Song Lyric Sunday: Fruit Sunday.

Jim Adams

It’s Sunday and so it’s time for Jim Adam’s SONG LYRIC SUNDAY. Our prompt this week is : Apple/ Banana/ Cherry/ Olive/ Orange/ Strawberry.

The song I chose first was from Kate Bush’s The Line, the Cross and the Curve album is Eat the Music. “Eat the Music” is a song written and recorded by Kate Bush.  Columbia Records released it as the lead single from Bush’s album The Red Shoes in the United States, while EMI chose “Rubberband Girl” everywhere else in the world. In the United Kingdom, a small handful of extremely rare 7″ and promotional CD-singles were produced, but were recalled by EMI Records at the last minute. A commercial release followed in 1994 in the Netherlands and Australia, along with a handful of other countries.

The Line, the Cross and the Curve is a 1993 British musical short film directed by and starring singer Kate Bush, co-starring Miranda Richardson and choreographer Lindsay Kemp, who had served as dance mentor to Bush early in her career. Wikipedia Initial release: 13 November 1993 moDirector: Kate BushScreenplay: Kate BushProducer: Margarita DoyleNominations: Grammy Award for Best Music Film.

Next Coldplay and Strawberry Swing.

“Strawberry Swing” is a song by British rock band Coldplay. On 13 September 2009, it was released as the fifth and final single from the band’s fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008). The song was written by the members of the band and was produced by Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins and Rik Simpson. The track received mostly positive reviews from music critics who praised the infectious melody, the vocal performance of Chris Martin and the tribal influence of the production.

“Strawberry Swing” reached a position of 158 on the UK Singles Chart and reached position 5 on both the Polish Singles Chart and the Dutch Tipparade charts. The song received a stop-motion music video directed by Shynola, which was nominated for Breakthrough Video at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Coldplay performed the song on their 2008 Viva la Vida Tour, and a live version of the song appeared on Coldplay’s live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft (2009).

The song was performed in the 2012 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony, with the British Paraorchestra. R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean released a cover version of the song on his 2011 mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra to positive reviews from critics, and later performed it during his 2012 Coachella Music Festival appearance and his 2012 Channel Orange tour. Information here.

Then of course the glorious Tori Amos and the power of Orange Knickers.

From The Beekeeper Album.

• During an interview with Uncut magazine, the comment was made that it’s interesting that Amos had written a song about sin and sensuality when the biggest moral debates in the US are about abortion and gay rights. She replied: “America is such a land of extremes. On the one hand, you have this puritanical ideology that lots of people have adopted and on the other you have a huge porn industry that exploits everybody and makes lots of money.”
  
  “The thing that’s missing from both is sensuality, and I think that’s the sign of a damaged society,” she continued. “Its not healthy for sex and sexuality to always be portrayed as dirty or depraved and what it takes to turn people on sometimes shocks me.”
  
  “There are a lot of damaged women out there who can’t respond unless they take on another character because they haven’t been taught they can just be a worker bee,” Amos added. “I’m a worker bee and I love being a worker bee.”
• One of the song’s lyrics questions “who is this terrorist?” Amos explained: “I’ve followed the US administration and I genuinely believe they’ve emotionally blackmailed and manipulated the American people. We’re living in a frightening time and I wish people would wake up and realise they’re surrendering their civil liberties.”

Then of course Cherry, well it’s got to be Cherry Oh! Baby by the Stones.

• This is cover of Eric Donaldson’s 1971 reggae song. The Stones recorded Goats Head Soup three years earlier in Jamaica, but this is the most they got into reggae.
• This was the first time Ron Wood appeared on a Stones album. They were auditioning lead guitarists during Black And Blue, and while Wood only played on this and “Hey Negrita,” he was named to the band before it was released and appeared on the cover.
• The reggae group from England UB40 also covered this. It’s on their 1983 album Labour Of Love. >>
• Charlie Watts (from According to the Rolling Stones): “The reggae influence on the songs on Black And Blue came primarily from Keith… Mick was certainly into reggae. I had all those (reggae) records in France with me when we moved there and when we were recording tracks for Exile on Main St. at Keith’s house. Mick used to have them as well. I’d play him ‘Cherry Oh Baby’ or he’d play one to me. And The Harder They Come was an album Keith listened to a lot.” Information from here.

“Cherry Oh Baby”

Oh, cherry, oh cherry, oh baby
doncha know i in need of thee
you don’t believe it true
why don’t you love me, too
its so long i been waiting
for you to come right in
now that we are together
is make my joy run over

whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,…

oh cherry, oh cherry, oh baby
doncha know i in love with you
you don’t believe i know
so why don’t you try me
i’m never gonna let you down
never make you wear no frown
you say you love me madly
then why do you treat me badly

whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
yeeeaah, yeah, yeah, yeah
yeeeaah, yeah, yeah, yeah

oh cherry, oh cherry, oh baby
doncha know i in love with you
you don’t believe i know
so why don’t you try me (try me)
i’m never gonna let you down no
never make you wear no frown
you say you love me madly
then why do you treat me badly

whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
whoa, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo, eeyo
yeeeaah, yeah, yeah, yeah
yeeeaah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Apple well for me that means George Harrison and Apple Scruffs.

“Apple Scruffs” is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. It was written as a tribute to the die-hard Beatles fans known as Apple scruffs, who would wait in certain London locations where the band members were likely to appear, even long after the group’s break-up in April 1970.The recording has been noted for its Bob Dylan influence, featuring Harrison on acoustic guitar and harmonica, and is recognised as a departure from the big sound synonymous with All Things Must Pass. “Apple Scruffs” was also released as the B-side to “What Is Life“, gaining further popularity through airplay on US radio, and became the preferred side of the single in some countries.

“Apple Scruffs”

Now I’ve watched you sitting there
Seen the passers-by all stare
Like you have no place to go
But there’s so much they don’t know about Apple Scruffs

You’ve been stood around for years
Seen my smiles and touched my tears
How it’s been a long, long time
And how you’ve been on my mind, my Apple Scruffs

Apple Scruffs, Apple Scruffs
How I love you, how I love you

In the fog and in the rain
Through the pleasures and the pain
On the step outside you stand
With your flowers in your hand, my Apple Scruffs

While the years they come and go
Now, your love must surely show me
That beyond all time and space
We’re together face to face, my Apple Scruffs

Apple Scruffs, Apple Scruffs
How I love you, how I love you.

Finally The Olive Tree by Judith Durham.

Judith Durham AO (Judith Mavis Cock; born 3 July 1943) is an Australian singer, songwriter and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian popular folk music group The Seekers in 1963.The group subsequently became the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States, and have sold over 50 million records worldwide. Durham left the group in mid-1968 to pursue her solo career. In 1993, Durham began to make sporadic recordings and performances with The Seekers, though she remains primarily a solo performer. On 1 July 2015, she was named Victorian of the Year for her services to music and a range of charities. “The Olive Tree” was written by Tom Springfield, with lyrics by Diane Lampert, and Judith first sang it in a sequence of The Seekers’ 1967 … Such an amazing voice, such a lovely person.

This is part of Jim Adam’s Song Lyric Sunday.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE.