I know that I not alone in this. Sometimes I will be simply trucking along in this rutted furrow that I am ploughing for myself when a song from long ago will pop into my head uninvited. It may stay for a few days, resurfacing every so often. And there's not a damned thing I can do about it. It's just there like somebody else's choice on a juke box.
Currently, I keep hearing a song by The Who. It was written in 1967 by the band's lead guitarist and main songwriter - Pete Townshend. I was never a great fan of The Who but I did see them twice in their heyday - including their headlining gig at Hull City Hall in February 1970. I loved them that night.
They were a tight four piece band - Townshend, Keith Moon on drums, John Entwistle on bass and singer - Roger Daltrey - who by the way is now eighty four years old. Yep - they could really rock and recorded many distinct and characterful songs like "Who Are You?", "Pinball Wizard", "Substitute" and the iconic "My Generation".
But the song that has been buzzing in my head like a bluebottle in a glass jar is "Pictures of Lily". It is an odd kind of song. The Lily in question may be Lillie Langtrey - the once famous British actress and socialite and the song may or may not have had something to do with teenage masturbation for that is one oft-repeated theory about it. Of course masturbation was never something that interested me... honest!
I used to feel so bad
I got so sick of having sleepless nights
I went and told my dad
He said, "Son, now here's some little somethings"
And stuck them on my wall
And now my nights ain't quite so lonely
In fact, I, I don't feel bad at all
I don't feel bad at all
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily helped me sleep at night
Pictures of Lily solved my childhood problems
Pictures of Lily helped me feel alright
Pictures of Lily
Lily, oh, Lily
Lily, oh, Lily
Pictures of Lily
And then one day, things weren't quite so fine
I fell in love with Lily
I asked my dad where Lily I could find
He said, "Son, now don't be silly
She's been dead since 1929"
Oh, how I cried that night
If only I'd been born in Lily's time
It would have been alright
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful
Pictures of Lily helped me sleep at night
For me and Lily are together in my dreams
And I ask you, "Hey, mister, have you ever seen
Pictures of Lily?"
I always have a song in my head. I can think of a lot better Who songs for an earworm. Anything from Tommy would suit me.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying that your earworms are better than mine Kelly? I never got to choose.
DeleteI had an earworm for several days and this morning it is so far gone I don't even remember what it was, apart from extremely annoying. I've never been a Who fan.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that masturbation theory is quite plausible.
ReplyDeleteAs I belong to a choir, I have earworms in my ears all the time and sometimes during the night as well
ReplyDeleteSo Im not alone with these crazy out of nowhere bits of music banging about the cranium! Phew! Both on the edge of madness I suppose.🤪 Its Dire Straits Walk of Life here at present.😱
ReplyDeleteFunny that both you and Steve Reed have been posting about the earworm phenomenom at the same time. When I get that, it‘s usually just a short part of a song, playing in my head on an endless loop until something distracts me enough to shut it up.
ReplyDelete