What's the CORNIEST song you love?

[Dogmudgeon]

I don't mean comic or humorous songs, I mean songs that express feelings or ideas that you'd otherwise be embarassed to admit to. Come on, there's more than just Afternoon Delight.

For instance, this one ...


ARIEL
Dean Friedman

Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia
I met a young girl, she sang mighty fine
"Tears On My Pillow" and "Ave Maria"
Standing by the water fall in Paramus Park
She was working for the Friends of 'BAI
She was collecting quarters in a paper cup
She was looking for change, and so was I

She was a Jewish girl, I fell in love with her
She wrote her number on the back of my hand
I called her up, I was all out of breath
I said, "Come hear me play in my rock and roll band"
I took a shower and I put on my best blue jeans
I picked her up in my new VW van
She wore a peasant blouse with nothing underneath
I said "Hi",
She said, "yeah, I guess I am"
Ariel ...

We had a little time, we were real hungry
We went to Dairy Queen for something to eat
She had some onion rings, she had a pickle
She forgot to tell me that she didn't eat meat
I had a gig in the American Legion hall
It was a dance for the volunteer ambulance corps
she was sitting in a corner against the wall
She would smile and I melted all over the floor
Ariel ...

I took her home with me, we watched some TV
Annette Funicello and some guy going steady
I started fooling around with the vertical hold
We got the munchies, so I made some spaghetti
We sat and we talked into the night
While channel 2 was signing off the air
I found the softness of her mouth
We made love, the bombs bursting in air
Ariel ...

Way on the other side of the Hudson
Deep in the bosom of suburbia
I met a young girl
She sang mighty fine
"Tears On My Pillow" and "Ave Maria"


Let's see yer Fripp or yer Moby try that! And count the NYC references while yer at it.

--bkl

[HEyHEY]

1. Man this is embarassing

.....we built this city

[rockymountaindem]

2. Winchester Cathedral

by the New Vaudeville Band. I don't know all the words but it's a great whistling tune.

[Dogmudgeon]

4. Here they are

Presenting the lyrics to ...

Winchester Cathedral
The New Vaudeville Band
(Geoff Stephens)

Winchester Cathedral
You're bringing me down
You stood and you watched as
My baby left town

You could have done something
But you didn't try
You didn't do nothing
You let her walk by

Now everyone knows just how much I needed that gal
She wouldn't have gone far away
If only you'd started ringing your bell

Winchester Cathedral
You're bringing me down
You stood and you watched as
My baby left town

Oh-vo-de-o-do
Oh-vo-de-o-do
Oh-vo-de-o-do
De-do- duh

--bkl

[Throckmorton]

28. Hitch'in a ride, by Vanity Fair

A thumb goes up, a car goes by
It's nearly 1 a.m. and here am I
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Gotta get me home by the morning light

I got no fare to ride a train
I'm nearly drowin' in the pouring rain
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Gotta get me home to my baby's side

Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride

Long distance call I got today
She sounded lonely so I'm on my way
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Gotta get me home, keep her satisfied

Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride

A thumb goes up, a car goes by
Oh, won't somebody stop and help a guy?
Hitchin' a ride, hitchin' a ride
Been away too long from my baby's side

Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride

Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride

Ride, ride
Ride, ride
Ride, ride
Ride, ride

[LSdemocrat]

3. Two: "I want to know what love is" by Foreigner and

"Open Your Heart" by Madonna

[SarahB]

5. "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper

Popped into my head seeing other 80's stuff.

[LastKnight]

6. i believe in a thing called LOVE! by the darkness

funny as hell, that and some cool guitar licks and solos in that song...

-LK

[Fenris]

7. You should hear "Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman"

That thing is goddamn hilarious. The chorus is:

GETCHA HANDS OFFA MY WOOOMAN MOTHERFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKER!

Genius, man, genius.

[LastKnight]

8. i have heard it...

and the rest of the CD... i was surprised that a joke band was actuially that good, they have more talent than alot of the serious acts out there.

-LK

[HEyHEY]

9. I've heard that - usually live and not in music form

badoom cha!

[LastKnight]

10. do they go into a high falsetto when saying it?

get your hands off my wooooman (high falsetto part...) MOTHER FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKER!

i wish people talked like that on a daily basis... would make things more interesting

-LK

[HEyHEY]

11. Stick around it's bound to be cool eventually

[mykpart]

12. God help me,

it's the Rainbow Song that Kermit sings in The Muppet Movie!

Another favorite is "You and Me Against the World" by Helen Reddy.

[Misunderestimator]

20. How cute.

and I love the Helen Reddy song too.

[hedgetrimmer]

13. High Hopes by Frank Sinatra.

[non sociopath skin]

14. Speaking of which, remember "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door" ...

by Eddie Hodges, the kid who sang with Sinatra on "High Hopes"?

Well, I still often find myself humming it in unguarded moments.

45 is still probably in the junk room somewhere, too.

The Skin

[RoyGBiv]

15. Can't believe I'm actually going to post this...

Coward of the County
Kenny Rogers

It worked its way into my soul during a particularly poignant (read - melodramatic) moment during my childhood.

[eleonora]

16. Montana by Frank Zappa

Yippy-Ty-O-Ty-Ay!

[arwalden]

17. Car Wash - Rose Royce

[arwalden]

18. Popcorn.

[terrya]

19. "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" - Leslie Gore.

It's Marvin Hamlisch's first song, it's unbelievably corny and I love it.

Terry

[arwalden]

21. Sunshine Day -- The Brady Kids

[BlackVelvetElvis]

38. That's MY song!

I sing to it in the car a couple of times per week.

[Champ]

22. I have no idea

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

23. "Lover Why" by Century

And no, I never lost a loved one the way the lyrics say, but it gets me moody.

A sign of time
I lost my life, forgot to die
Like any man, a frightened guy
I'm keeping memories inside
Of wounded love

But I know
I'm more than sad and more today
I'm eating words too hard to say
A single tear and I'm away
Away and gone

I need you
So far from hell, so far from you
'Cause heaven's hard and black and gray
You're just a someone gone away
You never said goodbye
Why, lover why ?
Why do flowers die ?
Why, lover why ?

Everytime
I hear your voice, you heard my name
You built the fire, wet the flame
I swim for life, can't take the rain
No turning back

I need you
So far from hell, so far from you
'Cause heaven's hard and black and gray
You're just a someone gone away
You never said goodbye
Why, lover why ?
Why do flowers die ?
Why, lover why ?

Why, lover why ?
Why do flowers die ?
Why, lover why ?

[Sticky]

24. The Unicorn Song

by The Irish Rovers

... whenever I hear it.

[arwalden]

25. "I'll Blow You A Kiss In The Wind" -- Serena / "The Iff'n Song" -- Serena

[RebelOne]

26. Puff the Magic Dragon

lives by the sea.

[AngryAmish]

27. To Sir With Love

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. TarzanBoy- Baltimora

[southpaw]

50. Oh hell yeah...

Tarzan Boy rules... brings to mind Ninja Turtles and bottles of Listerine swinging through the jungle...

[Hand]

30. Your Wildest Dreams...

A real tear-jerker for old 60s kids, believe me!



Your Wildest Dreams - Moody Blues

Once upon a time
Once when you were mine
I remember skies
Reflected in your eyes
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams

Once the world was new
Our bodies felt the morning dew
That greets the brand-new day
We couldn't tear ourselves away
I wonder if you care
I wonder if you still remember
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams

And when the music plays
And when the words are touched with sorrow
When the music plays
I hear the sound I had to follow
Once upon a time

Once beneath the stars
The universe was ours
Love was all we knew
And all I knew was you
I wonder if you know
I wonder if you think about it
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams

And when the music plays
And when the words are touched with sorrow
When the music plays

And when the music plays
When I hear the sound I had to follow
Once upon a time

Once upon a time
Once when you were mine
I remember skies
Mirrored in your eyes
I wonder where you are
I wonder if you think about me
Once upon a time
In your wildest dreams

[tigereye]

43. that song always reminds me of my frosh year

at college. My homesick roommate always played it at bedtime. I like that song.

[Hand]

52. Yep...

I really like it, too. It reminds me of my late adolescent quasi-hippy days... So much so that I actually spent a couple of hours finding my girlfriend from those days and re-establishing contact after 33 years. (Fortunately, we're both married and settled, but it was sure cool to run into her again.)

[mac56]

31. "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies.

"It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones.
"Danke Schon" by Wayne Newton.
"Carefree Highway" by Gordon Lightfoot.
"Midnight Confessions" by the Grass Roots.

[Philostopher]

32. I love this one, too, BKL.

Downloaded it years ago when Napster was still up and running. That and my other one -- 'Magic' by Pilot.

