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The Miracles - Got a Job

The Miracles - Got a Job Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Greatest Hits from the Beginning
Released: 1958

Got a Job Lyrics

Walked all day till my feet were tired
I was low, I just couldn't get hired
So I sat in a grocery store
"Help is light & I need some more"
(I Got a Job)
Sha na na na, sha na na na na
(repeat above 2 lines 3 times)
Well, I fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly (got a job)
Sha na na na, sha na na na na
You've been houndin' me to get a job
Well I finally did & my boss is a slob
He's on my back really all day long
It seems like everything I do is wrong
Well, I fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly (got a job)
Sha na na na, sha na na na na
(He says to me)
"Get the boxes, take 'em to the basement
Do the job right or I'll get a replacement
Get the mop & clean the dirty floors
& when you're finished wipe the windows & the doors"
I fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly fin'lly (got a job)
Sha na na na, sha na na na na
Well, this man's about to drive me stone insane
One of these days I'm gonna have a fit
& though the boss keeps a-runnin' through my brain
I'll never (never) (never) (never) (never never quit my brand new job)
Workin' all day & workin' all night & workin' all day
(repeat previous 2 verses)
(repeat "Workin' all day & workin all night" & fade)

Writer/s: ROBINSON, SMOKEY / CARLO, TYRAN / GORDY JR, BERRY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, SONY ATV MUSIC PUB LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Got a Job

This was the first single by The Miracles, who were then a five-member group that included Smokey Robinson's bride-to-be, Claudette. Released on New York's End label, the song got a lot of Detroit airplay and a little elsewhere.

The song was an answer record to the Silhouettes' #1 hit "Get A Job." When he heard it, Robinson wrote "Got a Job" with the idea that songwriting would be his job.

Answer records are records which are replies to hits. Famous examples include:

Kitty Wells' "It Wasn't God who Made Honky Tonk Angels," replying to Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life."

Jody Miller's "Queen of the House," replying to Roger Miller's "King Of The Road."

Thelma Carpenter's "Yes I'm Lonesome Tonight," replying to Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight."

The Temptations' "My Girl," replying to Mary Wells' "My Guy." (both songs also written by Smokey Robinson)

Carla Thomas' "I'll Bring it Home To You," replying to Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me."

And uniquely Fergal Sharkey's "You Little Thief," replying to his own "A Good Heart." ("You Little Thief" was written by Benmont Tench about his relationship with Maria McKee who had written "A Good Heart," based on Tench.)

This was penned by the then-teenage partnership of Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. Berry Gordy's first major professional achievement was writing a series of hits for Jackie Wilson, beginning with "Reet Petite" in 1957. Soon afterwards he began producing records teaming up with aspiring singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson of The Miracles. Smokey recalled to Mojo magazine January 2014: "On 'Got a Job,' he really just loved it and when Berry likes something he gets very excited about it. He and I went to the piano and worked out chord progressions and some of the lyrical content."

Motown Records didn't exist yet, so this song was recorded at United Sound studios in Detroit and released on the label End Records.

The Miracles - Shop Around

The Miracles - Shop Around Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Hi, We're The Miracles
Released: 1960

Shop Around Lyrics

When I became of age my mother called me to her side,
She said, "Son, you're growing up now pretty soon you'll take a bride"
And then she said, "Just because you've become a young man now,
There's still somethings that you don't understand now,
Before you ask some girl for her hand now
Keep your freedom for as long as you can now."

My mama told me, "You better Shop Around, (Shop, shop)
Oh yeah, you better shop around" (Shop, shop around)

Ah, there's somethings that I want you to know now
Just as sure as the winds gonna blow now
The women come and the women gonna go now
Before you tell 'em that you love em so now.

My mama told me, "You better shop around, (Shop, shop)
Oh yeah, you better shop around" (Shop, shop around)

A-try to get yourself a bargain son
Don't be sold on the very first one
A-pretty girls come a dime a dozen,
A-try to find one who's gonna give you true lovin'

Before you take a girl and say I do, now,
Make sure she's in love with-a you now.
My mama told me, "You better shop around."

