Song Lyric Sunday — “Whole Lotta Love”

Song Lyric Sunday is here again, and Helen Vahdati’s chosen theme is “give/giving.” My chosen genre is hard rock with Led Zeppelin’s 1969 song, “Whole Lotta Love.” Looking for the lyrics, I realized that lyrics sites show differing songwriting credits. One site apparently relied on an incorrect ASCAP listing that showed “Sharon” Plant instead of Robert. Although most sites correctly credit the five original band members (John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Pete Moore, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant), many omit the sixth writer, non-band-member Willie Dixon.

Willie Dixon was an American musican and songwriter who wrote “You Need Love” for bluesman Muddy Waters, who released it in 1962. The lyrics included:”Baby, you know you need coolin’ / Woman, way down inside.” In 1966 the English band Small Faces released their eponymous debut album containing a song called “You Need Loving.” Despite being a thinly-veiled copy of Willie Dixon’s song, the the album credited band members Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott as the sole writers.

Are you with me so far? In 1969, Led Zeppelin released “Whole Lotta Love,”which peaked in the U.S. at number 4 on the Billboard charts. With lyrics remarkably like Dixon’s (and, of course, the Small Faces’) and with Plant’s vocals remarkably like the Small Faces’ Steve Marriott’s, the five Zeps were the only listed writers.

Dixon did not sue the Small Faces for their duplicate of “You Need Love,” and the Small Faces did not sue Led Zeppelin (a wise move IMHO). Dixon, however, did sue Zeppelin, reaching a settlement in 1985 that included giving him writing credit on all subsequent releases.

For your listening pleasure, I’m giving (see what I did?) you videos of all three songs, together with the lyrics for “Whole Lotta Love.” Links to lyrics for the other two are up in the second paragraph. But, really, don’t you think it’d be more fun to compare their vids with the Zep lyrics?

“Whole Lotta Love“
You need coolin’, baby, I’m not foolin’,
I’m gonna send you back to schoolin’,
Way down inside, honey, you need it,
I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you my love.

Wanna whole lotta love [4x]

You’ve been learnin’, baby, I’ve been yearnin’,
All them good times, baby, baby, I’ve been learnin’,
Way, way down inside, honey, you need it,
I’m gonna give you my love
I’m gonna give you my love.

Wanna whole lotta love [4x]

You’ve been coolin’, baby, I’ve been droolin’,
All the good times baby I’ve been misusin’,
Way, way down inside, I’m gonna give you my love,
I’m gonna give you every inch of my love,
Gonna give you my love.

Wanna whole lotta love [4x]

Yeah! All right! Let’s go!

Way down inside… woman… you need… love.

Shake for me, girl.
I wanna be your backdoor man.
Keep it coolin’, baby. [4x]

Song Lyric Sunday — Lost in Loveland

Helen’s Song Lyric Sunday theme this week — lost— gives me the opportunity to introduce you to one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Charlie Farren.

Counting bands such as Aerosmith and Boston among his contemporaries, Charlie is one of the talented musicians whose skills matured in the incubator of Boston’s fabled 70s music scene. He’s a local boy from Malden, MA, who had had a couple of regionally successful bands of his own when Aerosmith’s Joe Perry recruited him in 1980 to be lead singer in his side gig, The Joe Perry Project. Together they wrote four songs for the Project’s second album, “I’ve Got the Rock ‘N’ Rolls Again,” which also included two pre-Project Farren songs. In 1986 Charlie teamed up with drummer John Muzzy, and Project bassist David Hull (who changed his name to Heit) to form FARRENHEIT, releasing their eponymous album in 1987. Written by Farren and Heit, “Lost in Loveland” is one of the album’s three singles that, together with MTV exposure, signaled the debut of an exciting new rock act.

Two years later, after nearly 20 years as a full-time musician, Charlie impressively took a detour. With the birth of his first daughter, he chose to put music on the back burner while raising his family. For the next 20-some-odd years, his career path was in information technology. He continued to write, record, and publish CDs in his home studio, playing occasional gigs in the Boston/New England area. He returned to music full-time upon retiring from HP several years ago. Charlie’s music these days tends more toward jazzy bluesy solos than arena rock, so I’ve also included a snippet from 2014 more reflective of Charlie’s current style.

(I was unable to find lyrics on the internet, so I’ve transcribed them as best as I could from the video published on Charlie Farren’s channel. It’s not quite the same as in the 1987 recording, but if Charlie published it, I guess he approves.)

Lost in Loveland

I’ve been runnin’
Round in circles
Just waitin’ at the station
Oh yeah
All around me
Lovers laughin
I think they reached their destination
C’mon now

I don’t want to go there
If you’re not there with me (I don’t want to go there, no)
I don’t want to be there
If you’re not waitin for me (I don’t want to be there, baby)
I don’t want to stay there
If you’re not there, baby

Baby I’m stranded
Empty-handed
Just get our love in motion, honey
Oh no
Not til I find you
Til I’ve got you by the hand
And you come with me to loveland

I don’t want to go there
If you’re not there with me (I don’t want to go there, no)
I don’t want to be there
If you’re not waitin for me
I don’t want to stay there
If you’re not there, baby,
Well baby
I wonder, I wonder

(Lost in loveland)
Oh baby I’m lost in loveland
Lost in loveland
I’m lookin
Oh baby I’m lost in loveland
I been lookin for your love, baby
I lookin for you
I can’t seem to find you, no
Where are you, baby

Until I find you
Until we’re together
I’ll keep on lookin
Til I find you

I don’t want to go there
If you’re not there with me (I don’t want to go there, no)
I don’t want to be there
If you’re not waitin for me
I don’t want to stay there
If you’re not there, baby

I’m lost in loveland, honey
I’m lookin
Oh baby, I’m lost in loveland
I been lookin for you
Lost in loveland

Song Lyric Sunday — “The Music is the Magic”

Last week I actually guessed the theme for today’s Song Lyric Sunday would be “hidden.” I never saw Helen Vahdati’s confirmation of my guess, so I was as surprised as anyone else that the theme is hide/hiding/hidden. Had I known that a week ago, I probably would have chosen quickly, written, and scheduled to publish automatically today. I’m glad I didn’t because I found jazz singer, songwriter, actress, civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln.

