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Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).
Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...
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About 5 weeks ago, I was meditating (which I do daily as a part of my Spiritual upkeep) when I heard my Brother playing a song in the other room. I vaguely recognized it and it rekindled memories of the early 1960s for me, even though I hadn't heard the song since I was a child. 'We'll Sing in the Sunshine' was a 1964 hit song written and recorded by Gale Garnett and, for me, it's quite an earworm!
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When I finished meditating, I sought out my Brother and asked him, "What was that song you were playing? Something about SUNSHINE?" When he told me the title, I immediately decided that it would be my April BOTB song.
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I became a (Maverick) Christian after having a profound Spiritual experience in the afternoon of April 6, 1994 on the second floor of this Los Angeles apartment:
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| Yeah, that's (stuffed) Muddy McDogg waving from the second floor window of the room where Jesus Christ converted me from a sinner into a... sinner who is going to Heaven. |
God literally sent me back to Los Angeles from Arizona because of how often I used to tell people, "God doesn't exist in L.A.". God disagreed. And He sent me back to L.A. for the sole purpose of discovering Him there. Uhp! I was an idiot!!
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'We'll Sing in the Sunshine' is an odd song. The verse lyrics seem to belie the cheery chorus and the overall cheerfulness of the melody. Even so, somehow, there's something in me that Spiritually responds to this song. If I don't focus on the verses too closely, this feels to me like it's a Gospel song. And that's why I'm presenting it in the month that represents my 28th-year anniversary as "a surrendered rebel".
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| The Sidewalk Cafe (exterior), Los Angeles - Venice Beach Boardwalk. |
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| The Sidewalk Cafe (interior), Venice Beach boardwalk. |
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| Full Plate @ The Sidewalk Cafe. |
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| Happy |
Below are two cover versions of this song for you to choose from. I wanted to go in a different direction with this song, so I selected two male performers, even though the original hit was written and performed by a female (for those who still believe in distinctions such as "male" and "female").
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We'll Sing In The Sunshine -- Eddy Arnold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgQI2D6-HZU
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We'll Sing In The Sunshine -- Trini Lopez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucTqdQ-0vh8
.Please vote for your favorite of these two recordings, and then please be sure to visit the other BOTBers list-linked in the right margin of this blog. Pssst! Over there somewhere ----->
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I'll return here on the 8th of April to cast my own vote and tally the Results for ya. Sing in the sunshine and Have A Nice Day
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
I used to love this song when I was a kid. You've put an interesting spin on your interpretation of this song. I'd always heard that it was about a prostitute or a woman who was taking advantage of a man for a short spell. Actually I think I heard that come from Gale Garnett herself on some TV show. But I can see how your interpretation could work.
ReplyDeleteI love the original and I think the song works much better with a female singer. It just didn't seem right coming from a male singer. Trini's version is just too--ah--sunny? I don't think he gives it the proper treatment.
Therefore I must go with Eddy Arnold's version.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out Battle of the Bands
BOIDMAN ~
DeleteI recently watched a video of Gale Garnett yakking about this song and she didn't mention a prostitute. Plus, I don't think too many men could afford a prostitute every day for a year.
And my hope is that the couple in this song eventually married until death did them part. In other words, I'm hoping the woman changed her mind. (I've heard they occasionally do that.)
Yes, the overwhelming cheerfulness / happiness being conveyed in the chorus and melody seems, to me, unobtainable, at least until Christ returns and changes the entire world.
It's funny that you think the song works better with a female singer. Because when I began listening to it again about 5 weeks ago, one of my first thoughts was that it seemed more like a man's song. I mean, until recent times, anyway, WHO was generally more likely to "love 'em and leave 'em", and WHO was more likely to be disinclined to settle down and commit to a permanent relationship, men or women? Men, naturally.
So one of the oddities about this song which struck me early on was that Gale Garnett wrote and sang what seemed to me to be more of a man's perspective, at least way back in 1964.
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
When I heard the song explanation I was probably about 13 or 14 so I might have some of the connotations wrong, but it was clear to me even then that they were referring to what at the time would have been a non-traditional not very acceptable relationship to others. I do recall some controversy regarding the song, but they never took it off the air. I was just reading about Gale Garnett and the article said her father was a carnival worker. The advice in the song sounds like it might have come from a carnival worker.
DeleteTo me the song just makes more sense sung by a woman. ("Don't you love you any man" works better metrically than "...any woman"). And the more unconventional philosophy for the time the song was written makes it more striking than some man feeding a line to a woman just to get some.
