By Oliver Tearle
A song about three assassinated men, ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ was first recorded by Marvin Gaye. Actually, almost none of that previous sentence is true, except, perhaps, for the word ‘song’.
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The Curious Story Behind ‘Red Red Wine’
By Oliver Tearle
Let’s begin with a nice easy pop trivia question. Which band first covered the Neil Diamond song ‘Red Red Wine’, transforming it into a reggae track? Easy, right? Except if you answered ‘UB40’, you need to take a seat on the naughty step and await your drubbing. Nil points, as they say.
The Meaning of ‘Bette Davis Eyes’ by Kim Carnes
By Dr Oliver Tearle
When a young and then-unknown Bette Davis took the train to Hollywood to meet casting directors, she was surprised when nobody turned up to greet her at the studio. She later found out that a studio employee had waited for her, but left because he saw nobody who ‘looked like an actress’. Curiously, I heard the opposite thing happened when a then-unknown Maroon 5 turned up to try out for a record deal, and despite seeing nobody with any discernible talent, a studio employee promptly signed them right away.
‘Every Breath You Take’: The Creepy ‘Love’ Song
By Oliver Tearle
What connects the Police hit song ‘Every Breath You Take’ with the James Bond novel Goldfinger? And is the Police song a paean to devoted love or a sinister message to an ex-lover?
The Meaning of Womack and Womack’s ‘Teardrops’
By Oliver Tearle
We can probably all agree (whenever a writer says that, you know that what follows will be something that invites furious disagreement) that some songs are Proustian madeleines capable of transporting us back to our early childhoods. Songs can be Pavlovian triggers which tell our unconscious minds to cue up some of our most formative memories.
The Meaning of ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’
By Oliver Tearle
A question that can always be guaranteed to send music buffs into furious and passionate arguments is: who is the greatest songwriter in all of pop music? Would it be a team of writers, such as Lennon-McCartney, Goffin-King, or Morrissey-Marr? Or a lone talent like Prince, Bob Dylan, or Joni Mitchell?
The Meaning of ABC’s ‘Be Near Me’
By Oliver Tearle
The Sheffield group ABC had a very good 1982. Three songs – which probably remain the band’s best-known – from their debut album The Lexicon of Love made the top ten in the UK singles charts: ‘Poison Arrow’, ‘The Look of Love’, and ‘All of My Heart’.
‘Black Velvet’: A Song about Elvis?
By Oliver Tearle
The late 80s and early 90s witnessed a run on Elvis nostalgia, which is curious when you remember that the King had only shuffled off this mortal coil (while seated on his throne) in 1977. When we consider the absurdity of, say, a slew of musical paeans to Amy Winehouse (died 2011) appearing in 2024, the shocking truth becomes apparent: time really does move differently these days, and nostalgia really ain’t what it used to be.
The Meaning of ‘Gonna Get Along Without You Now’
By Oliver Tearle
‘Gonna Get Along Without You Now’ is one of those songs which few people realise is a cover version because one (later) recording in particular has come to be viewed as the definitive version. So if you’re ever in a pub quiz and you’re asked what connects ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, ‘Saving All My Love for You’, and ‘Gonna Get Along Without You Now’, now you know: the best-known recordings of these songs are all, in fact, cover versions. You can write to me and thank me you’re your team storms away to victory thanks to this little nugget of music trivia.
‘I Just Died in Your Arms’ (Tonight): A Song about Sex?
By Oliver Tearle
When writing these columns I have three essential truths which I try to keep always at the forefront of my mind, namely: songs which people believe to be about sex usually aren’t, songs which people believe to be about drugs usually aren’t, and we probably deserve to be wiped out as a species because we allowed Maroon 5 to release songs.