Be My Girl

Be My Girl

Day comes, night comes, on and on, it rolls along
Darling I can hardly find the heart to keep going on
Rise up, lie down, on and on, round and round, 
Never getting even til you leave it all on the line
We've been fightin' and crying through the tragedies of somebody else's world
But I can see something in your eyes
And if you just try to be my girl, you might be surprised


Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Too many cold and old-feelin' the lonely, lonely, long nights alone

Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Come on and hold the only lovin' lonely lover that you'll ever know
If you'll be my girl

Dog days, white nights, on and on, it rolls along
Morning coming on me like a warning from the other side
Downtown, uptown, on and on, round and round
Every evenin' I can find believin' in another lie
We been  fightin' and flyin' in the face of this lying, racin' world
But I can see something in your eyes
And if you just try to be my girl, you might be surprised

Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Too many cold and old-feelin' the lonely, lonely long nights alone

Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Come on and hold the only lovin' lonely lover that you'll ever know
If you'll be my girl

Darling I can hardly find the heart to keep going on

Love comes, love grows, on and on, the loving flows
Running like you're coming to the lovin' from a hungry time
We've been fighting and trying to get by in this madman mixed up world
But I can see something in your eyes
And if you just try to be my girl
You might be surprised

Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Too many cold and old-feelin' the lonely, lonely long nights alone

Can't you see,
Can't you see,
I just want you to be my girl
Come on and hold the only lovin' lonely lover that you'll ever know
If you'll be my girl

Theresa's comments

Jamie gets first writing credit because he came up with the chorus, "Can't you see, can't you see, I just want you to be my girl" which is the hook.

Kevin wrote all of the other lyrics and sang the song but it wouldn't have existed without Jamie coming up with that hook.

There is no bridge and not much of an outro (about the same outro as in “And I Love Her”, see previous post).

I think that's why Kevin left off a first line on the third verse, for a bit of a change up, because otherwise it's just verse/chorus times three.

Begging For Mercy

Begging For Mercy

Lyrics

My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees
She got me begging for mercy but crying for more
My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees.
And before she's finished, I'll be down on the floor

She's got me comin' and go-o-in, keeping me up so many late nights
Got me hangin' at the sort of places you wouldn't go to twice
So tired, so tired, so tired, yeah

My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees
She got me begging for mercy but crying for more
My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees
And before she's finished, I'll be down on the floor

My lady is a harsh mistress, she picks you up and she won't let go
Shakes you 'til your bones are a-quiver, you can't stop because you love her so

I come home red-eyed and wound up tight, that girl won't let me sleep
My minds a-whirling from the rock-n-roll rhythm
She's got her hooks in deep.

My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees
She got me begging for mercy but crying for more
My baby's got me, oooh my baby's got me down on my knees.
And before she's finished, I'll be down on the floor

Outro

My baby's got me,
My baby's got me,
My baby's got me,
Down on my knees.
My baby's got me down on my knees
My baby's got me down on my knees
She's got me begging for mercy
My baby's got me
My baby's got me
My baby's got me
Down on my knees.
My baby's got me
Down on my knees.
My baby's got me
Down on my knees.
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
My baby's got me

Theresa's comments

The lines in bold at the beginning are repeated throughout and would be considered the hook.

Jamie came up with the lines and the melody to those lines but I wrote most of the rest of the lyrics and Kevin wrote the bridge, if I remember correctly.

Not all songs have bridges, but many pop songs do - it's where, in the middle of the song, the chords and melody change and it "bridges" between the verses and chorus.

For example, in the Beatles' song, "And I Love Her", the hook, for me, are the chords of the intro and outro (the way the song ends). There isn't really a chorus in the song, just "And I love her" at the end of each verse. Then the song goes into the bridge "A love like ours Will never die As long as I have her near me" and then the instrumental where they actually change keys, going up either a half step or a whole step. And then it goes back to a final verse (though remaining in the changed key) and the outro. The outro is the chords of the intro repeating a few times and then ending on a major chord.

And I Love Her

The outro (the end of the song) in Begging For Mercy is mostly the way you show it but early on in it, I'm singing:

She's got me comin' and goin'
She's got me down on my knees
She's got me begging for mercy
She's got me saying please

And then Jamie and I start doing oohs while the My baby's got me Down on my knees continues on.

Many songs don't have outros, they just get the volume turned down and that's how the song ends. "Whiter Shade of Pale" for instance. Skip to the last 30 seconds and you'll see it essentially has no outro: Whiter Shade of Pale

"Begging For Mercy" can be viewed as a metaphor for what music does to a musician.

In my case, the only thing it did to me was make me tired because practice often went very late, and then I had to drive home. And if we played at a bar, it could be 3 AM before I got home. But I didn't live the life of touring, etc. I don't know that the metaphor of the song is accurate for even most musicians but it makes for an interesting song so there's that!

