Lost Art of the Final Lyrical Twist

[Teasing the Korean]

I was thinking of all these songs from the so-called "Great American Songbook" that end with some sort of play on the song's title. Some examples:

"I Won't Dance" - "Won't" is used as a refusal to dance, but then the last line: "I know that music leads the way to romance/So if you hold me in your arms, I won't dance."

"I'll Be Seeing You" - I'll be looking at the stars, but I'll be seeing you.

"Nice Work if you Can Get It" - After two stanzas of "And you can get it if you try," we hear "And if you get it, won't you tell me how?"

The only well-known song from the rock era that I can think of that uses this device is Todd Rundgren's "We Gotta Get You a Woman" - And when we're through with you, we'll get me one too.

What happened?

Edited June 9, 2012 by Teasing the Korean

[Matthew]

No teaching of the chiastic structure in English Literature anymore?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

People got tired of intelligent stuff; or were put off it by those for whom intelligence is counter-productive.

Actually, you've chosen a very limited form of wit and I'm not really surprised you can't find too many examples of it. But, if you simply look for songs with linguistic wit in the lyrics, as in Cole Porter, you definitely can find some in the rock era. Percy Mayfield is the great example of a songwriter who could write - 'Hide nor hair'; 'Strange things happening'; 'Baby you're rich'. But Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow, among numerous Calypso singers of the fifties and sixties, had plenty of wit in their songs.

And 'Cry me a river'. I love the lines

'Told me love was too plebeian

Told me you were through with me, an'

WHat a rhyme! Then the triumphal

'NOW, you say you want me...'

It's a song in which the words and music combine more effectively than possibly any other (for me anyway). Few jazz musicians can bring it off, because the music NEEDS the words. Julie London couldn't either. For the full exploitation of that note, you need Ray Charles' version.

MG

[JSngry]

And we'll have fun fun fun now that Daddy took the T-Bird away.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Of course, there's always, 'Guess who I saw today' - I saw you. More recent than rock, but you might say it's still part of the GAS.

MG

[Larry Kart]

Howard Deitz's "By Myself":

(Verse)

The party's over, the game is ended,

the dreams I dreamed went up in smoke.

They didn't pan out as I had intended;

I should know how to take a joke.

(Chorus)

I'll go my way by myself, this is the end of romance.

I'll go my way by myself, love is only a dance.

I'll try to apply myself and teach my heart to sing.

I'll go my way by myself like a bird on the wing,

I'll face the unknown, I'll build a world of my own;

No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone.

I'll go my way by myself, here's how the comedy ends.

I'll have to deny myself love and laughter and friends.

Grey clouds in sky above have put a blot on my fun.

I'll try to fly high above for a place in the sun.

I'll face the unknown, I'll build a world of my own;

No one knows better than I, myself, I'm by myself alone.

[JSngry]

The naughty lady of Shady Lane has hit the town like a bomb

The back fence gossip ain't been this good since Mabel ran off with Tom

Our town was peaceful and quiet before she came on the scene

The lady has started a riot, disturbin' the suburban routine

The naughty lady of Shady Lane has the town in a whirl.

The naughty lady of Shady Lane. Me, oh my, oh what a girl!

You should see how she carries on with her admirants galore

She must be giving them quite a thrill, the way they flock to her door.

She throws those "come hither" glances at every Tom, Dick and Joe

When offered some liquid refreshment, the lady never, never says, "No."

The naughty lady of Shady Lane has the town in a whirl.

The naughty lady of Shady Lane. Me, oh my, oh what a girl!

The things they're trying to pin on her won't hold much water, I'm sure.

Beneath the powder and fancy lace, there beats a heart sweet and pure.

She just needs someone to change her and she'll be nice as can be.

If you're in the neighborhood, stranger, you're welcome to drop in and see

The naughty lady of Shady Lane, so delightful to hold

The naughty lady of Shady Lane. So delectable, quite respectable.

And she's only nine days old

[seeline]

Re. "I'll be Seeing You," I thought it was I'll be looking at the moon / but I'll be seeing you. (???)

[robertoart]

People got tired of intelligent stuff; or were put off it by those for whom intelligence is counter-productive.

Actually, you've chosen a very limited form of wit and I'm not really surprised you can't find too many examples of it. But, if you simply look for songs with linguistic wit in the lyrics, as in Cole Porter, you definitely can find some in the rock era. Percy Mayfield is the great example of a songwriter who could write - 'Hide nor hair'; 'Strange things happening'; 'Baby you're rich'. But Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow, among numerous Calypso singers of the fifties and sixties, had plenty of wit in their songs.

And 'Cry me a river'. I love the lines

'Told me love was too plebeian

Told me you were through with me, an'

WHat a rhyme! Then the triumphal

'NOW, you say you want me...'

It's a song in which the words and music combine more effectively than possibly any other (for me anyway). Few jazz musicians can bring it off, because the music NEEDS the words. Julie London couldn't either. For the full exploitation of that note, you need Ray Charles' version.

MG

I cringe every time I hear the 'plebeian' line in Cry Me A River. Completely destroys the point of the song. It's a 'too cool for school' line that takes the song out of truly classic status and puts it in the 'hipster dufus' bin of beat poet-esque malarkey.

I prefer the 'lightheadedness' of Blossom Dearie songs for that side of Jazz.

[seeline]

I've always thought that the "plebeian" bit was a comment on the lover that's being addressed in the lyrics (*you* told me love was too plebeian) - that he/she views themselves as being above such attachments (or immune to them) - so, ironic.

Agreed with TMG on the way that line hits.