Ooh yeah, a-try to get yourself a bargain son
Don't be sold on the very first one
A-pretty girls come a dime a dozen,
A-try to find one who's gonna give you true lovin'.

Before you take a girl and say I do, now,
Make sure she's in love with-a you now.
Make sure that her love is true now.
I hate to see you feelin' sad and blue now"

My mama told me, "You better shop around (Shop, shop)
Don't let the first one get you
Oh no 'cause I don't want to see her with you
Uh huh before you let her hold you tight, ah yeah make sure she's alright
Uh huh before you let her take your hand my son
Understand my son, be a man my son I know you can my son I love you"

Writer/s: ROBINSON, SMOKEY/GORDY, BERRY JR
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Shop Around

This was the first million-seller for Motown Records. It was also the label's first Top 10 single in the US.

Miracles leader Smokey Robinson wrote this in about 20 minutes. In a 2006 interview with NPR, he explained that some songs just flowed out of him, and those were often the hits. Robinson wrote the song for another Motown artist, Barrett Strong, but Motown leader Berry Gordy convinced him to record it with his group, The Miracles, and have Robinson's wife, Claudette, sing lead. Gordy worked on the song with Robinson, which was a slower and more Bluesy number when the Miracles first recorded it.

The song was released as a single, but late one night, Gordy woke Robinson up with a phone call announcing he thought up a different arrangement for the song and called the group into the studio to record it (it was not uncommon to re-record a song in those days after hearing it on the radio and considering improvements). Everybody made it to the studio except the piano player, so Gordy pounded the ivories while the tape was rolling. The hit version, which had a faster tempo and Smokey on lead, was recorded around 3 a.m.

Robinson made up the lyrics about his mother telling him go through lots of girls in pursuit of the perfect one. His mother died when he was 10.

A cover version by Captain & Tennille went to #4 US in 1976. In this version, the advice to "shop around" is delivered to a daughter.

A white singer on the Motown roster named Debbie Dean recorded an answer song called "Don't Let Him Shop Around" which hit #92 in 1961.

The Miracles - The Tracks Of My Tears

The Miracles - The Tracks Of My Tears Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Going To A Go-Go
Released: 1965

The Tracks Of My Tears Lyrics

People say I'm the life of the party
Because I tell a joke or two
Although I might be laughing loud and hearty
Deep inside I'm blue
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place

If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The Tracks Of My Tears
I need you, need you
Since you left me if you see me with another girl
Seeming like I'm having fun
Although she may be cute

She's just a substitute
Because you're the permanent one
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

I need you, need you
Outside I'm masquerading
Inside my hope is fading
Just a clown oh yeah
Since you put me down
My smile is my make up

I wear since my break up with you
So take a good look at my face
You'll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it's easy to trace
The tracks of my tears

Writer/s: MOORE, WARREN / ROBINSON JR., WILLIAM / TARPLIN, MARVIN
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The Tracks Of My Tears Song Chart

One of the most gut-wrenching songs on record, this one is about a man who tries to hide his pain, but cannot conceal the tracks made by his tears. He has come out of a relationship with the love of his life, and the song is his confession to her that his high spirits are just an act and she's the only one for him, or perhaps what he wants to tell her but can't.

Miracles leader Smokey Robinson came up with the concept when he was looking in the mirror one day, and thinking, What if a person would cry so much that you could see tracks of their tears in their face?

Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marv Tarplin wrote this song. Robinson penned the lyrics; Tarplin, The Miracles' guitarist, came up with the riff. Robinson recalled: "'Tracks of My Tears' was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing [sings melody], you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became 'Tracks of My Tears.'"

Tarplin got the idea for the music after listening to a calypso tune: Harry Belafonte's "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)."

Robinson had the music Tarplin wrote on a cassette, but it took him about six months to write the lyrics. The words started coming together when he came up with the line, "Take a good look at my face, you see my smile looks out of place." From there, it was a few days before he got the lines, "If you look closer it's easy to trace... my tears."

What to do with those tears was a problem, as he wanted to say something no one has said about tears. In a 2006 interview with NPR, he explained that he finally came up with the image of tears leaving lasting marks, and the song came together. "One day I was listening, and it just came - the tracks of my tears," said Robinson. "Like footprints on my face. So that was what I wrote about."

