Involuntary Musical Imagery (Earworms)

Like many others, I am prone to getting a song stuck in my head. All day long I'll be humming, whistling, or singing the same tune, unable to escape the melody. I'm not usually too bothered by this, but sometimes they get stuck for just too darn long. I can usually remedy the problem by listening to the song, and then listening to something else. I do occasionally get a new song stuck, but mostly these songs come from my formative years, songs I've known and loved for decades. In fact, these are all from the sixties. Here's my top five most likely to be earworms for me:

5. Suspicious Minds- Elvis Presley  Elvis's last number one, and one of his best.

So if an old friend I know
Stops by to say hello
Would I still see suspicion in your eyes?
Here we go again
Asking where I've been
You can't see the tears I'm crying

We can't go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds

 

4. The Poor Side Of Town- Johnny Rivers   One of a very small number of songs Rivers actually wrote, and another number one hit.

 

How can you tell me
How much you miss me
When the last time I saw you
You wouldn't even kiss me

That rich guy you've been seein'
Must have put you down
So welcome back baby
To the poor side of town

 

Do-doo-doo-wah, shoo-be-doo-be

3. It's A Beautiful Day Today- Moby Grape.  A lovely ballad with great guitar parts.

Dawn to dawn a lifetime
The birds sing and day's begun
The heavens shine from dawn to dusk
With golden rays of sun

People on their way
Beginning a brand new day
I love hearing people say
It's a beautiful day today

2. Chapel Of Love- The Dixie Cups  Just a perfect melody, and the Dixie
Cups make it into one of the great girl group singles, and again, a number one hit.

Bells will ring, sun will shine, whoa
I'll be his and he'll be mine
We'll love until the end of time
And we'll never be lonely anymore

Because we're goin' to the chapel
And we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel
And we're gonna get married
Gee, I really love you
And we're gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

1. Expressway To Your Heart- The Soul Survivors   This one gets stuck in 

my head all the time. The opening bass and drums intro always starts the earworm, and it's always hard to get out of my head. Usually, its an all day affair.

I was wrong, baby, it took too long
I got caught in the rush hour

Fellas started to shower
You with love and affection

Now you won't  look in my direction

On the expressway to your heart
The expressway, not the best way
At five o'clock it's much too crowded
Much too crowded, so crowded
Oh, too crowded

Dave Edmunds Get It 1977

So Dave Edmunds recorded a classic in 1977. It is almost a Rockpile record, but without Billy Bremner.

Get It is essentially perfect. Edmunds made several others that came close, but this is the bomb.

What makes it so great? Well, Edmunds is an excellent guitarist, a fine singer with just a touch of nasal twang in his voice, and a lover of, and skilled practitioner of, all things rockabilly and/or early rock and roll. And he writes songs almost as good as the tasty covers he chooses.

And what a list of great covers: Bob Seger's rocking Get Out Of Denver, Graham Parker's rockabilly Back To School Days, Rogers and Hart's tender Where And When, Jim Ford's Ju Ju Man, Bob Kelly's Get It, Otis Blackwell's great Let's Talk About Us, Hank William's Hey Good Lookin', and Arthur Crudup's My Baby Left Me. I mean the man has studied the classics of early rock and roll, country and rockabilly, and his choices are hard to criticize. 

Add to that Nick Lowe's wonderful I Knew The Bride (the fast version) and What Did I Do Last Night? as well as Edmunds own Worn Out Suits, Brand New Pockets, and two co-writes with Lowe, Little Darlin' and Here Comes The Weekend.

Only two songs are more than three minutes long. There isn't a wasted note. Edmund's voice is a perfect vehicle for these mostly rockabilly gems. His twangy guitar is always spot on. Lowe contributes bass and Terry Williams drums, thus the "almost Rockpile" reference.

The whole record is on YouTube, if you're so inclined. The two before this one, Rockpile 1972 (with his only hit single, from 1970, I Hear You Knocking), and Subtle As A Flying Mallet 1975, cover similar terrain, and are also well worth your time.