Is Sunday again and time for Song Lyric Sunday. Our host Jim Adams has given us the prompt: Songs beginning with M and A.

Written and released before I met hubby Mellow Yellow was part of my youth. I was in love with Donovan! This song was definitely one of my favourites.
“Mellow Yellow” is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. In the US it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. (Both “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys and “Winchester Cathedral” by The New Vaudeville Band kept it from hitting No. 1.) Outside the US, “Mellow Yellow” peaked at No. 8 in the UK in early 1967.
The song was rumoured to be about smoking dried banana skins, which was believed to be a hallucinogenic drug in the 1960s, though this aspect of bananas has since been debunked. According to Donovan’s notes, accompanying the album Donovan’s Greatest Hits, the rumour that one could get high from smoking dried banana skins was started by Country Joe McDonald in 1966, and Donovan heard the rumour three weeks before “Mellow Yellow” was released as a single. According to The Rolling Stone Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, he admitted later the song made reference to a vibrator; an “electrical banana” as mentioned in the lyrics. This definition was re-affirmed in an interview with NME magazine: “it’s about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene – which were ladies’ vibrators.”
Paul McCartney can be heard as one of the background revellers on this track, but the “quite rightly” whispering answering lines in the chorus is not McCartney but rather Donovan himself. Donovan had a small part in coming up with the lyrics for “Yellow Submarine“, and McCartney played bass guitar (uncredited) on portions of Donovan’s Mellow Yellow album.
In 2005, the track was remastered by EMI Records for the Mellow Yellow album re-issue.
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Next a song beginning with A. It has to be Billy Joel and Always a Woman to me. When this came out in 1977 we had been married six years and have two of the boys by then.
“She’s Always a Woman” is a song from Billy Joel‘s 1977 album The Stranger. It is a love song about a modern woman whom the singer has fallen totally in love with to the extent of falling for her endearing quirks as well as her flaws. The single peaked at No. 17 in the U.S. in 1977, and at No. 53 in the UK in 1986, when it was released as a double A-side with “Just the Way You Are“. It re-entered the UK chart in 2010, reaching No. 29. The song is played in the compound time signature of 6/8. The song was released in 1977, following several other hits from The Stranger including “Just the Way You Are“, “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” and “Only the Good Die Young“. Musically, Joel has said that he was influenced by Gordon Lightfoot and his mellow acoustic guitar ballads. It is a love song that Joel wrote for his then wife, Elizabeth Weber. Elizabeth had taken over management of Joel’s career, and was able to put his financial affairs in order after Joel had signed some bad deals and contracts. She was a tough and savvy negotiator who could “wound with her eyes” or “steal like a thief”, but would “never give in”. Because of her tough-as-nails negotiating style, many business adversaries thought she was “unfeminine,” but to Joel, she was always a woman. The two eventually divorced in 1982.
Happy Sunday Everyone.
Jan 10, 2021 @ 08:20:44
The Billy Joel song is one of my favorites… it’s so sweet yet the message is so powerful..
And thanks for such interesting info about the song, Mellow Yellow 🙂
Jan 10, 2021 @ 08:33:24
Hi Janis I love both songs! Mellow yellow has so many memories for me though.💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 10:54:29
I played Mellow Yellow on my phone… it has a very catchy sound… I love the beat and the instruments 🙂 Cool!
Jan 10, 2021 @ 12:11:07
It’s a great song 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 08:45:14
Lovely song choices, Willow. My favourite Billy Joel song is Piano Man.
Jan 10, 2021 @ 08:46:06
Yes indeed Robbie that is a lovely song too 💜💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 08:55:10
Oh, I’ve been a fan of Donovan for over 50 years… !!
Jan 10, 2021 @ 11:20:55
Lol Ivor I have too 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 12:24:32
You must be nearly 70 too 😂
Jan 10, 2021 @ 13:02:49
67 and counting 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 19:41:38
Close,.. 😊.. I’m 70 in July 💙
Jan 10, 2021 @ 21:58:51
Happy Birthday, we have had the best of music haven’t we 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:01:27
Yes we were the lucky generation 💜🍀
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:16:00
Yes we have seen and heard the best 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:33:05
Although I do my music, and artists like Lisa Hannigan, Damien Rice, Sivert Hoyem, Xavier Rudd, Hozier, Milky Chance, Sia, Hollow Coves, Sigur Ros, Kaz Hawkins, Ray LaMontagne, Brandi Carlile, Portugal The Man, The Strumbellas, M83 .etc.. and of course I can’t go pass Nick Cave….💜🌏
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:36:58
A fantastic litteny many of whom I share 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 10:21:48
Two really beautiful songs 💜💜💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 10:24:18
Two great choices, Willow.
Jan 10, 2021 @ 12:11:25
Thank you Lauren 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 13:33:05
Nice music Willow, two of my favorites Donovan and Billy Joel. I love the humming that Billy Joel does in this song.
Jan 10, 2021 @ 14:40:35
It’s such a great song isn’t it!
Jan 10, 2021 @ 13:54:15
Mellow Yellow was my choice as well. 👍
Jan 10, 2021 @ 14:39:03
Excellent choice 👌
Jan 10, 2021 @ 16:32:56
Two great songs from different times in music history. I didn’t any of the story behind “Mellow Yellow”. That is great trivia. Billy Joel took me back to junior high. I played coronet in the band and we played a orchestra version of this song. Not very well because we just learning but it was fun. 🙂
Jan 10, 2021 @ 17:07:24
It always feels so cool to play a version of a popular song, even if your just learning 💜💜
Jan 11, 2021 @ 02:36:36
Couln’t agree more! 🙂
Jan 11, 2021 @ 07:46:37
🙂💜💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:15:39
I almost went with the Billy Joel song myself. Both songs are great choices!!!
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:17:48
It is isn’t it Jilly such lovely lyrics too 💜
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:34:57
I’m a big fan of both of these songs thanks for the background stories
Promote Laughter
Jan 10, 2021 @ 22:37:36
Always 💜
Jan 16, 2021 @ 16:59:07
Two lovely choices Willow ☺️
Jan 16, 2021 @ 17:12:35
Thank you 💜