I mentioned in the last blog, on God Only Knows, that Brian Wilson was inspired to write having heard The Beatles album, Rubber Soul. Well, on hearing God Only Knows, Paul McCartney was inspired to write Here, There, and Everywhere. In interviews, McCartney stated that he was only influenced musically by the opening to the song, but the songs do have a lot in common thematically.

Here, There, and Everywhere is credited to Lennon and McCartney, it was primarily written by Paul. The Lennon/McCartney songwriting credit had been agreed to when The Beatles were just beginning. So that whether a song was written by one or the other alone, it always was credited to them both. Also, in interviews, McCartney has stated that this was the one song that he wrote alone that Lennon admitted to liking.

(Intro)
To lead a better life,
I need my love to be here.
 
(Verse 1)
Here, making each day of the year.
Changing my life with the wave of her hand.
Nobody can deny that there’s something there.
 
(Verse 2)
There, running my hands through her hair.
Both of us thinking how good it can be.
Someone is speaking but she doesn’t know he’s there.
 
(Chorus)
I want her everywhere and if she’s beside me
I know I need never care.
But to love her is to need her everywhere,
Knowing that love it to share.
Each one believing that love never dies,
Watching her eyes and hoping I’m always there. (Repeat Chorus)
 
(Outro)
I will be there and everywhere,
Here, there, and everywhere.
 
The deceptively simple melodic line, harmonies and orchestration are perfectly paired with the words. Both God Only Knows and Here, There, and Everywhere rank among pop’s greatest love songs. And I am very glad that the rivalry between two kings in the pop music scene gave us these two songs.

I loved this song so much, that I had my older brother sing and play this on the guitar when I got married the first time. That marriage did not work out too well, but I still have very fond memories of Hal playing and singing Here, There and Everywhere.
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Do you have any stories about Here, There, and Everywhere? Favorite versions? Let me know in the comments below. I’ll be posting this and some other love songs on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
 
Until next time!

I may not always love you.

That’s an odd opening for a love song. And not just any love song, but one of the most beautiful love songs out there. God Only Knows follows up that first shaky line with But as long as there are stars above you, you’ll never need to doubt it. I’ll make you so sure about it. God only knows what I’d be without you.

Now, that’s the making of a great love song.

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys had stopped touring with the group following a breakdown in 1964. This did not stop his songwriting. If anything, it increased his output while upping the quality of his music. He had listened to The Beatles Rubber Soul album in 1965 and was fired up with a competitive spirit to try and do them one better. Hence the concept behind the album Pet Sounds.  Like Rubber Soul, Pet Sounds shook the music world, and changed things forever.

Whole books have been written on Pet Sounds, so I won’t go on about the album, but the mid 1960’s were an amazing time for music, with The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Frank Zappa . . .

Let’s look at God Only Knows again. (It was on the album Pet Sounds.) It was written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher in about 45 minutes. They debated the verse a lot in the course of that time. God was simply not mentioned in pop music. They were concerned that this would cause part of their audience to turn away from them. But, ultimately, they decided that the phrase God Only Knows was generic enough to allow them to use it in this fashion. (Among the odd instrumentation on this song: someone playing plastic orange juice cups!)

That first verse and very short chorus:

I may not always love you
But as long as there are stars above you
You’ll never need to doubt it,
I’ll make you so sure about it

(chorus)
God only knows what I’d be without you.
 
This is a song about a deep and enduring love. I’ve read theories about this being a co-dependent relationship, and I honestly don’t see where they are coming from. I have also read that this in a pro-suicide song. And if you squint really hard, I can see that one, based on the second verse. But, if that is true, then the greater majority of love songs are pro-suicide.

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me,
The world could show nothing to me.
So, what good would living do me?

(chorus)
God only knows what I’d be without you.
 
The third verse is pretty much a repeat of the second. The fact that the second line says that life would still go on, to me belies the suicide concept.

The brilliant and funny Tim Minchin wrote in this love song (If I Didn’t Have You) to his wife:

But with all my heart and all my mind
I know one thing is true.
I have just one life and just one love.
And my love, that love is you,
And if it wasn’t for you
Darling, you.
I really think that I would
Possibly
Have somebody else.
 
I guess this song kind of answers the question: God only knows what I’d be without you.
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Do you have any stories about God Only Knows? The Beach Boys? Have you ever heard of Tim Minchin? Let me know in the comment below. I’ll be playing some of my favorite versions of this song on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
 
Until next time!

You make me smile with my heart.

That is one of my favorite lyrics of all time. It comes to mind when I think about my husband. It is from the song My Funny Valentine by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

I’m willing to bet that you’ve heard of Rodgers and Hammerstein, composers of The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, and a host of other Broadway musicals. But, before he worked with Hammerstein, Richard Rodgers worked with Lorenz Hart. {Hmm. Hart died in 1943, Hammerstein died in 1960. Rodgers lasted until 1979. He was rough on lyricists. (Lyrics are a fancy way of saying the words to a song. A lyricist is someone who writes the words to songs.)} Rodgers and Hart wrote some of the most beautiful songs of all time.

