that probably doesn't exist in reality, they might reinvestigate their own relationship because there's a lot there they haven't yet explored. I think it's a happy ending with a footnote. They both are a little shocked, but neither can point the finger too hard at the other because they both were willing to try a new relationship and happily, their possible indiscretion led them to each other again." (Thanks to Rupert Holmes for speaking with us about this song. To learn more about Rupert, check out rupertholmes.com.)

The details of this song came true for a couple in Jordan who began trolling chatrooms independently, met and fell in love online, and when they finally met in real life, realized they were married to each other. Unlike in Rupert Holmes' scenario, this couple's experience ended in an acrimonious divorce. (thanks, Karl - Tulsa, OK)

This was featured in a commercial for the US TV show American Idol which aired during the Super Bowl in 2008. In the ad, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is in a locker room, and dreams of singing this song. His dream is interrupted by a custodian, who tells him: "I loved that song, until you ruined it."

It featured in another celebrity-filled spot in 2016 when Spike Lee, Charles Barkley and

Pink Floyd - The Happiest Days Of Our Lives

Pink Floyd - The Happiest Days Of Our Lives Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives Lyrics

You! Yes, you! Stand still laddy

When we grew up and went to school
There were certain teachers who would
Hurt the children any way they could
By pouring their derision
Upon anything we did
Exposing every weakness
However carefully hidden by the kids
But in the town it was well known
When they got home at night, their fat and
Psychopathic wives would thrash them
Within inches of their lives

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

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives

This leads directly into "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)" on the album, and radio stations usually play them together. "Another Brick In The Wall (part 2)" starts too abruptly for most desirable radio play, as opposed to this song which starts with the hum of a helicopter, which sounds rather nifty on a decent sound system.

This also leads into "Another Brick In The Wall (part 2) on Echoes, their greatest hits album. (thanks, Matt - Russell Springs, KY, for above 2)

In the DVD commentary for the movie version of The Wall, Roger Waters explained that the scene with the teacher and his wife was symbolic of a lack of communication and pointed out that the teacher took out his frustrations on the students. In the movie, when the teacher grabs Pink's little black book of poems, the one he quotes is their earlier hit "Money." Also in the commentary, Waters admits to having a lot of teachers like the one we see punishing Pink. (thanks, Ales - Rialto, CA)

Blondie - Dreaming

Blondie - Dreaming Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Eat To The Beat
Released: 1979

Dreaming Lyrics

When I met you in the restaurant you could tell I was no debutante.
You asked me what's my pleasure, "A movie or a measure"?
I'll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreamin'
Dreamin' is free.
Dreamin', Dreaming is free.

I don't want to live on charity.
Pleasure's real or is it fantasy?
Reel to reel is living verite.
People stop and stare at me, we just walk on by
We just keep on dreamin'.

Beat feet, walking a two-mile.
Meet me, meet me at the turnstile.
I never met him, I'll never forget him.
Dream dream, even for a little while.
Dream dream, filling up an idle hour.
Fade away, radiate.

I sit by and watch the river flow.
I sit by and watch the traffic go.
Imagine something of your very own, something you can have and hold.
I'd build a road in gold just to have some dreamin'.
Dreamin' is free.
Dreamin', dreamin' is free.

Dreamin', dreamin' is free.
Dreamin', dreamin' is free.

Writer/s: DEBORAH HARRY, CHRIS STEIN
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Dreaming

Blondie guitarist Chris Stein wrote the music for this song and came up with the line "dreaming is free." Lead singer Debbie Harry would often write lyrics after hearing the tracks for the songs, and that's what she did here.

The song starts out with a coherent story - Harry getting propositioned in a restaurant - but it quickly veers off in many directions, simulating a dream where one idea jumps to the next with no real rhyme or reason. It works well with the theme and with the track, including the bridge where Harry repeats the first word of each line:

Feet feet, walking a two mile
Meet meet, meet me at the turnstile

A similar structure can be heard in the 1982 Kim Wilde song "Kids In America."

Chris Stein said this song was "pretty much a cop" of "Dancing Queen" by ABBA.

Perhaps is was just a convenient word to rhyme with "pleasure," but when Harry sings "A movie or a measure," the word "measure" could be interpreted a few different ways. It might mean a plan of action, as in taking some kind of trip, or possibly a measure in the musical sense, meaning the rhythm.

