Liberal Arts Blog — Three Big Hits — “Act Naturally” (1961), “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1967), “Don’t You Want Me” (1981)
Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Topic: Three Big Hits — “Act Naturally” (1961), “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1967), “Don’t You Want Me” (1981)
Today, three somewhat random songs.
“Act Naturally” was a big hit for country star Buck Owens in 1961 and then for the Beatles in 1963.
Definitely, one of the funniest songs of all time. Fits Ringo to a tee. Also covered by Loretta Lynn.
Thank you, Earle, for bringing this gem to my attention.
“I Think We’re Alone Now” (1967). written by Ritchie Cordell and first recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells, might have been the genesis of “bubblegum rock.” Then Tiffany Darwish ran it to the top of the charts in 1987.
“Don’t You Want Me” was the biggest hit of the British synth-pop band The Human League, the #1 UK single of 1981, and that year’s “Christmas number one.” It has also been called “the breakthrough song of the Second British Invasion.”
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
ACT NATURALLY (Buck Owens, 1961, The Beatles (with Ringo Starr singing lead, 1963), Owens and Starr do duet (1989 — last link below, super silly)
1. “They’re gonna put me in the movies, They’re gonna make a big star out of me, We’ll make a film about a man who’s sad and lonely and all I gotta do is act naturally.
2. “Well, I’ll bet you I’m gonna be a big star, might win an Oscar you can’t never tell. The movie’s gonna make me a big star, ’Cause I can play the part so well.”
3. “Well, I hope you come to see me in the movie, Then I know you will plainly see, The biggest fool that’s ever hit the big time, And all I gotta do is act naturally.”
NB: “We’ll make a scene about a man that’s sad and lonely, And begging down on bended knee, I’ll play the part but I won’t need rehearsin’ All I have to do is act naturally.”
Buck Owens & the Buckaroos — Act naturally (1963)
Buck Owens & Ringo Starr — Act Naturally
“I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW” (TOMMY JAMES AND THE SHONDELLS, 1981) covered by Tiffany Darwish (1987)
1. “Children, behave, that’s what they say when we’re together and watch how you play, they don’t understand so we’re running just as fast as we can holdingn on to one another’s hand, trying to get away into the night and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say.”
2. “I think we’re alone now, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around I think we’re alone now the beating of our hearts is the only sound.”
3. “Look at the way we gotta hide what we’re doin’ ’cause what would they say if they ever knew? And so we’re runnning just as fast as we can holding to one another’s hand, tryin to get away into the night and then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground and then you say…”
Tommy James & The Shondells — I Think We`re Alone Now Live on Village Square 1967
I Think We’re Alone Now — Wikipedia
DON’T YOU WANT ME (THE HUMAN LEAGUE, 1981) — #1 UK single of 1981, lead singer is Philip Oakey. Song is the 28th highest selling single of all time in the UK. Don’t miss the live performance from 1982 (first link below).
1. “You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar when I met you, I picked you out, I shook up and turned you around into someone new, now five years later on, you’ve got the world at your feet, success has been so easy for you, But don’t forget, it’s me who put you where you are now and I can put you back down too.”
2. “Don’t you want me? You know I can’t believe it when I hear that you won’t see me? Don’t, don’t you want me? You know I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t need me, It’s much too late to find You think you’ve chnaged your mind, You’d better change it back, or we will both be sorry.”
3. “I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar that much is true. But even then I knew I’d find a much better place either with or without you, The five years we have had have been such good times, I still love you But now I think it’s time I lived my life on my own I guess it’s just what I must do.”
NB: “Don’t you want me, baby? Don’t you want me, oh?…”
Human League — Don’t You Want Me (1982) • TopPop
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with. those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
Updating PDFs: 2023 — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
YOUR TURN
Time to share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to music.
Or the coolest thing you learned in your life related to music. Say your favorite song or songs. Or your favorite tips for breathing, posture, or relaxation. Or some insight into the history of music….Or just something random about music… like a joke about drummers. jazz, rock….or share an episode or chapter in your musical autobiography.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And perhaps to cement in your memory something important you would otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that matters to you.