My Funny Valentine is from the 1937 musical Babes in Arms. (If you’ve seen the 1939 movie version starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, you may be confused trying to place this song. It, along with a lot of the other songs, was taken out of the movie.) The musical, as it was originally written, was quite progressive. There were references to Nietzsche, communism, and racism. Quite a lot for 1937.

Babes in Arms also gave us the meme of teenagers putting on a show in the barn out back. The plot revolves around a group of kids whose parents are leaving them to go on a vaudeville tour. The sheriff threatens to put the kids on a work farm to keep them out of trouble. They decide to put on a show. And hilarity, along with a fair bit of politics, ensues.

The song, My Funny Valentine, is not about Valentine’s Day. It so happens that one of our teens is named Valentine. He goes by Val.

Behold the way our fine-feathered friend
His virtue doth parade.
Thou knowest not, my dim-witted friend
The picture thou hast made.
Thy vacant brow, and thy tousled hair
Conceal thy good intent.
Thou noble, up-right, truthful, sincere,
And slightly dopey gent,
 
You’re my funny Valentine.
Sweet, gentle Valentine.
You make me smile with my heart.
You’re looks are laughable, unphotographable.
Yet, you’re my favorite work of art.
Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak,
Are you smart?
But don’t change a hair for me,
Not if you care for me.
Stay, little Valentine, stay.
Each day is Valentine’s day.
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Because of the opening verse, with its sparse, as in absent, orchestration, and the language, with its thy and thou. There is a certain medieval feel to the song that I really like.
 
The show had a lot of hit songs: Johnny One-Note, Where or When, The Lady Is a Tramp. My Funny Valentine got lost in the shuffle. At least until the 1950s when it was discovered and recorded by jazz legend Chet Baker. His recording, with both dusky voice and clear trumpet, brought the song to everyone’s attention, and made it a hit. Then Sinatra got a hold of the song, and it was guaranteed a place in the Great American Songbook. Now, My Funny Valentine is one of the most recorded songs ever.
 
But it does seem a little odd that the song was made famous with men singing it, and not women. The lyrics which seem sweet when sung by a woman, seem a bit rude when sung by a man. Although, I suppose that is just proof of a double standard. If I think it’s sweet when sung by a woman, why can’t it also be sweet when sung by a man? Perhaps because men so often put women down. Will Friedwald, in his book Stardust Melodies: The Biography of 12 of America’s Most Popular Songs, (how’s that for a title?) said this: “My Funny Valentine is a man’s idea of the way he imagines women think about men.” Makes sense.
 
Do you have any stories about My Funny Valentine? Who did your favorite version? I’ll be posting a bunch of different versions of the song this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
 
Until next time!
 

In 1967, a young 21 year-old singer/songwriter named Dolly Rebecca Parton joined the Porter Wagoner Show. She was hired to replace a very popular singer who had recently left. At first, Dolly wasn’t popular with Porter’s fans, but eventually, with his support, she won them over.

After seven fruitful years, Dolly decided it was time to strike out on her own. She mentioned her desire to Porter. He was not supportive of this decision, telling her that no one would pay to listen to her voice singing solo.

Determined, Dolly sat down and wrote a song trying to explain her feelings to him. When she finished singing it to him, he was in tears.

If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So, I’ll go but I know
I’ll think of you every step of the way
 
(Chorus)
And I will always love you
I will always love you
 
Bittersweet memories
That’s all I’m taking with me
So good-bye. Please don’t cry
We both know I’m not what you need
 
Chorus
 
I hope life treats you kind
And I hope you have all you’ve dreamed of
And I wish you joy and happiness
But above all this, I wish you love.
 
Chorus
 
On the country charts, Dolly had a number 1 hit with I Will Always Love You not just once, but twice. But most people associate this song with Whitney Houston. However, before Whitney got the song, Elvis tried to record it.

Yup, Elvis. How is it that we don’t have a recording of Elvis singing this lovely song? Well, in order for a song to be recorded by the King, a songwriter had to take far less in payment than they might get from another performer, essentially paying to have their song recorded by Elvis. On top of that, Elvis would then get a hefty percent of the royalties if anyone else ever re-recorded the song. Dolly wasn’t willing to give up that control and income from her song.

There is a rumor that Dolly and Whitney feuded over the song. That does not appear to have been true. Dolly remained grateful for the recognition and income that Whitney gave her song, and Whitney was grateful for the song.

Whitney actually was not the one to find the song. She was working on The Bodyguard with Kevin Costner. She needed a song to sing at the end of the movie. She was originally going to sing What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, but when they realized that it had been featured in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes, the search was on for another song. Costner was familiar with Parton’s recording, and brought the song to Houston’s attention. The rest is history.

While I love Houston’s version, I first heard the song when Dolly sang it. And it is her voice that I still hear first when I think of the song.
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What is your favorite version of I Will Always Love You? Let me know in the comments below. I will be posting different versions of the song this week on my Minnich Music FaceBook page this week, so be sure to check them out.
 
Until next time!