But the song has a nice melody so anyone who has a decent voice can make it sound pretty good.
Lee
>>... Gale Garnett... her father was a carnival worker.
DeleteYeah, that might explain a few things.
The one thing I do agree with you about is that metrically (because of the rhythm the original song employed), "man" works better'n "woman" does. But all these 1960s male singers had to do was change the word to "gal", rather than "woman" and - voila! - problem solved. I guess I'm just smarter'n Eddy and Trini (1C4:7). Granted we would lose the rhyming of "man" and "can" in the verse, but no one (other than perhaps Bob Dylan) would likely even notice. And, to my ears, the extra syllable in the meter seems more glaring than a single non-rhyming verse would be.
Otherwise, the proposal (message) of the song most definitely seems to convey an average 20th Century male's perspective more so than that of a standard 20th Century female's perspective. And, as I previously stated, this is one of the things that makes the song rather peculiar for its time.
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Hi Stephen T.!
ReplyDeleteThose golden leaves are beautiful. I appreciate this song a lot more now than I did in my youth. I used to think it was sad. Now I applaud the rational acceptance of an unavoidable outcome.
I like Eddie Arnold's version best.
The Sidewalk Cafe looks like a great place for breakfast!
Howdy, dIEDRE!
DeleteThanks a million for stopping by with your bote! I appreciate you taking the time, my friend!
The Sidewalk Cafe (right on the Venice Beach boardwalk) was always one of my favorite places to meet my friends for B.C. (Breakfast Club). Great food and even greater atmosphere! It was always like going to the circus for breakfast. Ha!
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
It's been dreary, dull and snowy here-the snow doesn't stay as it's that wet blecchy kind of snow so hearing the sun coming in sounds good to me. I like the happy face you made with what was left of your food. I like Trini's voice and style regardless of the lyrics so Trini gets my vote (and maybe a dirty dozen others).
ReplyDeleteBIRGIT ~
DeleteGot snow? [Link> Do THIS!
Thanks for your two cents in the kitty!
Just think how happy that plate would have been had I also ordered a Bloody Mary! ;-)
>>... "Trini gets my vote (and maybe a dirty dozen others)"
Ha!-Ha! I see what you did there. Goot juan!
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
I am going to agree with everyone that I currently see has already commented. As you say. this is a weird song: the melody belies the lyrics. AND like Lee, the lyrics make more sense coming from a female singer. But like Birgit, I like Trini's voice and style regardless! So I'm voting for Trini-baby.
ReplyDeleteThat meal at the Sidewalk Cafe looks pretty good! It made me hungry. I suspect that in L.A. nowadays that breakfast would be $22.50... and rising!
Sixgun McItchyfinger
SIXGUN McITCHYFINGER ~
DeleteI don't really understand why Lee - and you, too - feel the lyrics of this song make more sense coming from a female singer. Huh? Wha-?! (See my reply to Lee above.) Because, to me, the lyrics seem much more like the general male's perspective, and especially back in 1964, before "this world" morphed into whatever it is today.
As for the breakfast, it was my standard "back in the day" at The Sidewalk Cafe. I ALWAYS ordered the [Link> Garcia Lorca which was $10.95 in about 2018. Yes, you're right, it's probably about $22.50 today. And don't forget the $106.99 in gas it would take to drive to the beach from a few blocks away.
Breakfast is getting too darned expensive, McBrother!
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
Oh, Stephen T. I just typed a whole bunch of words here and then lost them by (accident) which means by my stupidity. And I'm too tired to retype everything, so I'll just say, my vote is for Eddy Arnold because his version is the lesser icky one! :)
ReplyDeleteHokey-Smoke! BECKY-O!! ~
DeleteYou've actually posted a BOTB vote! Wonders never cease. I never thought I'd live to see this day.
Well, I'm Pickled Tink that you came by and deposited your two cents into the BOTB kitty. Now, didn't that feel good?
>>... icky
Icky?!
Icky, as in roller skating in the sun on the beach boardwalk with a Dairy Queen milkshake?
Or icky as in two non-married adults sleeping together for a year and then going separate ways?
Well, like I've said, it *IS* a weird song. It's kind of like a combination of those two things: Two non-married lovers roller skating in the sun on the beach boardwalk with Dairy Queen milkshakes, and then going their separate ways after a year is up.
