Happy birthday, Darleneshku … part one of a two parter, this page … the other being a card by email Thursday morn. The words star-crossed crossed my mind and yet in its own way, as the first song says, physical distance can still be close.
So, below … two songs … the first more up tempo, semi close dancing (thinking of you dancing to it) … the second a soft swaying number, up close. These, plus Walk in the Room, are yours of course, never used for anyone else.
Er … one qualification to that statement … at the very end of Masquerade, the two protagonists do dance to it, and it describes that dance on grassy terraces, like in Italy.
Here goes*:
You can dance
Don’t dance on by
Just makes me sigh
So hold on tight
You can smile
Every smile for this man
In another land
Photo in sight
But don’t forget who’s writing you there
And in your mind you maybe see
Darleneshku
Save the last dance for me, hmm
Oh, I know (oh, I know)
That this music’s fine (yes, I know)
Like sparkling wine (oh, I know)
Yes, Drifter fun (yes, I know, oh, I know)
Laugh and sing (yes, I know)
But while we’re apart (oh, I know)
Your beating heart (yes, I know)
Is the only one (oh, I know, yes, I know)
But don’t forget who’s writing you there
And in your mind, you maybe see
Darleneshku
Save the last dance for me, hmm
Oh, don’t you know how close you are?
Can’t you feel it when we write?
I will never, never drift away
If you keep me in your sight
You can dance (you can dance)
Go and carry on (you can dance)
‘Till the night is gone (you can dance)
And it’s time to go (you can dance, you can dance)
If I ask (you can dance)
About how you dress (you can dance)
Is it just for this (you can dance)
Hope you tell me yes (you can dance)
But don’t forget who’s writing you there
And in your mind you maybe see
Darleneshku
Save the last dance for me, uh huh
(Instrumental break)
But don’t forget who’s writing you there
And in my mind I see you, true
Darleneshku
I’ll save the last dance for you, uh huh
I’ll save the last dance for you, hmm-hmm
I’ll save the last dance for you, hmm-hmm
I’ll-save-the-last-dance-for-you … cha-cha-cha..
And so onto the second, softer song:
I never planned giving it a godly, pious feel … the original was hot romance, leading to (cough) certain things … the version below though could almost be a hymn.
Just a quick note … let the intro go for almost a full verse with the strings before opening with a longish “Lu-u-v” once the strings drop away … there’s almost no outro at the end, so you do need to keep up in the second half.
[Verse 1]
Love (Mm-hmm), love is strange (Mm-hmm)
A lot of people (Mm-hmm), take it for a game
Once you get it (Mm-hmm), you’re in an awful fix (Mm-hmm)
After you’ve had it (Mm-hmm) you never want to quit
[Verse 2]
Many people (Mm-hmm), miss the vital thing (Wrong-wrong)
They think loving (Yay-ee-yah) only what the other bring
Real pure loving (Mm-hmm) can make a marriage bliss (Yay-ee-yay)
Real, pure loving (Mm-hmm) can lead to friends like this
(Short instrumental break, tricky end to it.)
[Verse 3]
Love (Yeh-yeh), love is strange (Mm-hmm)
A lot of people (Mm-hmm), take it for a game
Once you get it (Mm-hmm), you’re in an awful fix (Mm-hmm)
After you’ve had it (Mm-hmm) you’ll never want to quit
[Verse 4]
Many people (Mm-hmm), just don’t understand (No-no)
That true loving (Yay-ee-yah), same in every land
Real pure loving (Mm-hmm) needs a godly mind (Yay-ee-yay)
Needs both sharing (Mm-hmm), then true love they find
This is Buddy Holly himself in 1959**:
And here’s the 1956 original he loved so much:
Maybe it’s just my opinion but both songs were well before our own musical sentience, both of us … not really of our era, nor of our parents’ but it just had that certain something, a real innocence to it. Be interested in your view of eras.
Happy birthday, Darleneshku!
……
Some things I later found out:
* There were many Drifters iterations, originally out of NYC but the “golden era” was around 1960, with Ben E. King and this song about a wheelchair bound man whose wife was allowed to dance with many but went home with him.
**The Buddy Holly cover version of that song was a home demo just before he died in 1959, released a decade later with the overdubbing of strings. Personally, I’m thinking it was a great addition, turning the whole thing into a more melancholy piece.