Song Lyric Sunday — “Dirty Water”

Ah, Song Lyric Sunday, it’s been a while, but I couldn’t let this prompt from Jim Adams pass me by. First thing to tell you: I’m not from Boston. Love the city, but never lived there. Driving in Boston once or twice cemented my firm belief that Boston drivers are either the worst in the country or the best. Either way, you take your life in your hands. Above all, I am a lifelong Yankees fan. So I really have no reason why I love this 1966 song by The Standells that became the Red Sox victory anthem.

Dirty Water

I’m gonna tell you a story
I’m gonna tell you about my town
I’m gonna tell you a big fat story, baby
Aw, it’s all about my town

Yeah, down by the river
Down by the banks of the river Charles
(Aw, that’s what’s happenin’ baby)
That’s where you’ll find me
Along with lovers, muggers, and thieves
(Aw, but they’re cool people)

Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you’re my home
(Oh, you’re the number one place)

Frustrated women (I mean they’re frustrated)
Have to be in by twelve o’clock (oh, that’s a shame)
But I’m wishin’ and a-hopin’, oh
That just once those doors weren’t locked
(I like to save time for my baby to walk around)

Well I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you’re my home (oh, yeah)

Because I love that dirty water
Oh, Boston, you’re my home (oh, yeah)

Well, I love that dirty water (I love it, baby)
I love that dirty water (I love Boston)
I love that dirty water (Have you heard about the strangler?)
I love that dirty water (I’m the man, I’m the man)
I love that dirty water (Ow)
I love that dirty water (Come on, come on)

Writer/s: E. COBB
Publisher: Peermusic Publishing, MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Song Lyric Sunday — “You Make My Pants Wanna Get Up and Dance” and “The Wonderful Soup Stone”

With Helen Vahdati taking a break from blogging, Jim Adams of A Unique Title for Me stepped in and chose this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme: doctor/health/medicine. My first thought was Dr. Hook. I wanted to choose a song featuring co-founder Ray Sawyer, who passed away on December 31.

Although Ray was always front and center, his primary contribution was guitar, percussion, and backup vocals. I took myself over to Google and got lost in the ’70s thicket of great music (mostly hits) the band put out that I had forgotten about. I had also forgotten these guys were stoners. Man, did they enjoy making music! Their songs ranged from the silliness of “I Got Stoned and I Missed It” to lovely ballads like “Only Sixteen,” most sung by lead vocalist Dennis Locorriere. If Ray had been the lead on “Judy,” that would have been a slam dunk despite the spelling.

I’ve narrowed my choices down to two that showcase Ray and also show the silly and the serious. The silly is “You Make My Pants Want To Get Up and Dance,” written by Sam Weedman. The serious choice is “The Wonderful Soup Stone,” written by Shel Silverstein. Enjoy!

“You Make My Pants Wanna Get Up And Dance“
by Sam Weedman

You make my pants wanna get up and dance
You make my face wanna grin
You make my knees wanna kneel down say please
Honey, won’t you kiss me againYou make my pants wanna get up and dance
You make my face wanna grin
You make my knees wanna kneel down say please
Honey, won’t you kiss me again

I was a lost and lonely man
Now I get through life the best I can
‘Til the day I laid my eye on you
That day I decided what I had to do

You make my pants wanna get up and dance
You make my face wanna grin
You make my knees wanna kneel down say please
Honey, won’t you kiss me again

Start the music strike up the band
I never done the boogie but I believe I can
Never met a girl half as sweet as you
Nobody’s ever moved half the moves you do

You make my pants wanna get up and dance
You make my face wanna grin
You make my knees wanna kneel down say please
Honey, won’t you kiss me again

“The Wonderful Soup Stone“
by Shel Silverstein

I swear you could taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrowbone
But it really wasn’t nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful, wonderful soupstoneHanging from a string in my mama’s kitchen, back in the hard time days
Was a little ol’ stone ’bout the size of an apple, it was smooth and worn and grey
There wasn’t much food in my mama’s kitchen, so whenever things got tight
Mama boiled up some water, put in the stone and said “Let’s have some soup tonight”

And I swear you could taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrowbone
But it really wasn’t nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful, wonderful soupstone

It had been in the family for a whole lotta years, so we knew it was a nourishing thing
And I remember mama, as she stirred it in the water, and we could all hear her sing
“Its a magical stone and as long as we got it, we’ll never have a hungry night
Just add a little love to the wonderful soupstone and everything will be alright”

And I swear you could taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrowbone
But it really wasn’t nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful, wonderful soupstone

So it carried us all through the darkening days, ’til finally the sunshine came
And the soupstone started into gathering dust, but it hung there just the same
And ever since then the food’s been plenty, but every now and then I find
That mama in the kitchen with the wonderful soupstone, drifts across my mind

And again I can taste the chicken and tomatoes
And the noodles and the marrowbone
But it really wasn’t nothing but some water and potatoes
And the wonderful, wonderful soupstone

Song Lyric Sunday – “Battle of New Orleans”

My contribution to Song Lyric Sunday for this week’s “new” theme is a song that I loved when I was a kid. “Battle of New Orleans” is about a real battle during the War of 1812. Written by Jimmy Driftwood (born James Morris) and sung by Johnny Horton, the song won a Grammy for Song of The Year in 1959.