I guess I'd call it "semi-icky". (I know of a beer, however, that's called 'Icky' but it's not. But that's a story for another blog bit.)
Thanks for stopping by and contributing, Becky-O!
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Al Bondigas here. Damn you Stephen, I've had this song running through my head for 2 weeks now and I can't shake it. It's a good song and I seem to like every rendition I've heard, whether male or female. As far as this battle goes I'm slightly rulin' fer Eddie Arnold. Can a judge make a slight rulin'? Anyway, rulin' fer Eddie Arnold. That's it, that's muh rulin'.
ReplyDeleteJUDGE AL ~
DeleteYou the one what started the earworm trouble, punk! Had you not played this song that day when I was meditating, this wouldn't be happening right now.
>>... Can a judge make a slight rulin'?
Can a person believe in God just a little bit?
;^D
Thanks for coming by with a rulin'.
The voting in this Battle is so minimal that every vote carries some significant weight.
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Typical Stephen. This song belonged to a woman, and then you took it away from her and gave it to two white males, even though one of them isn't white and we can't assume Eddy's gender, because I'm not a biologist. But still.
ReplyDeleteI want to side with Eddy. After all, even though everyone else is misspelling it, he's a Maverick who spelled his name with a Y instead of a pedestrian I (like someone else I know). But ultimately I love Trini's voice, and that pace he creates is just wonderful. It's such a lively, upbeat song, and I can feel the sunshine.
Give my bote to him. Uh, her. Xer.
J S-A ~
Delete>>... This song belonged to a woman, and then you took it away from her and gave it to two white males
You know me! I'm just a Neanderthal from prehistoric times who was brainwashed by the Patriarchy. There's no turning back for me now!
I'm pleased as Spiked Punch that you stopped by with a bote.
What we have so far is a 4-3 contest, so it's anybody's Battle to take. Voting is awfully slow, but there's still enough time for Trini to stage a minor comeback.
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Hey Stephen T. - My meaning of "icky" in my comment is that out of the 2 singers in this battle, Eddy is the least offensive as far as voice and talent go. :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm....
DeleteI thank you for the clarification, BECKY-O!
I guess that was the only possibility that hadn't occurred to me. Or... perhaps there are still MORE possibilities that haven't yet occurred to me.
I truly HATE the fact that I have *NO* idea how dumb I may just be... unbeknownst to me.
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Howdy McCarthy!
ReplyDeleteLook what the breeze blowed in- a vote from little'ol me!
Just wanted to pop in before it was too late to share my opinion with you and your beloved readers, and to let you know I am still on the correct side of the dirt.
I really like your little spin on the tune, and I agree it's a great earworm! I've learned in the past few years that life seems to go a whole lot smoother when there's a smile on your face and some peo in your step. An example of this would be the difference between the procedure of having my biopsies done and when I had my port installed. In the previous mentioned situation, the staff was a bit grumpy, and the experience rough. I actually cursed and swore through the entire process. In the latter mentioned procedure, the staff played classic rock and sang and danced through it all. It was over all too soon and was such a pleasant experience.
Now, about this here battle. Can't we all just get along? Mr Arnold had the right amount of tempo, but Mr Lopez seemed to rush the song as if he only had little space left on the vinyl to fill.
I found Mr Arnold much more pleasing to my ears and therefore I am casting my vote for him.
Life is good here. Have not had any side effects from the drugs, aside from a little fatigue, but I will take that over nausea and diarrhea any day of the week! (And no, not touching those nasty tasting apricot kernels! doing just fine with my protein shakes and regular real food!) Even lost 20 lbs - nope not going to go find them either!
Have a joyful sunshiney day! Let your heart rejoice and sing unto the Lord!
-MMQE
Howdy, MMQE! ~
DeleteGlad to hear you're still standing on the Northern side of the dirt.
>>... I really like your little spin on the tune, and I agree it's a great earworm! I've learned in the past few years that life seems to go a whole lot smoother when there's a smile on your face and some peo in your step.
Where do ya get that peo? I just came from Walmart and asked about it but none of the employees knew what aisle it was on. But then, you know Walmart!
>>... Mr Arnold had the right amount of tempo
That's because he shops at Safeway, where the employees are able to tell him what aisle the peo is located in.
>>... And no, not touching those nasty tasting apricot kernels!
Well, as the old saying goes: You can lead a horse to tequila but you can't make him sober up!
>>... Even lost 20 lbs - nope not going to go find them either!