The English Beat - Tears of a Clown

The English Beat - Tears of a Clown Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: What is Beat?
Released: 1979

Tears of a Clown Lyrics

Say oh yeah baby baby
Now if there's a smile on my face
It's only there tryin' to fool the public
But when it comes down to foolin' you
Well, now honey that's quite a different subject

So don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
'Cause really I'm sad (so sad sad)
Oh I'm sadder than sad (so sad sad)
Look I'm hurt and I want you so bad (so sad sad)
Like a clown I appear to be glad

Ooh yeah
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The Tears of a Clown
When there's no one around

Say oh yeah baby baby baby
Oh yeah baby baby baby

Now if I appear to be carefree
It's only to camouflage my sadness
And honey to shield my pride I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
So don't let my show convince you
That I've been happy since you decided to go
Oh I need you so
Look I'm hurt and I want you to know
Just for others I put on a show

Ooh yeah
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
So just like Pagliacci did
I'm gonna keep my surface hid
Hiding in my room I try
But in this lonely room I cry
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around

Now if there's a smile on my face
Don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
Don't let this smile I wear
Make you feel that I don't care
The tears of a clown (tears of a clown)
The tears of a clown (tears of a clown, tears of a clown)
I'm going down de town
I'm going downtown
Tears of a clown

Writer/s: WONDER, STEVIE/ROBINSON, SMOKEY/COSBY, HENRY
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Tears of a Clown

The citizens of Britain are to thank for the success of the song "The Tears of a Clown," which was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles in 1967 but not released as a single until 1970, when it was issued in the UK and went to #1. It was subsequently issued in America, topping the chart there a few months later. In 1976, the song was re-released in the UK, this time going to #34. A favorite of The Beat (as they're known in their homeland), the group took the song back to the UK charts with their 1979 cover. This version was released as "Tears of a Clown," omitting the the in the original title.

This was the first single recorded and released by The English Beat, a group that would soon be instrumental in the UK Ska revival movement, borrowing its sounds from early '60s Jamaican music. Dave Wakeling, who was a guitarist and singer in the band, told us how they came to record this song: "When we first started rehearsing the songs, the drummer (Everett Morton) thought our songs were a bit weird. We had rehearsed the songs, and it would go okay for a minute, and then we would all veer off on our own little tangents and we'd lose the groove on it again. And so Everett said, 'Why don't we find a song that we all know and learn that one by ourselves, come back next Tuesday, and we'll play that song and get a groove with that one. And then we'll go back and play one of your weird songs, like that mirror thing.' And so that's what we did, we'd play 'Tears Of A Clown,' then we'd play 'Mirror in the Bathroom,' then we'd play 'Tears Of A Clown.' We'd play 'Twist And Crawl,' and we'd play 'Tears Of A Clown,' 'Big Shot,' 'Tears Of A Clown,' 'Click Click,' 'Tears Of A Clown.' And by the time we got five or six songs together that would hold together, David Steele, the bass player, said, 'Let's do a show. We should do a concert.' We're like, 'We've only got six songs.' He said, 'Yes, but one concert is worth a thousand rehearsals.' Because you can sit around and be pretentious in rehearsals as long as you like. So we started doing shows, and in order to have seven songs instead of six, we put 'Tears Of A Clown' in the set. We'd practiced that song more than any of the others, it turned out. Because it was our magnet, our training model for all the other tunes.

We took all and any sort of gigs, some were punk gigs, some were reggae gigs, some were working men's clubs, some were pubs that were trying to get some business going midweek, we'd take anything. And sometimes the punky songs went well, sometimes the reggae songs went well, and sometimes neither of them would go down well, but everywhere we went, every time, 'Tears Of A Clown' always went down fantastic. So Jerry Dammers came to us, told us about 2-Tone and came and saw the band. He said, 'Would you like to do a single for 2-Tone,' and we said yes, we'd love to, thanks. And he said, 'We really liked that 'Mirror In The Bathroom' song.' And we said, 'That's probably our best song. Yeah, that would be a good one.' Then he came back a week or so later and he said, 'Oh, Chrysalis says you can do 'Mirror In The Bathroom,' they like it, but they would own the rights to it for five years.' We're like, 'No.' I said, 'You know, that's our best tune. We'd want it on our album. But so long as we can bring it out on our album, that would be fine, you can have it as a single.' So he went off again and he came back and he said, 'No, Chrysalis said if it's the single it can't be on your first album.' So we said, 'Well, tell them to f--k themselves.' and we said, 'We'll do 'Tears Of A Clown' then.' Because that always goes down great. And you can tell the fellows at Chrysalis they can argue with Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson about whose song it is. And so we just insisted, and as luck would have it, our song came out in October, and by December 6 it was #6 in the charts, and it was the runaway dance party hit of the Christmas of '79. It was on every jukebox and every turntable for every Christmas party. So I think it probably worked out really well, because I don't know if 'Mirror In The Bathroom' would have been that cheery as a Christmas single." (Read the full Dave Wakeling interview.)

The 2-Tone label was started by The Specials, another prominent band in the Ska movement, and Jerry Dammers was The Specials keyboard player. The song was not included on an album until the 1983 greatest hits collection What is Beat?.

In the US, this was never released as a single.