So anyway, this Saturday morning just past I was talking with a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance about that gorgeous Michael Carpenter remake of The Hollies' "Look Through Any Window" that I posted here on Friday. And I mentioned that it had just occurred to me that in some ways the remake was an attempt to give the song a more modern sound along the lines, specifically, of Del Amitri's 1997 "Not Where It's At." A record which as I have noted here on previous occasions is perhaps my favorite piece of power pop twelve-string jangle of the last two decades.
Here's the artifact in question; I have appended the lyrics for reasons that will be soon be obvious. Give it a listen, won't you?
With some girls it don't matter who you hang with With some girls it don't matter how you talk And some girls they are easy to be yourself with
But the one girl that I want, ain't easy to please with what I've got
With some girls it don't matter where you're aiming With some girls it don't matter how you act And some girls they don't care what car you came in
But the one girl that I want, she wants that one bit of geography I lack
Yeah she don't want me 'cos I'm not where it's at
Yeah I'm not where it's at
And some girls they will worry about reactions And some girls they don't give a damn for that
But somehow I ain't ever in on the action 'Cos the one girl that I want, she wants that one little quality I lack
Yeah she don't want me 'cos I'm not where it's at
Yeah I'm not where it's at
I don't have my finger on the pulse of my generation
I just got my hand on my heart I know no better location
Yeah she don't want me 'cos I'm not where it's at
Yeah I'm not where it's at
You're welcome.
In any case, I proceded to make my case to said Shady Dame by putting up a YouTube of the song which had the lyrics scrolling down as the tune progressed, and the following conversation ensued. [Note: All dialogue rendered verbatim.]
ME: See what I mean? Sounds a lot like Carpenter's "Look Through Any Window."
SHADY DAME: Yeah, absolutely.
ME: Of course, the Del Amitri song could have been a hit in 1965 also.
SHADY DAME: Well, except for one thing, obviously.
ME: What do you mean?
SHADY DAME: The girl in the song is gay. That might have been a problem back then.
ME: Gay? What are you talking about? She doesn't want him because he's not where it's at, i.e. he's not trendy enough. As he says "I don't have my finger on the pulse of my generation."
SHADY DAME: Uh Steve -- "The one girl I want, ain't easy to please with what I've got."
ME: Come on, that doesn't...
SHADY DAME: "The one girl I want, she wants that one bit of geography I lack..."
ME: Oy gevalt.
And there you have it, folks. It's official -- I'm the densest humanoid on the planet.
Seriously -- I can't believe I've been singing along to that record for almost twenty years and never noticed the, uh, subtext.
Also -- don't try to tell me Paul Lynde was gay, because I know for a fact that was just a rumor.
22 comments:
Been there done that even worse many times with other songs. So badly I can't even talk about it. Thanks for sharing. I feel less alone in the world.
Hey, I just recently figured out that Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is about a guy who won't admit he's gay...made me start wondering how the hell it ever got played on the radio back in the '70s.
Hey, I never realized "Please Please Me" was a song about oral sex for decades...
So you're telling me, "I'll get you/I'll get you in the end" wasn't about the inevitability of a relationship?
Oh my.
I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to realize the meaning of "Rattlesnake Shake".
Pardon me for being dense also, but I've never noticed gay references in songs unless it was blatant, girls are singing about girls or guys about guys. Of which I don't listen to anyway. Are there songs like that? I guess so, namely song in question, but subtly, go figure.
At any rate, Del Amitri was a good Scottish band with some fine songs. Then, like others, faded into obscurity. One of my fave songs was Always The Last To Know.
i don't want to be too modern, but texts can have as many meanings as there are readers.
What -- subtext aside, nobody likes the song?
:-)
I do! I reiterate, good band!
big bad wolf said...
i don't want to be too modern, but texts can have as many meanings as there are readers.
Sorry, but you are definitely being too modern. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes words mean nothing more than exactly what they say.
Anonymous big bad wolf said...
i don't want to be too modern, but texts can have as many meanings as there are readers.
Actually, not, they can't.
But at least you're not claiming, like some post-modernists, that the texts write themselves.
:-)
Yeah, I had a bit of a crush on Ellen Degeneres before she came out. Heck, I still have a bit of a crush on her.
Trey
Steve, you have company. I've been singing that song at the top of my lungs for years as Del Amitri holds a special place of honor on my iPod full of powerpop.
Had no idea. Never got it.
Still don't, kinda.
What "one bit of geography" has anything to do with gay vs. straight? That's an allusion that flies right over my head.
I can see how the rest of it fits SDame's view of the song. If so, very sly. Very sly.
Unless, of course, the song really is about a guy who just isn't trendy enough.
The Anonymous DB:
The geography the protagonist singing the song lacks is, unless I am completely off the mark here, a certain lady part.
You know -- down there, as it were.
:-)
The Del Amitri album that "Always the Last to Know" was on was called, I think, "Change Everything" It was a masterpiece from start to finish. One of my favorite albums EVER! "Sometimes I Just Have to Hear Your Name", "You Will Be My Downfall Tonight", OMG! I have to dig it out and play it right now.
Bottom line: Justin Currie is a fricking great singer.
The other song from this album that was a msterpiece? The title track "Some Other Sucker's Parade."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWcDh8K_RDI
Speaking of gorgeous...
:-)
hey the Go-Go's got on the radio in the awesome 80's with that lesbian love anthem "I Love Cecile" so...
Every song on "Some Other Sucker's Parade" is good, but I'm with you Steve. "Not Where It's At" is just perfect. And I didn't get it either. I never do.
If it makes you feel any better, I spent years thinking ZZ Top's "Pearl Necklace" was really about jewelry.
I'm assuming everyone gets "Mickey".
Mickey is about something? Just tell me now, I will take it like a man.
8)
Trey
Never got Del Amitri. Still don't...
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