I think they're in the peo butter & jelly aisle at Safeway.
>>... Have a joyful sunshiney day! Let your heart rejoice and sing unto the Lord!
He don't wanna hear me sing, Mary. Ain't NOBODY got time for THAT!
I appreciate you coming by with two cents for kitty!
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
Yo S-Man,
ReplyDeleteListening to some of Gale Garnett's outtakes, she wrote some gems that were trimmed from her final version.
My daddy he once told me
"Hey, yank him, crank him
And don't stay around to thank him"
And when our time has ended
Remember me this way
I didn't love you and leave you
I pleased ya and then caught amnesia
And a verse makes me think the song was written for a woman vocalist:
I will never love you
The cost of love's too dear
And I can't see you ever
Making six figures a year
From the contenders' versions... Eddy Arnold is so laid back he makes Perry Como seem alive. So when I then listened to Trini Lopez, his song was jarring, too busy. However, going back to listen to Lopez without the Arnold lead-in... I found Trini's version much better than Arnold's. Upbeat, smooth, and his vocals have an Elvis quality throughout.
Cheers and a round of Coronas,
G Dogg
Sinnah! Sinnah!
DeleteChicken Dinnah!
I'll have more to say tomorrow, after I've stopped laughing.
~ D-FensDogG
'FERRET-FACED FASCIST FRIENDS'
G-DOGG ~
Delete>>... And when our time has ended
Remember me this way
I didn't love you and leave you
I pleased ya and then caught amnesia
Yeah, I think this version was used as the theme song for 'As The World Turns', wasn't it? Or maybe I'm confusing it with 'Days Of Our Lives'. I can't remember now.
>>... I will never love you
The cost of love's too dear
And I can't see you ever
Making six figures a year
Yes, clearly this outtake from an earlier version of the song proves once and for all that it's written from a woman's perspective. I stand corrected. Well, I lie on a fainting couch, corrected.
Which leads me to this:
>>... Eddy Arnold is so laid back he makes Perry Como seem alive.
GOL! I know you knew that line would immediately remind me of [Link> THIS! Funny stuffs, McFriend!! Thanks for curing my amnesia and for the laugh!
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
Kind of a melancholy song, but one I like. Both versions are superb, so I consulted Urim and Thummim, and Thummim won, except I don't know which was Urim and which was Thummim. So I'll vote for Trini Lopez.
ReplyDeleteJOHN ~
DeleteGuffaw-:^Out-Loud!
After 28 years of very deep, serious, intricate Bible study, I still have not encountered a single definition or even speculation about "Urim and Thummim" that satisfies me.
At this point, I strongly suspect that it's loosely based on an ancient Israelite named Urim, who was hitchhiking his way from Jerusalem to Jericho but nobody would stop their ass and offer him a ride.
However, when one can't thumb a ride on an ass, they should just pay the money and buy a ticket to ride the... Trini.
(Yeah, I know I'm going to hell for this comment, but it was still worth it! ;^)
~ D-FensDogG
LEARN THE HOLY BIBLE IN 15 MINUTES!
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POSTSCRIPT: My God & Creator has a sense of humor. How do I know this? Because HE invented IT!
POST-POSTSCRIPT:
DeleteNevertheless - make no mistake about this! - there's nuttin' the least bit funny about "GI JANE". (Don't make jokes 'bout *that*, if'n ya know what's good for ya!)
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'
And Stephen,
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! Looks like I may be able to live down the slap heard around the world thanks to Will Smith. Protly not though. Good battle, I've got that song way in the back of my head too. I like Trini's version better. Trini brings a little bit more energy than Mr. Arnold. Boy did he change alot from then to Green Acres.
JW,
Pooooooooooh!
...AND, POOH, THAT'S NOT ALL!...
DeleteYeah, I think mayhaps your "slap heard 'round the world" has finally - decades later - taken a back seat to "the slap SEEN 'round the world".
And, yeah, Arnold finally grew up. Got better looking later, but some missed his curly tail, so I'm told.
Thanks for spiking the BOTB punch, Poooooooh!
~ Stephen
DogGtor of Alcohology &
King of Inebriation Nation
ATTENTION PEOPLES!
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in seeing the final vote tally for this 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' installment and my closing thoughts on it, you can put the following URL into your browser:
https://stmccpresentsbattleofthebands.blogspot.com/2022/04/botb-results-2022-april-1st-or-eddy.html
~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'