SLS ~ Best/Better/Good/Great

Thanks once again to Jim Adams for hosting Song Lyric Sunday. Wow, there were so many great tunes to choose from for today’s prompts! I went with “Nobody Does It Better,” which is the theme song to the 007 film The Spy Who Loved Me. It stars Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, along with Richard Kiel as “Jaws.” This is one of my favorite Bond films.

Marvin Hamlisch composed this song and Carole Bayer Sager wrote the lyrics. Carly Simon recorded it in 1977 for the movie and it became one of her biggest hits. It went to #2 on Billboard’s Top 100, stayed there for 3 weeks, and RIAA certified it “Gold,” meaning it sold more than 1,000,000 copies. The song itself was nominated for several awards. It’s been covered by many other artists, but of course I will feature Carly’s version and a video from the film.

Nobody Does It Better

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you’re the best
I wasn’t lookin’ but somehow you found me
It tried to hide from your love light
But like heaven above me
The spy who loved me
Is keepin’ all my secrets safe tonight
And nobody does it better
Though sometimes I wish someone could
Nobody does it quite the way you do
Why’d you have to be so good?
The way that you hold me
Whenever you hold me
There’s some kind of magic inside you
That keeps me from runnin’
But just keep it comin’
How’d you learn to do the things you do?
Oh, and nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, baby, darlin’, you’re the best
Baby you’re the best
Darlin’, you’re the best
Baby you’re the best

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image created by Jim Adams.

SLS ~ Cool/Freeze/Heat/Melt

Thanks again to the host of Song Lyric Sunday… Jim Adams. He does a great job putting the SLS event together every week. This week’s prompts give us some fantastic musical choices. I’m going to deviate from the exact words just a tiny bit because I have a song that’s perfect for the theme. Please allow me to present Pat Benatar’s “Fire and Ice!”

This 1981 song was the lead single from Pat’s third album, Precious Time. It was written by Pat Benatar, Tom Kelly, and Scott Sheets. Pat won her second Grammy for Best Female Rock Performance in 1982 due to this song (she has 4 Grammies now). It went as high as #17 in Billboard’s Hot 100 and #2 on Mainstream Rock.

Fire and Ice

Ooh, you’re giving me the fever tonight
I don’t wanna give in, I’d be playing with fire
You forget, I’ve seen you work before
Take ’em straight to the top, leave ’em crying for more
I’ve seen you burn ’em before
Fire and ice
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice
I wanna give you my love, but you’ll just take a little piece of my heart
You’ll just tear it apart
Moving in for the kill tonight
You got every advantage when they put out the lights
It’s not so pretty when it fades away
‘Cause it’s just an illusion in this passion play
I’ve seen you burn ’em before
Fire and ice
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice
I wanna give you my love, but you’ll just take a little piece of my heart
So you think you got it all figured out
You’re an expert in the field, without a doubt
But I know your methods inside and out
And I won’t be taken in by fire and ice
Fire and ice
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice
I wanna give you my love, but you’ll just take a little piece of my heart
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice
I wanna give you my love, but you’ll just take a little piece of my heart
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice
You come on like a flame, then you turn a cold shoulder
Fire and ice

As an extra, maybe some of you will enjoy Robert Frost’s 1920 poem of the same name.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image created by Jim Adams.

SLS ~ Maria/Marie/Mary

Wow, another great group of prompt words from Jim Adams this week! Thanks, Jim, for keeping the music playing every Sunday. At first, I thought I’d do “Marie’s The Name of His Latest Flame,” that two-timing Elvis song I love. But then I thought of “Smile A Little Smile For Me, Rose Marie,” by the Flying Machine who turned into Edison Lighthouse. Then I went, hmm, Edison Lighthouse! I could do “Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes.” Ahh, great song. But what about “Take A Letter, Maria?” I should do the tribute to the ever-loyal secretary, right? I was pretty much going with that when it hit me. Bam! ☄️

“I Did What I Did For Maria” is on the Paper Lace album with “The Night Chicago Died.” I love every song on that album. When I googled Maria though, it turned out that an English bloke named Tony Christie is famous for it. Sorry, Tony, but I never heard of you. Anyway, I scampered off to YouTube to check out Tony’s version and ugh. This is a song about a man being put to death for killing another man for killing his wife (and possibly raping her first, though I’m just speculating). This is a SERIOUS SONG. But Tony sings it all happily like a Vegas tune, smiling, with a fun background. No no no! I went right back to Paper Lace’s properly somber version to clear my mind from Tony’s gaudy take. The Paper Lace 1974 cover is the one I’m sharing today.

