Song Lyric Sunday: The Brits Are Coming!

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As Jim tells us in his post Seismic Music Shift today’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday is the British Invasion, suggested by, er, me. I think it must have been something I said when commenting on a previous post! But after last weekend’s invitation to play some British music you may be a little puzzled: isn’t this the same thing? Absolutely not! Last week’s theme applied to any era of music, whereas this one is much more specific. A quick look at Wikipedia will enlighten you: “The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom, and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising counterculture on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.” The article goes on to say that British acts had enjoyed limited success in the US charts prior to 1964 – even though The Beatles had been tearing up charts just about everywhere else throughout 1963 – but for the period from 1964 to around 1966 you guys more than made up for it. I’ve avoided the easy temptation to play Beatles songs for this, and am instead playing three by bands who were also part of the Invasion. The first one is this:

And as this is SLS, here are the lyrics:

Well, no one told me about her, the way she lied
Well, no one told me about her, how many people cried
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there

Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there

Well, no one told me about her, what could I do?
Well, no one told me about her, though they all knew
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there

Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there

But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother tryin’ to find her
She’s not there

Well, let me tell you ’bout the way she looked
The way she’d act and the colour of her hair
Her voice was soft and cool
Her eyes were clear and bright
But she’s not there

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Rodney Terence Argent

She’s Not There lyrics © Marquis Music Co. Ltd., Marquis Music Co Ltd

She’s Not There was the debut single by the Zombies, written by keyboard player Rod Argent. It reached #12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of December 1964. It also reached #2 in Canada. The lead singer with that distinctive voice is Colin Blunstone, who went on to have a long solo career. After the Zombies Rod Argent formed his own band, simply called Argent: you may remember their big hit, Hold Your Head Up. The Zombies only had one other minor hit over here but were much more successful in the US, where they had a number of singles chart entries, including their biggie, Time Of The Season, which got to #1 in 1969 but didn’t even make the UK charts! It is outside the Invasion time frame, which is why I’m not playing it today – but it is a great song too. Carlos Santana covered She’s Not There in 1978 and actually did slightly better than the Zombies in the UK charts, peaking at #11, though he only made #27 in the US. I prefer the original, anyway!

The second Invasion song I’m playing today is from a band who had two huge hits in 1965. The first, For Your Love, reached #2 in the UK and #6 in the US. This is the second, which got to #3 in the UK and #9 in the US: I loved both of them then, and still do, but on balance I slightly prefer this one:

Lead guitar on For Your Love had been played by Eric Clapton, but he left the band because he didn’t like the musical direction it was taking. His replacement, who you can see in this video, was Jeff Beck, who died in January of this year so this is by way of tribute to one of the great guitarists of rock music. Beck only stayed with the band for about eighteen months, and their newly acquired rhythm guitarist stepped up to take lead: a chap called Jimmy Page. That is quite some set of alumni for one band!

I know I shouldn’t play too many songs in these posts, but we exported so much great music in such a short period that I can’t resist a third:

The Kinks released All Day And All Of The Night in October 1964 as the follow up to You Really Got Me, which had been a #1 here. This one got to #2 in the UK, and both songs made #7 in the US. That video may be a bit grainy from age, but you can still feel the raw power leaping out at you. Those were great times for those of us who were growing up here and beginning to develop our musical tastes. I know everyone thinks that the decade in which they grew up was the best ever for music. Unless, like me, that was during the Sixties, I think they are all wrong!

That’s it for this week. I could go on, and on, but I want to see what others are playing: there is more than enough great British Invasion music to go round!

See you on Tuesday 😊🎶

43 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: The Brits Are Coming!”

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  8. More of a fan of the first and third ones—two instantly recognizable opening riffs. I definitely would choose She’s Not There as my favorite. Thanks for not going with the obvious pick of The Beatles.

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    • Glad you had a favourite among these, Pete. I thought others would go with The Beatles – and they did – but I wanted to show there were many more good British bands around at that time.

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  10. Great tunes! I knew all but the middle one and somehow had missed hearing that one before. When you told me you would be using the British Invasion as a theme for today’s post, I fully expected at least a couple by the Beatles, so I was surprised! Good selection … brings back memories of an era.

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    • I thought these would mostly be familiar. Jim chooses a variety of themes for this link, some of which are better for me than others. This one was right up my street! I deliberately didn’t go for the Beatles, both because I thought others would and also because there were many other great bands who were part of the British Invasion. I’m glad you liked them, and they bring back memories for me, too 😊

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  12. I am always looking for suggestions Clive and your comment turned into one of those and it is working out very well. It was an important era for both the UK and the US, and I don’t think that I would even be the same person if I hadn’t listened to the Zombies, Yardbirds and The Kinks. Great music!

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    • Sometimes they do work out well, Jim. I thought you’d be on a winner with this one as there was so much great music coming out of these shores at that time. Glad you liked the choices: all were no brainers for me!

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  15. All three are rockier, grittier than what the States groups were putting out- ie: Gary Lewis’s ‘This Diamond Ring’ sort of thing- nice, clean, sterile, safe whereas the Brit stuff had a bit of snarl to it. Well, these three anyway. Hermans Hermits were a different story altogether!

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    • Glad you liked them, as I deliberately went for some rockier ones. The funny thing about Herman’s Hermits is that their two US #1s weren’t even released as singles here – they were seen as joke songs, pandering to an American stereotype of what we Brits were like. Didn’t harm their bank balance though.

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  17. I was so in love with British music, fashions and films at that time. More so than my friends. They were not surprised when I married a British fellow some years later. All great choices.

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