Edited June 10, 2012 by seeline

[Neal Pomea]

Marie is only six years old

Information please

Help them put me through to her

In Memphis Tennessee

http://npmusic.org/Robert_Bertrand_Joel_Sonnier_Memphis.mp3

Jo-El Sonnier with Robert Bertrand's band.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Neal Pomea

[JSngry]

When it flew by us, I turned the other way. The guy in Mercury had nothing to say. And I could see it was a streak of grey, it was a kid in a hopped-up Model A.

[Big Beat Steve]

When it flew by us, I turned the other way. The guy in Mercury had nothing to say. And I could see it was a streak of grey, it was a kid in a hopped-up Model A.

To the very best of my knowledge, this song is no way called anything like "Model A Race".

And not every Hot Rod was built on a Ford Model A basis. Far from it.

BTW, the "hopped-up" keyword won't do it either because the ENTIRE lyrics are about hopped up machinery. And no special play on the song title at the END of the song here, therefore, because the song is not about jalopies throughout either.

So ... where's the "... all these songs from the so-called "Great American Songbook" that end with some sort of play on the song's title" angle here?

Edited June 11, 2012 by Big Beat Steve

[JSngry]

The only well-known song from the rock era that I can think of that uses this device is Todd Rundgren's "We Gotta Get You a Woman" - And when we're through with you, we'll get me one too.

What happened?

When it flew by us, I turned the other way. The guy in Mercury had nothing to say. And I could see it was a streak of grey, it was a kid in a hopped-up Model A.

To the very best of my knowledge, this song is no way called anything like "Model A Race".

And not every Hot Rod was built on a Ford Model A basis. Far from it.

BTW, the "hopped-up" keyword won't do it either because the ENTIRE lyrics are about hopped up machinery. And no special play on the song title at the END of the song here, therefore, because the song is not about jalopies throughout either.

So ... where's the "... all these songs from the so-called "Great American Songbook" that end with some sort of play on the song's title" angle here?

Geez, here comes the clueless one again...There ain't that angle. There's an answer to "what happened?", namely that the device lived on.

And oh by the way, in the context of the song and its times, the notion of a Hot Rod Ford & a Hot Rod Mercury getting smoked by a Hot Rod Model A, hopped up or otherwise, is very much a final lyrical twist.

[Big Beat Steve]

Clueless ... it all depends.

The kind of effect or hint at how the story might go on you seem to be alluding to comes up in a zillion song lyrics. But is this quite what the "Great American Songbook" lyrics examples cited are all about? I still feel you are stretching the subject of this topic a bit far

No need to link a Youtube (of a watered-down version, what is more), BTW. In all modesty I would not be surprised if it turned out I am familiar with more versions ("white folks" or whoever else ...) of that song (and its connotations of those times - which incidentally aren't all finished yet as far as the contents of that song go) than you are ... So no need to be condescending and try to teach ...

This song and its variants would make a nice topic by themselves (maybe to discuss how much life there can be in a song or where an answer song goes beyond that answer stage after all) but I still feel that HERE this song is a bit off-topic. YMMV of course ...

Edited June 11, 2012 by Big Beat Steve

[JSngry]

All right...for a song called Hot Rod Race to end up having a hopped-up Model A as the ultimate hot rod is irony, and it does play on the song title. Not a literal lyric play on the literal words of the title, but instead of the concept implied by the title.

Other than that, it's sounds like you've created a nice little world for yourself, so be happy there. I'll be looking at the moon and...not be seeing you.

[Big Beat Steve]

I'll be looking at the moon and...not be seeing you.

Take it easy ... it's all just a hobby ...

[JSngry]

Astronomy is my life's passion.

[fasstrack]

I was thinking of all these songs from the so-called "Great American Songbook" that end with some sort of play on the song's title. Some examples:

"I Won't Dance" - "Won't" is used as a refusal to dance, but then the last line: "I know that music leads the way to romance/So if you hold me in your arms, I won't dance."

"I'll Be Seeing You" - I'll be looking at the stars, but I'll be seeing you.

"Nice Work...

Bravo for a great topic! That's the songwriting conundrum-finding a hook or twist to say freshly what's been said a million times before. And it definitely has NOT stopped. 2 things: The 'punchline' can be in the title (What's So Good about Goodbye?). And to really explore this in-depth I recommend these books: Max Wilk: They're Playing Our Song (interviews w/notables); Paul Zollo: Songwriters on Songwriting; and any of several workbooks by the superbly probing and analytical Sheila Davis-she really breaks it down.

[fasstrack]

I just thought of 3 in the comic vein: (Tom Leher) 'and I'm learning Chinese' says Werner Von Braun; (Allan Sherman-a master player) 'Muddah Faddah, kindly disregard this lettah; 'last night I found the best cure yet:I broke my TV set. (the last one is a stretch- but too good to omit. Then there's Cole Porter's You're the Top-wherein after listing all the top things 'you' are he puts himself down: 'a flop. But if I'm the bottom, baby you're the top

[AllenLowe]

well, Werner Von Braun aimed for the stars - but he hit London.

[fasstrack]

And in '08 John McCain aimed for his foot-and Bullwinkle Of the Tundra deflected the bullet. To his temple.

[fasstrack]

'Guess who I saw today? I saw you...' 'This will make you laugh...but it's not funny to me' 'You're young and healthy-so let's be bold...in a year or 2 or 3...we may really be too old'

[Teasing the Korean]

Bumped at MG's request.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks TTK. I would never have thought to have included any of those words in my searches

OK, I remembered two, but, while I was searching lackadaisically, forgot one of them.

The one I remember is Gershwin's 'But not for me'. I don't know if these were the words Ira wrote, or if it's just something that Dakota Staton dreamed up but her version of the song on the album 'Time to swing' ends with the nice line 'but there's no knot for me'. I don't recall it in any of the other vocal versions I've heard, but it may be that the singers dropped the last verse.

Will try to recall the other one.

MG