The song was written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callendar and was first recorded by Tony Christie in 1971. It reached no. 2 in England and Ireland that same year.

I Did What I Did For Maria

Sun rise this is the last day
That I’ll ever see
Out in the court-yard
They’re ready for me
But I go to my Lord without fear
‘Cause I did what I did for Maria
As I rode into town
With the sun going down
All the windows were barred
There was noone around
For they knew that I’d come
With my hand on my gun
And revenge in my heart for Maria
My dearest departed Maria
Take an eye for an eye
And a life for a life
And somebody must die
For the death of my wife
Yes I did what I did for Maria
I did what I did for Maria
Laughter echoed across from
The end of the street
There was the man
I was burnin’ to meet
And my mind was so calm and so clear
As I took my revenge for Maria
And he fell to the ground
Raisin’ dust all around
But I knew he was dead
Long before he went down
It was quick it was clean
Made it easy on him
Which is more than he did for Maria
When he did what he did to Maria

~*~

Images from Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Jack/John

When I choose these Sunday songs, I play a little game with myself and try to find one that I know and like but also that I don’t think others I follow will pick. Sometimes I fail at that ~ one week I think 4 of us chose the same song! Last week I wanted “Tiny Dancer” because I love it, but I worried others would choose it (seemed so obvious), and no one did. I went with “Big Spender,” which I also like, and that worked well. Many had “Big Bad John,” which would work for this week too. There are lots of songs with John and Jack in them. I’m tempted to go with “Abraham, Martin and John,” but I think someone else will grab it (perhaps Fandango). “Jack and Diane” is also a favorite, but I’m sure someone will take that one as well. I really would love to post “Jackson” by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, but I’ve posted it before. Such a fun song. As always, a big thanks goes out to Jim Adams for continuing to host our Song Lyric Sundays and give us these great prompts!

“Jackie Blue” was recorded in 1974 by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils for their second album It’ll Shine When It Shines. The song was written by founding member Steve Cash (who died last October at age 73, RIP) and drummer Larry Lee. Larry’s inspiration for this song was a drug dealer he once knew and the song was originally about a man, but their producer wanted it to be about a woman. So Steve rewrote some of the lyrics and the song became the one we know today. The band realized they finally might have a commercial hit on their hands, and indeed “Jackie Blue” rose to #3 on Billboard Hot 100 in May 1975.

Check out this interesting history of the band if you have time.

Jackie Blue

Ooh, Jackie Blue
Lives her life from inside of her room
Hides a smile when she’s wearin’ a frown
Ooh, Jackie you’re not so down
You like your life in a free-form style
You’ll take an inch but you’d love a mile
There never seems to be quite enough
Floating around to fill your lovin’ cup
Ooh, Jackie Blue
What’s a game girl, if you never lose?
Ask a winner and you’ll probably find
Ooh, Jackie they’ve lost at sometime
Don’t try to tell me that you’re not aware
Of what you’re doing and that you don’t care
You say it’s easy, just a natural thing
Like playing music, but you never sing
Ooh, Jackie Blue
Making wishes that never come true
Going places that you’ve never been
Ooh, Jackie Blue, you’re going again
Ooh, Jackie Blue
Lives a dream that can never come true
Making love is like sifting through sand
Ooh, Jackie, it slips through your hand
Every day, in your indigo eyes
I watch the sunset but I don’t see it rise
Moonlight and stars in your strawberry wine
You’d take the world but you won’t take the time
Ooh-hoo-hoo, Jackie Blue
Lives her life from inside of a room
Makes you think that her life is a drag
Ooh Jackie, what fun you have had
Ooh, Jackie
Ooh, Jackie
Ooh, Jackie
Ooh, Jackie
Hey, hey, hey, hey

{video removed/unavailable}

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image credited to Jim Adams.