Four different artists have charted with this song in America. Johnny Rivers had the biggest hit, taking it to #10 in 1967. Two of the most acclaimed female vocalists of their time, Aretha Franklin and Linda Ronstadt, also charted covers, Franklin's making #71 in 1969 and Ronstadt's going to #25 in 1976.

Other notable versions of this song include renditions by Go West in 1993 and Adam Lambert in 2009.

When he first recorded this song with The Miracles, Robinson left out the last chorus, fading it out on the "I need you, I need you" line. He was convinced to end on the chorus when he played the song at one of the famous Monday morning meetings at Motown, where songs were scrutinized by their team.

Robinson wrote a similar song a few weeks later called "My Girl Has Gone," which was released as the next Miracles single.

Motown head Berry Gordy has said that this song represents Smokey Robinson's best work.

The song was popular among American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, which is reflected in the 1986 Oliver Stone movie Platoon, where the song is used.

Other films to feature the song include The Big Chill (1983), The Walking Dead (1995) and Bobby (2006). TV series to used the song include The Wonder Years and Wife Swap.

The Miracles - You've Really Got A Hold On Me

The Miracles - You've Really Got A Hold On Me Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos
Album: The Fabulous Miracles
Released: 1962

You've Really Got A Hold On Me Lyrics

I don't like you, but I love you,
Seems that I'm always thinking of you.
Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly,
I love you madly, you really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me, baby,
I don't want you, but I need you,
Don't want to kiss you, but I need you.
Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now,
My love is strong now you really got a hold on me.

You really got a hold on me, baby,
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.

I want to leave you, don't want to stay here
Don't want to spend another day here.
Oh, oh, oh, I want to split now, I can't Baby,
I love you and all I want you to do is just hold me,
Hold me, hold me, hold me.

You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.

You really got a hold on me.
You really got a hold on me.

Writer/s: ROBINSON JR., WILLIAM
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

You've Really Got A Hold On Me Song Chart

Miracles leader Smokey Robinson wrote this song while thinking about Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me." Cooke would sometimes perform at Robinson's church with his group the Soul Stirrers, and Smokey was a big fan. Cooke's song finds the singer apologizing to his girl after casting her off, promising to treat her right if she comes back. "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" is the same sentiment but with the roles reversed: the girl mistreats the guy, but he loves her unconditionally.

Smokey Robinson wrote this song when he was in New York City negotiating a publishing deal, and not pleased with the way the talks were going. He says that he wrote the song in his hotel room with the intention of writing something controversial, which he accomplished with the first line: "I don't like you, but I love you." Such a conflicted and unhealthy sentiment was rarely heard in songs of this era.

When Motown was growing into a dominant label in 1962, they set up a tour where many of their acts performed together around the United States. For many people, this was their first look at Motown acts like The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. This was the biggest Motown hit at the time, so The Miracles closed the shows with it.

The Beatles recorded this in 1963 and performed it in their last movie, Let It Be. The Beatles were the first big British band to come to America and admit they were influenced by black music. Robinson admired this admission, and felt they helped black artists by covering their songs.

It wasn't the only Motown song The Beatles covered: they also recorded "Money (That's What I Want)" and "Please Mr. Postman" along with "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" on their U.K. release The Beatles' Second Album. Berry Gordy of Motown gave The Beatles a reduced rate for the rights to cover the songs, as it was a huge deal for him to have the most popular band in England recording songs from his roster.

Charting cover versions of this song in America were released by Gayle McCormick (#98, 1972) and Eddie Money (#72, 1979). Bob Seger included the song in his live shows when he was starting out in the early '60s.

Smokey Robinson sang this song on the children's show Sesame Street in a sketch where a giant puppet "U" grabbed on to Smokey as he sang the song and ultimately carried him away. (thanks, Alden - College Park, MD)

Steven Tyler belted out a verse of this song when he was on stage with Smokey Robinson to present the Grammy Award for Record Of The Year in 2014. "Thanks Steven," that was beautiful, Robinson replied.