Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “stay.”

Another smooth classic came to mind  based on this week’s theme, Al Green’s 1972 hit, Let’s Stay Together.

The song  spent sixteen weeks on the charts and did reach the top of Billboard’s Hot 100. It  also topped the R&B chart for nine weeks. This timeless classic has been covered by several artists including Tina Turner and Maroon 5. It was ranked the 60th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Let’s Stay Together was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. The song went on to claim the number-one position on the Billboard Year-End chart as an R&B song for 1972.

The video is a live performance from Al Green. Sorry about the suit.  😀

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

I’m, I’m so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is alright with me
Cause you make me feel, so brand new
And I want to spend my life with you

Let me say that since, baby, since we’ve been together
Loving you forever is what I need
Oh let me be the one you come running to
I’ll never be untrue

Oh baby let’s, let’s stay together
Lovin’ you whether

Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad, oh yeah

Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why somebody
Why people break up, turn around and make up
I just can’t see, you’d never do that to me, would you baby?
Just being around you is all I see, it’s what I want to do

Let’s, we ought to stay together
Lovin’ you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad

C’mon, let’s, let’s stay together
I’ll keep on lovin’ you whether, whether
Times are, oh times are good or times are bad

Compiled from Genius Lyrics, YouTube, and Google.

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “lights.”

Most of today’s music fans are familiar with the 1991 version of The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia recorded by Reba McIntyre. But the original was released in June of 1972 by Carol Burnett Show regular, Vicki Lawrence, and topped the Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart in early 1973.

On the final episode of the sixth season of the Carol Burnett Show, (March 24, 1973), Burnett surprised Lawrence by presenting her with an RIAA gold record for over a million copies sold. The song also scored number six on the Easy Listening chart,  and it peaked at number 36 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart.  It was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and was finally topped by Tony Orlando and Dawn’s Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree. Billboard ranked it as the No. 11 song for 1973.

Although Bobby Russell wrote both the lyrics and music for the story-form song, he was reluctant to record even a demonstration because he “didn’t like it.” According to Lawrence, who was married to Russell at the time, she believed it was destined to be successful and recorded the demo herself. The publishers and the record label did not quite know how to pitch the song, as it was not really a country or a pop song. The first thought was to offer the song to actress/singer Liza Minnelli, but eventually it was offered to singer Cher, but her then-husband and manager Sonny Bono reportedly refused it, as he was said to be concerned that the song might offend Cher’s southern fans.  Without a singer to record the song, Lawrence went into a studio and recorded it professionally herself, with the instrumental backing of L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew,  then pressed the label to release it as a single.

The rest is history… just like Lawrence’s spot for having a number one hit!

The video isn’t the best quality, but the audio is on point! 😉

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

He was on his way home from Candletop
Been two weeks gone and he’d thought he’d stop at Webb’s
And have him a drink before he went home to her

Andy Wolloe said hello
And he said, “Hi, what’s doing, Wo?”
Said, “Sit down, I got some bad news, it’s gonna hurt.”

He said, “I’m your best friend and you know that’s right
But your young bride ain’t home tonight
Since you been gone, she’s been seeing that Amos boy, Seth.”

Well, he got mad and he saw red
And Andy said, “Boy, don’t you lose your head
Cause to tell you the truth, I’ve been with her myself.”

That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That’s the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don’t trust your soul to no backwoods southern lawyer
Cause the judge in the town’s got bloodstains on his hands

Well, Andy got scared and left the bar
Walking on home, cause he didn’t live far
See, Andy didn’t have many friends
And he just lost him one

Brother thought his wife musta left town
So he went home and finally found
The only thing Papa had left him and that was a gun

Then he went off to Andy’s house
Slippin’ through the backwoods, quiet as a mouse
Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make
He looked through the screen at the back porch door
And he saw Andy lying on the floor
In a puddle of blood and he started to shake

Well, the Georgia patrol was making their rounds
So he fired a shot just to flag them down
And a big-bellied sheriff grabbed his gun
And said “Why’d you do it?”

Well, the judge said guilty in a make-believe trial
Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile
Said, “Supper’s waitin’ at home and I gotta get to it.”