Bad Habits

Bad Habits

Lyrics

I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on, yeah
I got bad, bad habits going on

Guitar riff

I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got bad habits going on, yeah
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on, baby
I got bad, bad habits going on, yeah
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got high, high, high baby in the middle of the parking lot
I got love, love, love baby in the back seat of my car
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going on
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going
I got bad, bad habits going on
I got bad habits going 

(farting noise)

Theresa's Comments

The chorus in a song is most likely the hook. I think the hook is what gets a song stuck in your head, so it could actually be a guitar lick or bass line also.

Jamie is Captain Hook. "Bad Habits" is just one long hook.

I first heard the term hook in a movie, “Uptown Girls”. The main character is the daughter of a musician. When a guy she's hooked up with plays her a song on his guitar, she tells him it needs a hook. Later, he hits it big and she sees him in a music video with that song and the song suddenly changes to a chorus, “Sheets of Egyptian cotton” which were the kind of sheets she had on her bed and she says to the TV, “He found the hook!” I have no idea why that has stuck with me for 16 years, but there you go. I guess it was the “hook” of that movie, for me.

Uptown Girls, scene 1
Uptown Girls, scene 2

Planting Moon

Planting Moon

Lyrics

It's getting on to bedtime, an evening in May
The cattle are lowing, ending the day
Shadows in the dooryard, a young bride and groom
The chores are all tended, they're watching the moon

And the sweet prairie breeze sings in the trees
Minnesota with springtime in bloom
But the glow in the sky cannot match the eyes
Of Andrew and Clara, beneath the planting moon.

Cold Christmas morning, happy little sounds
Candy and presents spread all around
Andrew and Clara, watching from the door
Children and treasures on the living room floor

Because the sweet prairie breeze sang in the trees
Minnesota with springtime in bloom
But the glow in the sky could not match the eyes
Of Andrew and Clara, beneath the planting moon.

And the sweet prairie breeze still sings in the trees
Minnesota with springtime in bloom
But the glow in the sky cannot match the eyes
Of one boy and one girl beneath the planting moon.

Theresa's Comments

The only Christmas song we ever played was a version of Elvis's "Blue Christmas". One time I took my Christmas carol songbook to practice and we sang carols that one night but we weren't much for Christmas music otherwise.

The song, "Planting Moon" is the only Rockthrow song I can think of that mentions Christmas, which is in the second verse. This song was about Kevin's grandparents, Andrew and Clara. I didn't do anything on the recorded version, but when we played it live, I used my keyboard to play the accordion part. It's a sweet little tribute.

Here is a picture of Andrew and Clara that was included on the album

Nervous

Nervous

Lyrics

None

Theresa's Comments

And as for guitar solos, Kevin was good at doing instrumentals, but they weren't the screaming, metal sounding things that I usually associate with "guitar solos". Here's a song that is mostly just Kevin on guitar - this song was one of Bevin's favorites and he would always request that Kevin play it at the end of one of our gigs, so Jamie and I would start tearing down the gear and Kevin would play this song, aptly titled "Nervous" it is fast-paced and staccato, like someone on a lot of caffeine. On this recorded version, I play the Jew's Harp in some spots which is making that boing boing sound in the middle.

Get your Rockthrow World Tour TShirt at a fine clothing store near you. Supplies are limited.

Insurrection

Insurrection

Lyrics

It's a long and tortuous path to Dawson
The Yukon's waitin', over the Chilkoot pass
And I can hear that Klondike gold a-calling
But I just call it reaching for the past

An insurrection in my heart keeps me running on and on
An insurrection keeps me on the long, long road to my home

It's a kind and virtuous woman I'm leavin'
The young child's growin', another in two month's time
And I know that she'd marry me for loving
But I just wanted something new to try

An insurrection in my heart keeps me running on and on
An insurrection keeps me on the long, long road to my home

It's a harsh and perilous life that I'm livin'
A lean-to shelter, the cold mud for my bed
And I spent all my color just for whiskey
And a turning of a thieving, heartless head
Oh doesn't time pass slowly
Until you realize its gone
Maybe we won't feel so holy
Once the years pass along

An insurrection in my heart keeps me running on and on
An insurrection keeps me on the long, long road to my home

Theresa's Comments

Kevin wrote a very nice song, "Insurrection", about the gold rush in Dawson City (1D in the Thurs. NYT puzzle of May 23, 2018 puzzle). When we performed this live, I would sing a harmony with Kevin on the verses but when we recorded it, I just sang harmony on the chorus along with Jamie and it's hard to hear my voice - it's kind of buried. Jamie has a naughty mind, and in the first verse, where the line goes "I just call it reachin' for the past", Jamie, at practice, said he always mentally heard, "I just call it reachin' for my ass". So when we performed that song, we tried very hard to not look at each other when that line came up so we didn't laugh - it's not a funny song!