If you’re ever giving someone CPR, they say that you should do it to the tune of Staying Alive so, if you memorize this song, you’ll be able to save a life. That’s the type of helpful information that we happily provide to our readers free of charge here at the Shattered Lens.
According to the YouTube description, this from the “One for All Tour” Live concert at the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne 1989, Australia.
Enjoy!
Yes, it’s April Fools Day. I guess today’s song of the day is the obvious choice but no matter! (Don’t start any jokes today that you can’t finish.)
I started a joke which started the whole world crying
But I didn’t see that the joke was on me oh no
I started to cry which started the whole world laughing
Oh If I’d only seen that the joke was on me
I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me
I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no that the joke was on me
Songwriters: Barry Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb
The video is from 2024, the song is a bit older.
Enjoy!
Today’s Valentine’s Day song of the day is my favorite song of all time, performed by the wonderful Yvonne Elliman.
I don’t know why I’m surviving every lonely day
When there’s got to be no chance for me
My life would end, and it doesn’t matter how I cry
My tears of love are a waste of time
If I turn away, am I strong enough to see it through?
Go crazy is what I will do
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah
Can’t let go, and it doesn’t matter how I try
I gave it all so easily to you, my love
To dreams that never will come true
Am I strong enough to see it through?
Go crazy is what I will do
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah (I’m in love with nobody)
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, no
(Lyrics by Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb / Barry Alan Gibb)
Today, we wish a happy birthday to singer, songwriter, and actress, Yvonne Elliman!
Along with playing Mary Magdalene in both the original stage and film version of Jesus Christ Superstar, Yvonne Elliman also performed the best version of my favorite song (and today’s song of the day), If I Can’t Have You!
This is one of the few songs that I can actually sing all the way through without losing the tune but Yvonne’s version is definitely superior to mine.
I don’t know why I’m surviving every lonely day
When there’s got to be no chance for me
My life would end, and it doesn’t matter how I cry
My tears of love are a waste of time
If I turn away, am I strong enough to see it through?
Go crazy is what I will do
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah
Can’t let go, and it doesn’t matter how I try
I gave it all so easily to you, my love
To dreams that never will come true
Am I strong enough to see it through?
Go crazy is what I will do
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah (I’m in love with nobody)
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, oh
If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby
If I can’t have you, ah-ah-ah, no
(Lyrics by Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb / Barry Alan Gibb)
Enjoy!
Yes, everyone, I am still in a 70s-type of mood. I imagine this will be the case for the rest of January. Once February comes around, I’ll probably be in a Canadian mood so get ready for a lot of songs off of the Degrassi soundtrack.
Anyway, this video is for Jive Talkin’, which was I guess one of the Bee Gees’s earliest disco songs. (Apparently, they were originally a non-disco band, which I just can’t imagine what that was like. Yes, I know that it would be very easy for me to listen to their non-disco music. That’s not the point. The 70s are all about disco and dancing. The 70s didn’t need any folk rock.) Jive Talkin’ is one of those songs that feels like it should have been written for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack but it actually came out two years before that film appeared in theaters. That said, it does appear in Saturday Night Fever. Unfortunately, the song did not appear in Stayin’ Alive. That’s a shame since that film was all about jive and I think Frank Stallone could have done wonders with it.
Enjoy!
For the past few days, I have been driving everyone around the TSL Compound crazy by continually playing and re-playing the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Though no one will admit it, I’m sure that they’ve all got the lyrics of I Can’t Have You memorized by now. We could probably start a Bee Gees cover band if we wanted to. And really, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t! Leonard can play bass, I’ll sing, Jeff can drum, Erin can play the sitar, it’ll be great!
Well, today, I thought maybe that we would take a break with another Bee Gees song that was covered by Yvonne Elliman, Love Me. While the Bee Gees version of the song didn’t get much attention, Yvonne Elliman’s cover was a huge hit and it probably played a role in the Bee Gees later writing How Deep Is Your Love for her. Of course, the Bee Gees later ended up performing How Deep Is Your Love for Saturday Night Fever while Yvonne recorded If I Can’t Have You. It can be difficult to keep track but the important thing is that everyone got recorded eventually.
Enjoy!
Love me; just a little bit longer
Love me
I remember times my love when we really had it all
You were always there to make me smile, help me when I fall
Ooh, I can’t believe you’re leaving me
When there’s so much more to say – I can’t let you go
Ooh, every time I look at you I still can feel the glow
Let it be, let it grow
Love me please, just a little bit longer
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Love me please, just a little bit harder
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Ooh, all I ever wanted was to have you to myself
Then I see you standing there in the arms of someone else
Ooh, you know a girl can stand so much
And it’s more then I can bear – I can’t let you go
Ooh, every time I look at you I still can feel the glow
Let it be, let it grow
Love me please, just a little bit longer
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Love me please, just a little bit harder
Never even try to see things my way
It’s hard on a woman when love ain’t no love at all
And when you walk away – you probably will
You’re gonna be sorry, I’m begging you; please
Love me please, just a little bit longer
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Love me please, just a little bit harder
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Love me please, just a little bit longer
Together we can make it
Our love is much too young to break it
Seeing as how I’ve spent the first few days of 2022 sharing music videos for danceable hits of the 70s, you had to know that I was eventually going to get to this one. The name of the song is Night Fever and not, as is often incorrectly assumed, Saturday Night Fever. Saturday Night Fever was the movie for which this song was recorded. Night Fever indicates that the fever can hit any night, not just on a Saturday.
This video was apparently shot in 1978 but the Bee Gees didn’t release it until 2004. I’m not sure why that is. Perhaps all of the seedy motels gave the wrong impression about what the band was singing about. Or maybe they just decided that John Travolta in that white suit was a better visual representation for what the Bee Gees were all about. I will note that the same year this video was produced, the Bee Gees appeared in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band so, obviously, they weren’t too concerned with looking slightly silly.
The video was shot in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Supposedly, most of these motels have since been torn down. That’s a shame as I think every resort town needs to have at least one strong row of seedy motels. When my family lived in Colorado, we lived just a block away from some of the seediest motels known to man and whenever we would go back to visit our cousins in Colorado, I would always make it a point to see if the motels were still there. They were. They probably still are. It’s been a while since I’ve been to Colorado.
Anyway, it’s a good song. If it doesn’t make you want to dance, I don’t know what to say. You may just not be a dancer. But it’s never too late to learn!
Enjoy!
“This is a very spiritual song. The listeners have to interpret it themselves – trying to explain it would detract from the song.”
— Robin Gibb on I Started A Joke
“When he passed away we went out, they took the equipment away and we came back in. I picked up my phone and found ‘I Started A Joke’ on YouTube and played it. I put the phone on his chest and that was the first time I broke down. I knew that song and its lyrics were perfect for that moment. That song will always have new meaning to me now.”
— Robin-Jon Gibb, son of Robin Gibb, discussing his father’s death
Of course, this song really isn’t about a joke. Instead, it’s told from the point of view of someone who has unintentionally said something so wrong and/or offensive that it has lost him all of his friends. When he tries to laugh it off, they get upset at him for not taking it seriously. When he gets upset over being abandoned, they laugh at his pain.
This music video, from 1968, features Robin Gibb singing the song while surrounded by laughter, tears, and questions marks. The video was filmed in Brussels by French television director Jean-Christophe Averty and originally aired as a part of the Idea TV Special, a Bee Gees-centered program that aired in Europe.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 