That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia
That’s the night that they hung an innocent man
Well, don’t trust your soul to no backwoods southern lawyer
Cause the judge in the town’s got bloodstains on his hands

Well, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andy’s house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
And that’s one body that’ll never be found
See, little sister don’t miss when she aims her gun

That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia, whoa-oh
That’s the night that they hung an innocent man, uh-huh
Well, don’t trust your soul to no backwoods, southern lawyer
Cause the judge in the town’s got bloodstains on his hands

Oh, that’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia

Compiled from Genius Lyrics, YouTube, and Google.

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “days.”

Janis Ian is best known for her breakout hit At Seventeen back in 1975. While she was never a mega-star, Janis had a devoted following and continued to sing and release albums.

In 2000, Janis released her eighteenth studio album, God & the FBI. It didn’t produce any memorable hits, but one track achieved fame because of a television show.

Teen-drama, Dawson’s Creek–which celebrates it’s twentieth anniversary this year–aired it season three finale in May of 2000. Fans will remember the episode, True Love, is where Joey Potter finally broke away from anally-retentive Dawson Leery and ran off for the summer with new love Pacey Witter aboard his boat… the True Love. (This episode also contains the infamous scene of Dawson ugly-crying!)

As Pacey and Joey sail away, the haunting song played in the background is Janis Ian’s Days Like These. It’s about accepting life for what it is. If you don’t put anything in, you won’t get a return. I bought the album after hearing the song once and still listen to it.

The video is a compilation of scenes from season three of Dawson’s Creek. Not the best quality, but the audio is spot on!

(And yes! I watched all six seasons of Dawson’s Creek, own the DVDs, and contributed to a fanfic site! Don’t judge me! 😀 )

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

Compiled from Genius Lyrics, YouTube, and Google.

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “seeing.”

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

Compiled from Genius Lyrics, YouTube, and Google.

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “shadow.”

~~~~~

Family and long-time friends saw this pick coming a mile away.

I graduated from high school May 26, 1978. It was the time of funk and disco and artists like Kool & the Gang, Parliament, Tavares, Chic, and of course, the queen, Donna Summer, dominated music charts. Already a chart-topping group, movies Saturday Night Fever and the remake of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band made mega-music gods of the amazing Brothers Gibb – the Bee Gees. But, it was their baby brother, Andy, who would take center stage… and the number one spot on music charts for seven weeks in the summer of 1978 with Shadow Dancing!

According to Billboard’s Book Of Number One Hits, Gibb became the first solo artist in the history of the U.S. pop charts to have his first three singles hit the number-one spot. Shadow Dancing remained in the top spot for seven straight weeks from 17 June to 29 July 1978. On 5 August it was replaced by The Rolling Stones with their hit “Miss You.” Additionally, “Shadow Dancing” was listed by Billboard as being the number one single of 1978. In addition the song peaked at number eleven on the soul chart and sold 2.5 million copies in the United States alone.

Sadly, plagued with depression, Andy Gibb was paranoid about his success and the people around him, leading to his cocaine addiction.

After complaining of chest pains, Andy was admitted to the hospital where he died a short time later as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by a recent viral infection,  which was exacerbated by his years of cocaine abuse. It was March 10, 1988–five days after Gibb’s thirtieth birthday.

We’ve lost many young lives far too soon in the recording industry, but fortunately, their music legacy lives on.

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.

~~~~~

Compiled from Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, and AZLyrics.

Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

The theme for Song Lyric Sunday this week is “unity.”

Nothing says unity like family and what family song is more well-known than Sister Sledge’s 1979 hit, We Are family? One of the many songs from the disco era with staying power, We Are Family is still a big request in clubs across the country and has been used in commercials as well as movies like Bridget Jones’ Diary and one of my favorites, The Birdcage.

The song helped make the four sisters from Philly international stars on the music scene and their celebrity continues. The sisters sang for Pope Francis in 2015. Sadly, Joni passed away a year ago yesterday, March 10, 2017, at her home in Phoenix, Arizona. She was only sixty years old.

Kim, Kathy, and Debbie Sledge vow to continue performing as Sister Sledge.

Music videos weren’t a “thing” in 1979 and I didn’t care for the “official” video for this song. Bad lip syncing, bad lighting, what’s up with those outfits, and the sisters move as though they went to the Whitney Houston School of Dance. (You know I still love you madly, Whitney!)

Instead I chose a 2011 live performance from an Oprah show featuring “Women Who Rock.” Near the end of the video you’ll see Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar (YAAY!), Salt-N-Pepa, Avril Lavigne and Miley Cyrus join in the sing-along!

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection on Nesie’s Place.