“Battle of New Orleans”

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississippi
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

We looked down the river and we seed the British come
And there must have been a hundred of ’em beatin’ on the drum
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
We stood behind our cotton bales and didn’t say a thing

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Old Hickory said we could take ’em by surprise
If we didn’t fire our muskets till we looked ’em in the eyes
We held our fire till we seed their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns and gave ’em
Well, we

Fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Yeah they ran through the briers and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn’t go
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn’t catch ’em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

We fired our cannon till the barrel melted down
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
We filled his head with cannonballs ‘n’ powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin’
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Hut, hut, three, four
Sound off, three, four
Hut, hut, three, four
Sound off, three, four
Hut, hut, three, four

Song Lyric Sunday — “Season’s Song”

With “season” as this week’s theme, you’d think a Christmas song would be an appropriate choice for Song Lyric Sunday. But not for me. So many classic rock songs played in my mind, I headed to YouTube, figuring that videos would help me make my choice. While there, I discovered a gem, new to me, “Season’s Song” from Robert Plant’s 2017 album “Carry Fire.” Plant’s beautiful, dreamy singing surprised me. The sound is almost the polar opposite of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.

Usually, when I pick a Song Lyric Sunday song, my choice is based on any combination of love of the performer, love of the overall song, or love of the video. Those categories were not as influential this time, however. Today I truly chose this song based primarily on the lyrics. On this 23rd of December, on what would have been my and my late husband’s 39th wedding anniversary, the lyrics seem appropriate and bittersweet.

Season’s Song

Oh my love, what is there left to do?
The youth that slept inside me went away when I found you
Oh my love, what is there to be done?
My senses have escaped me, my mind is on the runOh, my love
Oh, my love

The nights grow long, there’s snow upon the hill
The taste upon your lips of summer’s slow farewell
No time my love, the bird is on the wing
Who stole my pretty songbird who no longer for me sings?

Oh, my love
Oh, my love

Oh, crazy Love
Oh-oh

(Ah ah) Oh, season’s song
(Ah ah) Oh, season’s song
(Ah ah)

To dream my love, the desert in my soul
Of peace along the wayside on this solitary road
Oh my love, when all is said and done
I hear the sounds of heaven in your wondrous season’s song

Oh, my love
Oh, my love

Oh crazy, crazy love
Oh crazy love
My love, my love
Oh, my crazy love
Crazy love

Written by:

Justin Adams / John Baggott / William Fuller / Robert Plant / Liam Tyson

Song Lyric Sunday — “Not My Girl”

It’s Song Lyric Sunday! Helen Vahdati decided to flip last week’s “boys” theme and chose “girls” this week. So many songs to pick from, all great. I’ve decided to feature another singer-songwriter, Sawyer Fredericks, winner of The Voice Season 8 (2015) when he was 16. Throughout that season, his weekly performance landed in iTune’s Top 10, aided by my weekly purchase. His The Voice sales broke series records with ten Top 10 singles and 14 in the Top 200 during the final week. Today, at 19, he’s a busy up-and-coming Americana singer.

But I’m not sharing any of those songs. This kid has been writing music since he was a 12-year-old homeschooled farm boy. At 14, two years prior to his The Voice win, he released his first CD independently. “Out My Window” was a full album, with 15 songs all written by Sawyer. “Not My Girl” is one of them, and he still includes it in his live sets.

You know I can’t resist sharing two videos of my picks; why should this week be any different? The contrast between his voice and his approach to the song shows his evolution from kid to young adult. Enjoy!

“Not My Girl“

(And I)*
Walked cross the street
To your house
Knocked on the door
To see who was around
You came to answer
Well, I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else.

I was running
For a long time
Then the sun shined in my eyes
And I had to stop
And think about my life.
I was mad, I was sad, I was feeling bad.
Cause I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else
Well I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else.

Said I’m sorry
I was only a friend to you
And I’m sorry
I was too scared to make my move.

Well I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else.
Well I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else
Someone else
Someone else
Someone else.

And I
Walked cross the street
To your house
Knocked on the door
To see who was around
You came to answer
Well, I know you’re not my girl
But it still hurts to see you
With someone else
Someone else
Someone else
Someone else.

*He opens both videos with this introductory phrase not included in any internet lyric site.