Songs I Like - Seven Day Fool

Etta James passed away recently, which brought a lot of attention to her music, of course, as it has for Whitney Houston and as it does for every other artist who passes away.  Etta was probably best known for the song "At Last", which I don't just like, I love.

What I didn't know was that she was also the first to release today's pick, "Seven Day Fool", in 1961.  It was written by Billy Davis, and is essentially from a female perspective, proclaiming her love in the form of everything she does for him because she loves him.  Now that might have a bit of a sexist lean, but I think the way it's sung both by Etta James and Jully Black, a Canadian artist, gives it a no-nonsense and still passionate, declarative feel.  In other words, these ladies are committed to their men, but they ain't no pushovers!

It's a real belter, especially when she hollers "And I'll be!"  The 2007 version that Jully Black recorded pays homage in every way to the original, both in her delivery of it, and in the instrumentation and production.  That's what I love about it.  In fact, when I first heard it (remember, I didn't know there was an Etta James version), I thought it was a contemporary song made to "sound" like the 60's.  That has been happening a lot lately...my Christmas blog entry "Everything Old is New Again" refers to this phenomenon in the way new artists have been writing and recording in old, but updated styles.  I love it!

This is a classic form of songwriting, using the days of the week as a reference to the idea that every day the singer is slaving away for the one she loves:

And on a Monday, 

I'm gonna love ya

And on a Tuesday, 

I'm gonna hug ya

And on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 

Gonna love ya

I work for you baby, work my hand to the bone

Care for you, baby, when you get home

Do for you, baby, for the love that I seek

Slave for you, baby, every day of the week

(And on a Monday)

Scrub your dirty floor

(On a Tuesday) 

I do a whole lot more

(On a Wednesday) 

I wash your dirty clothes

To have a little lovin' 'fore the weekend goes

CHORUS:

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

And I'll be, your seven-day fool

Only because I really love you

(And on a Thursday) I'll treat you oh so kind

(And on a Friday) I'll take you out to dine

(And on a Saturday) I'll work double time

If you'll only say you're be mine

(repeat CHORUS)

(On a Monday) ya I'm gonna love ya

(Tuesday) oh I'm gonna hug ya

(Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)

Yeah give me all of that love

(And on a Monday) I scrub your dirty floor

(On a Tuesday) I do a whole lot more

(On a Wednesday) I wash your dirty clothes

To have a little lovin' 'fore the weekend goes

(repeat CHORUS) 

I really love you

I really love you

I'm just a seven day fool

I really love you

Oh on a Monday, I'm gonna love ya

And on a Tuesday I'm gonna hug ya

On a (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) gonna love ya

A seven day fool

Not only that, but it's a mover...you can't stop bopping to it!  Have a listen to it in the video below.  Definitely a contemporary remake of an old classic that I Like :-).

~ IJ

Using Life Experiences To Write

I was at a funeral for an old acquaintance yesterday and on the way home it occurred to me that there were a lot of lines and phrases spoken by others that I could easily use in a song lyric some time in the future.  Quite often you may have come across the idea of reading or watching TV or seeing a movie to find some inspiration, but the truth is that your very own life is probably a great source if you handle it just right.

Of course, many of you already write about your own life, and many songs you've heard over the years are a reflection of the writer's life, not just fiction.  But instead of writing about the typical things like love, loss, partying (😊) and every other clichéd topic, there are probably events or snippets of conversation happening around you all the time that might make for interesting lyrics.  So any of you out there complaining (and many of you do!) that you don't have anything to write about, maybe you only need to open your ears and eyes a little more.  Almost anything can inspire a song lyric if you know what to do with it.

For instance, one thing that was said yesterday by the brother of the person who passed away was that in losing his brother, he learned something about him,  and he also remembered something that he had forgotten.   The "new" learning came in the form of stories that people told him after his brother died.  The thing he had forgotten was how he had always thought of his brother as his hero.   I could see turning that into an idea for a song.  Another idea that came to me was when the pastor spoke about how we only know a part of a person, and when we get together during such an occasion, the memories others have, when we put them all together, paint a much more complete picture of that person.

Do you see what I mean?  Whatever lyric came out of that wouldn't even have to be about death, only about getting to know someone, or a kind of philosophy of life.

I'm not even afraid to share these ideas with you because I know that if you use them, you would probably write a completely different song than I would :-)  Years ago I used to lead a kind of online songwriting workshop on a songwriting message board I used to hang out on, where I would get everyone to submit a song title.  Then we'd vote on the title and have a week or two to write a song around that title.  Sometimes it wasn't a title, but just a lyric idea.  It was a great exercise, but what it taught me most was how completely different all of the songs were that came out of it.

So take something from my experience above, if you like, or pay more attention to your own experiences and don't be afraid to share them.  You never know where you'll find a new song!

IJ

Songs I Like - Wichita Lineman

I recently saw Glen Campbell perform on the Grammys and was struck by his courage to be out there performing even though he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.  One of the interesting things about the brain is that when you learn music, or a musical instrument, your whole brain is engaged, as opposed to just part of it devoted to something like speech or face recognition.  So Alzheimer's patients will often remember lyrics and melodies to songs (or remember how to play piano for instance), well after they have forgotten who their closest family members are.  It's an interesting aspect of music that I also see with my father who has Alzheimer's.  He still remembers me at this point, but much of his personality has been destroyed by the disease.  Still, he can remember old songs with little or no effort!

But that's not what this post is about :-).  This is about one of my favourite all time songs, Wichita Lineman.  It was written in 1968 by someone who many songwriters consider to be a songwriting guru, Jimmy Webb.  The song became a hit for Glen Campbell on the pop, adult contemporary and country charts that year and certified gold in 1969.

Part of the charm of that version was, of course, Glen Campbell's wonderful voice and guitar playing.  The story behind the song, according to Wikipedia, goes as follows: "Jimmy Webb's inspiration for the lyrics came while driving through Washita County in rural northern Oklahoma. At that time, many telephone companies were county-owned utilities and their linemen were, in fact, county employees. Heading westward on a straight road into the setting sun, Webb was driving through an endless litany of telephone poles, each looking exactly the same as the last. Then, in the distance, he noticed the silhouette of a solitary lineman atop a pole. He described it as "the picture of loneliness." Webb then "put himself atop that pole and put that phone in his hand" as he considered what the lineman was saying into the receiver. Glen Campbell added in a statement to the Dallas Observer that Webb wrote the song about his first love affair with a woman who married someone else."

As a songwriter, one of the interesting aspects for me is that the song has no chorus, although it does have a repeating phrase "the Wichita lineman is still on the line."  The music is dotted with minor 7th and major 7th chords, the latter of which give it that plaintive, bitter sweet feel.  Recently, when I went to see James Taylor live in my city, I was over the top when he started to perform his version of Wichita Lineman, and it has, indeed, been recorded by many artists over the years.  In fact, I'm think I might like to do a recording of it myself some day!  

Have a listen to the song in the video below, and here are the lyrics:

I am a lineman for the county 
And I drive the main road 
Searchin' in the sun for another overload 

I hear you singin' in the wire, 
I can hear you through the whine 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

I know I need a small vacation 
But it don't look like rain 
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

It just gets me every time :-)

~ IJ