Born in 1930, one of the youngest of 12 siblings, she taught herself to play piano by listening to records her handyman father borrowed from neighbors. Those Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn albums were her early influences. Holiday’s influence, especially, is easily heard in “The Music is the Magic.” Considered by many to be “the musical successor to Billie Holiday,” she eschewed jazz conventions like scat and improvisation. Like Holiday, she emphasized song lyrics, imbuing the words with emotion. She wrote her first of 80 songs when she was 40, primarily because she was dissatisfied with singing romantic standards. She wanted to sing songs reflecting her values, beliefs, and experiences. Her stage persona evolved from Marilyn Monroe-esque to a woman more like herself: confident, self-assured, and proud of her cultural heritage.

Abbey Lincoln wrote “The Music is the Magic,” released in 1992.

When everything is finished in a world, the people go to look for what the artists leave. It’s the only thing that we have really in this world — is an ability to express ourselves and say, “I was here.”

— Abbey Lincoln

“The Music is the Magic”

The music is the magic of a secret world,
Secret world, a secret world.
It’s a world that is always within.

The music is the magic and the hiding place
The hiding place, the hiding place
The music is the magic and the hiding place
It’s a place where the spirit is home.

The music is the magic of a sacred world,
Sacred world, a sacred world.
The music is the magic of a sacred world,
It’s a world that is always within.

The music is the magic through a raging storm
A raging storm, raging storm
The music is the magic through the raging storm
The storm that is over again.

The music is the magic of a sacred world,
Sacred world, a sacred world.
The music is the magic of a sacred world,
It’s a world that is always within.

Song Lyric Sunday — “Home From The Sea”

One of my all-time favorite singing groups is Celtic Thunder. It just so happens that a song on their sixth album, “Heritage”, fits the bill for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, search. Phil Coulter wrote “Home from the Sea” in honor of his brother, who was lost at sea. The song tells a tale of a lifeboat crew’s search for a lost fishing boat. You’ll have to take a listen (or read the lyrics) to see how it works out. Note that the video features George Donaldson, one of the original Celtic Thunder members who I wrote about a couple weeks ago for the SLS “glass” theme.

“Home From The Sea“

On a cold winters night
With a storm at its height
The lifeboat answered the call.
They pitched and they tossed
Till we thought they were lost
As we watched from the harbor wall.
Though the night was pitch black,
There was no turning back,
For someone was waiting out there,
But each volunteer
Had to live with his fear
As they joined in a silent prayer.

————————————–

[Chorus]
Home, home, home from the sea
Angels of mercy, answer our plea
And carry us home, home, home from the sea
Carry us safely home from the sea.

————————————–

As they battled their way
Past the mouth of the bay,
It was blowing like never before.
As they gallantly fought,
Every one of them thought
Of loved ones back on the shore.
Then a flicker of light
And they knew they were right.
There she was on the crest of a wave.
She’s an old fishing boat
And she’s barely afloat.

Please God, there are souls we can save.

—————————————

[Chorus]

—————————————

And back in the town
In a street that runs down
To the sea and the harbor wall,
They’d gathered in pairs
At the foot of the stairs
To wait for the radio call.
And just before dawn
When all hope had gone
Came a hush and a faraway sound.
‘Twas the coxswain he roared
All survivors on board
Thank God and we’re homeward bound.

————————————–

[Chorus]

————————————–

Song Lyric Sunday — “Another Sleep Song”

Helen Vahdati has come up with another great theme for Song Lyric Sunday: Sleep. The most difficult part of trying to pick a song this week was avoiding those used for the “dream” theme in June! My song I stumbled on while searching. “Another Sleep Song” by Graham Nash appeared on his 1974 solo album, Wild Tales, not long before the breakup of his band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Wild Tales was not particularly successful, peaking at only #34 on the Billboard 200. That may have been due to the album’s overall dark tone, a considerable change from Nash’s prior work. Like the rest of the album, “Another Sleep Song” is somber but is a well-written, emotional reflection on slipping into depression.

“Another Sleep Song“
All is need is someone to awaken me
much of me has gone to sleep and I’m afraid to wake up
shake me by the shoulder if I’m lying with you now
when I talk about the time I sleep away
when it’s hard to face the day.

When I think of all the love that’s taken me
how much do I get to keep and much should I give up?
shake me by the shoulder if I’m lying to you now
I’m listening to the lies inside my head
who can hurt you in your bed?

Fear of other people is a thing I hate
I travel in a bubble and I can’t relate.
Something is happening to my head
I don’t want to hurt you
but I never heard a word you said

Has this empty hollow heart forsaken me?
I wonder if I’ll ever get to feel like I did
before I grew up.
shake me by the shoulder if I’m lying with you now
There is no time to waste another day
cause we watch them fly away.