I didn't feel bad about chipping them, by the way. At the time, I'd looked all over for copies of the originals and couldn't find them in record stores, so I downloaded them. I also downloaded Sparks' 'I Predict' which wasn't in print at that point. Mr. Nownow downloaded me a good rip of it off Itunes, recently -- I still don't think Dean Friedman and Pilot are on there, though.

Oh, and by the way -- did you know Dean Friedman has a web site?

http://www.deanfriedman.com

Apparently, he's been doing stuff for video games and soundtracks in recent years.

[Dogmudgeon]

33. Thanks!

It's a pretty good website, too, and I enjoyed reading through it.

From reading through DF's lyrics, it looks like he could be the long-lost Father Of Twee.

In my own callow and wasted youth, I wrote songs in a similar vein as Friedman. We even looked high and low for sheet music to "Ariel", but it was passed its peak then, and none of us were able to get the chord changes right. We never had a full band assembled, but could usually get a bassist and/or a drummer to gig with. Generally we played for suburban metalheads and proto-punk-techno-geeks. It was worth it just to watch the expressions on their faces! But they never booed or threw stuff -- I think they were astounded that it was possible to sing about the things we sang about.

One problem with Friedman's download stuff, though -- $15 for a digital format album? I'm glad he's selling the CDs, though they are a tad pricey (but the completist set is discount-priced and probably the way to go for the Friedman fan). Well, I suppose in a year or two, economic reality will set in vis-a-vis downloaded music.

And, by the way, don't feel bad about downloading music. Downloaders buy about four times as much "legal" music as non-downloaders; the laws against DLing were written entirely by the music industry, anyway, and such laws will probably have a short life in the legal canons. (Paying for laws is like bribing judges IMHLO.)

If I had a buck for every individual song I downloaded and then went out and bought the album for, I'd have enough money for that ear operation I need to fix my hearing!

Anyway ... maybe I'll make a list of the "corny" (or "proto-twee") stuff I like and post it tonight.

Thanks again!

--bkl
Time to have the old spandex suit let out again, y'think?

[bif]

34. "My Heart will go one" theme from Titanic

I know it's total schmaltz. but for some reason I still like it.

[gpandas]

35. i'm as corny as kansas in august, high as the..

flag on the fourth of july... i was brought up on the famous musical comedies,and still can't get rid of the songs

[Dan-W]

36. Rhinestone Cowboy.

[bigwillq]

37. 'Hey Mickey'

In the movie Man on Fire, it's heard on the radio in Spanish.

[arwalden]

39. Afternoon Delight

[fightthepower]

40. If I had a million dollars

Barenaked Ladies

[JohnLocke]

41. "Yankee Doodle" (nt).

[Taverner]

42. I am PROUD to like the Carpenters!

Pretty much everything they did. They may have been syrup sweet pap, but it was GOOD syrup sweet pap!

But for songs, it has to be "For All We Know" or "We've Only Just Begun"

[tigereye]

44. shudder not my thing

but to each their own.

Mine are Sweet Child O Mine
A folk song called Old Love
and Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez

[Dan-W]

45. I am proud, too.

To say I like the Carpenters. Karen had a special voice. There's another thread on "Best lead Singer in a Rock Band"... my vote was Burton Cummings. I love those two voices. P.S. Checkout some Burton "solo".

-Dw

[m-jean03]

46. Theme to "Family Ties":

Tears me up all the time.

[Norbert]

47. I Told Every Little Star by Linda Scott

I like that song and I'm proud to say it.

[x-g.o.p.er]

48. We had joy, we had fun, we had

Seasons in the Sun, baby!!!

[latebloomer]

49. Hey, she's a "Friend of BAI"?

Me, too! And I know Paramus Park Mall!

Who's Dean Friedman, anyway?

My song-- "The Rose"-- it was my wedding song and I blush to admit that I love it.

[Dogmudgeon]

56. Who's Dean Friedman?

You must surf to the website of Dean Friedman NOW!

Do it!

--bkl

[Tom_Foolery]

51. THE BIRDS AND THE BEES by Jewel Akins n/t

[gmoney]

53. Achey Breakey Heart...

Don't tell my heart, my Achey Breakey Heart...

[Kat45]

54. "I Think I Love You" - the Partridge Family

And I never even watched the show when it was on; I was older than their demographic. But there's something about that song...

[TroubleMan]

55. "Jam On It" by Newcleus

I still love that song.