SLS ~ Big

As always, thanks goes out to our musical host Jim Adams for providing us with a great list of prompts… or should I say a SIZABLE list? Hehe. I chose “Big Spender,” a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical Sweet Charity. It was first performed way back in 1966. Peggy Lee was the first artist to record it, also that year. Shirley Bassey probably has the best and best-known version of the song, but for the vid I chose the version from the film. Bob Fosse choreographed it and imo it is simply excellent. One of the commenters remarked that the dancers’ faces are expressionless… this is a chore to them, a job, to keep the men ordering drinks. They are TIRED. We don’t see the man’s face because they’re all the same…

There have been many versions of “Big Spender,” including parodies. The Simpsons did one called “Two Bad Neighbors,” which Simpsons’ fans may have seen. I did not. Anyway, hope you enjoy this vid!

The minute you walked in the joint 
I could see you were a man of distinction 
A real big spender 
Good lookin’ so refined 
Say, wouldn’t you like to know what’s goin’ on in my mind? 
So let me get right to the point 
I don’t pop my cork for every man I see 
Hey big spender, 
Spend a little time with me Wouldn’t you like to have fun, fun, fun 
How’s about a few laughs, laughs
I could show you a good time 
Let me show you a good time! The minute you walked in the joint 
I could see you were a man of distinction 
A real big spender 
Good lookin’ so refined 
Say, wouldn’t you like to know what’s goin’ on in my mind? 
So let me get right to the point, 
I don’t pop my cork for every guy I see 
Hey big spender
Hey big spender
Hey big spender 
Spend, a little time with me 
Yes

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image credited to Jim Adams.

SLS ~ Parsley, Sage, etc.

Hiyas… late today on my SLS post. Was debating between “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” and “Incense and Peppermints” last night, but I got the sleepy tireds. When I woke up this morning, I saw that both those songs had been done already and everyone was avoiding the obvious choice of “Scarborough Fair.” Well then! Guess which one I’m doing? Thanks to our host Jim Adams for providing a fun array of spicy words on the condiment cart.

“Scarborough Fair” is an olde English folk song, from the Middle Ages. I found a cool site that explains the lines in detail. I’m not going to copypasta the entire description here. The fair itself is a marketplace of vendors and the main idea of the song is unrequited love. It’s meant to be a duet between a man and a woman, which is why I chose a version other than S&G’s. The man describes a series of impossible tasks that his love should carry out in order to prove she is his true love. Then the woman counters with impossible tasks for him to do in return. There are some interesting theories about the song, such as it is meant to be a riddle rather than taken at face value. Another theory is that the man is actually deceased and it is a song of mourning.

The Simon & Garfunkel version was played in The Graduate, one of my very favorite movies. Even so, I found a version plus a video I like better. I hope you enjoy it too!

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Image credited to Jim Adams.

SLS ~ Over

Jim Adams hosts our fun Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us some “final” words. “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” was written, recorded, and produced by Lenny Kravitz for his 1991 album Mama Said. It was Lenny’s first Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 and remains his most successful song in the US. He said he was inspired by the Yogi Berra classic line and also was writing about his failing marriage to Lisa Bonet at the time. The song is sweet, sad, romantic, and hopeful. I’ve always loved it.

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

Here we are still together
We are
So much time wasted
Playing games with love
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
To keep our love alive
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
How many times
Did we give up
But we always worked things out
And all my doubts and fear
Kept me wondering
If I’d always, always be in love
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
And kept our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
Baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
And kept our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
Baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
to keep our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears we’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
to keep our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears we’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over, over

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Four

Jim Adams hosts our fun Song Lyric Sunday and today’s song title must contain a number. “Four Little Diamonds” is by the Electric Light Orchestra from their 1983 album Secret Messages. It was written by Jeff Lynne and did poorly in both the US and the UK as a single. I like it though, so I’m using it today. It’s one of those she done me wrong and imma gonna get revenge type stories, but you know he’s just gonna sit there at the bar all night crying in his beers. There, there.

