As the Rutles once sang, "Love is the meaning of life/Life is the meaning of love." On the other hand (to paraphrase Woody Allen), satire is one thing, but bricks & baseball bats can really help you get your point across. But seeing as how I'm non-violent (unless poked) I'll opt for a third way: the old cleverer-than-thou-song-selection-with-badly-punctuated-commentary-giving-cathartic-release-with-comedic-results maneuver. For that, my friends, is the Driftwood way. And who in their right mind would ever take issue with that? (Oh, right...). Anyhoo, Irene Reid is a native of Savannah, Georgia (where some of my forbears once tromped) and was a singer with Count Basie back in the day. She recorded this in '01. The lyrics are credited to Joe Tex, though Google seems to think Bette Midler wrote it (?). It's been done by a bunch of folks, including Big Maybelle (Mabel Louise Smith, native of Jackson, Tennessee) and it's also the title of a Goodie Mob cd. It's probably one of those songs that's been around forever, and no one really knows who wrote it.
Once in a while, a song just presents itself to you, as if to say "I'm the right tune for the occasion." I think this pretty much sums it up. In fact, we may want to adopt it as our ancillary motto.
P. S. Here's Big Maybelle's version, recorded in 1954 and credited to R. McCoy & C. Singleton (to make things even more confusing). It's got a nice gritty sound, and it's shorter and to the point, but it's lacking that great line about "fresh cash" that I love.
1 comment:
Needless to say, I tremble before the higher truth of timothytang. But hell if that'll stop me from chipping in my $.02:
This song title is used as a lyric in a Roots track (The Seed 2.0) off of 2002's Phrenology, appearing in the middle of the first verse, one of Blackthought's best:
"Knocked up nine months ago
And what she finna have she don't know
She want neo-soul 'cause hip-hop is old
She don't want no rock n roll
She want platinum or ice and gold
She want a whole lotta somethin to fold
If you a obstacle, she'll just drop you cold
'Cause one monkey don't stop the show"
as you were...
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