Four Little Diamonds

I used to think she was the greatest thing
I really cared, gave her a diamond ring
She said she’d rather die than ever leave me
Well I never saw her face since then
And if the law don’t get her then I will
Four little diamonds
She must be somewhere on the open road
She always said she was a lonely one
She gets you down with her tales of woe
She took me for everything
And if the law don’t get her then I will
Four little diamonds
I looked around I climbed up high into the dawn
But she was gone with the night
I thought about the things she said
And all the things we’d done
But where could she run- she ran away
There’s just no answer to give
I keep wonderin’ about her, day and night
She probably thinks I was a fool- she’s right
She don’t know it
But I’m gonna keep on searchin’ for that woman
I’m gonna search everywhere
And if the law don’t get her then I will
Four little diamonds
I looked around I climbed up high into the dawn
But she was gone with the night
I thought about the things she said
And all the things we’d done
But where could she run- she ran away
There’s just no answer to give
I still hear her callin’ out to me
I still listen for her endlessly
But it never even crossed my mind she was a cheater
I gotta find where she hides
‘Cause if the law don’t get her then I will
Four little diamonds

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Together

Jim Adams hosts our fun Song Lyric Sunday and as soon as I saw his prompts for today I knew which song I would choose. “We Go Together” is the finale in Grease, one of my very favorite musicals, and it’s sung by the whole cast. It’s a super upbeat song which takes place at the end of the school year at a fair on campus, with all the couples reunited. Everyone looks great and the sun is shining. I’ve read a theory that because Danny and Sandy “drive into the heavens” at the very end, this means that the entire movie/play is actually Sandy’s life flashing before her eyes as she drowns on the beach at the beginning. I kind of like this idea…

The song was written by Warren Casey and Jim Jacobs and released in 1978.

We Go Together

We go together
Like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong
Remembered forever
As shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
That’s the way it should be
Wah-oooh, yeah!
We’re one of a kind
Like dip da-dip da-dip doo-wop da doo-bee doo
Our names are signed
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy
Shooby doo-wop she-bop
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
We’ll always be like one, wa-wa-wa-one
When we go out at night
And stars are shinin’ bright
Up in the skies above
Or at the high school dance
Where you can find romance
Maybe it might be love
Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong
Shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
Dip da-dip da-dip doo-wop da doo-bee doo
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy
Shoo-be doo-wop she-bop
Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na yippity dip de doom
Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong
Shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
Dip da-dip da-dip doo-wop da doo-bee doo
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy
Shoo-be doo-wop she-bop
Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na yippity dip de doom
Wop ba-ba lu-mop and wop bam boom!
We’re for each other
Like a wop ba-ba lu-bop and wop bam boom
Just like my brother is
Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na yippity dip de doom
Chang chang chanitty chang sha-bop
We’ll always be together
Wha oooh, yeah!
We’ll always be together […]

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Mexican

Jim Adams hosts our wonderful Song Lyric Sunday and today he’s given us a some great prompt words. I chose “Mexican Wine,” which is the first track on Welcome Interstate Managers, an album I love by Fountains of Wayne. It was their third studio album and it was released in 2003 with the popular song “Stacy’s Mom.” Most people know them from that song. This album runs along a theme of a guy who appears to be on his way down, barely hanging on to jobs, drinking a lot, reminiscing about younger days, etc. Adam Schlesinger was one of the founding members of Fountains of Wayne, and sadly he passed away from COVID-19 complications earlier this year. RIP Adam.

Mexican Wine

He was killed by a cellular phone explosion
They scattered his ashes across the ocean
The water was used to make baby lotion
The wheels of promotion, were set into motion
But the sun still shines in the summer time
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine
I tried to change, but I changed my mind
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
She lived alone in a small apartment
Across the street from the health department
She left her pills in the glove compartment
That was the afternoon her heart went
And the sun still shines in the summer time
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine
I tried to change, but I changed my mind
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
I used to fly for United Airlines
Then I got fired for reading High Times
My license expired in almost no time
Now I’m retired and I think that’s fine
Because the sun still shines in the summer time
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine
I tried to change, but I changed my mind
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
Because the sun still shines in the summer time
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine
I tried to change, but I changed my mind
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
I think I’ll have another glass of Mexican Wine
Won’t you have another glass of Mexican Wine?

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.