I love putting on the Big 60s, 70s, 80s Singalongs at our local heritage theatre, Penistone Paramount. The Singalongs remind me of some of the epic Vancouver Ukulele Circle meetings when I led 200-plus strummers from the stage of the St. James Hall. The event itself goes by far too quickly so it’s a good job that I also relish the months of preparation in the lead up to it. This includes the disagreements over choosing which songs to sing…
The audience buys tickets to sing along with a live band while reading the lyrics on the cinema screen. We get through about 23 songs. Picking them can be a conundrum. Obviously, you need “bangers” (that great British term for songs guaranteed to kick-start any party). Songs also need to be family themed. A song like Come On Eileen, for example, has a perfectly catchy chorus but other parts are lyrically challenging and have unusual tempo changes. On further inspection it also has lyrics that are not completely family friendly for our big screen.
Disagreements over songs rise up for unlikely and unexpected reasons. I thought Remember You’re a Womble was a universally loved song here in Britain. Not so. There are some, it seems, who hate The Wombles and find the costumed characters triggering. Another source of debate is over which version of a song to use. The Tide is High is one. Do we do the Blondie version that most people know, or do we stay true to the original 1967 take by The Paragons?
A song that has generated much discussion this time around is Let’s Stick Together by Bryan Ferry. It has a great groove and nice interplay between harmonica and sax. It’s basically a blues. When I suggested the song to a band member who works on some arrangements with me he dismissed Bryan Ferry’s 1976 rewrite of the 1970 Canned Heat hit (called Let’s Work Together) as being a “dog’s breakfast” of a lyric. He basically said he would only work on it if we did the Canned Heat version.
You can check them out for yourself:
Listen to Bryan Ferry’s Let’s Stick Together on Youtube
Listen to Canned Heat’s Let’s Work Together on Youtube
I listened to both and Let’s Stick Together kept winning for me. But why? They are the same song. The only difference is in the lyrics.
Let’s Work Together implores every boy, girl woman and man to work together but it’s never made clear what all these men, women and children are supposed to be working towards. It’s a pleasant hippy ideal but completely unspecific and so I wonder if that is the reason it comes across to me as a muddier lyric?
The chorus of Let’s Stick Together has a double negative that renders it barely understandable as English, “You know we made a vow to leave one another never”. But despite that, or maybe because of it, these lyrics seem to fit the groove better. And it’s a much stronger sentiment. We clearly know what this song is about: a plea from one spouse to another to stick to the marriage vows, if only for the child.
I think this pointed message also lends the song an extra power over the vague sentiment of Let’s Work Together.
As I was mulling all this over and wondering whether to can the song altogether, I got a surprising apology from the band member who had poured disdain on Ferry’s version. He told me that both songs were written by the same person. Let’s Stick Together was the original version but it didn’t get released because the writer, Wilbert Harrison (of Kansas City fame), had been in a contract dispute with his label. Harrison later rewrote the song as Let’s Work Together.
Here are both of Harrison’s versions:
Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Stick Together on youtube
Wilbert Harrison’s Let’s Work Together on youtube
Which one do you think packs the most punch by having the more powerful groove and stronger emotional impact? You may disagree with me but I still think it is Let’s Stick Together.
It goes to show that song-writing is a strange alchemy. Many lyrics that seem trite, childish or just plain wrong on paper can pop with power when they are sung. There are thousands of great songs with ridiculous lyrics but, despite their seeming senselessness, this is part of what made those songs timeless hits.
Next time you write a song don’t be too quick to replace your poorly thought-out spontaneous lyrics for “better” ones.
Keep Strumming and Smiling,
Ralph
PS. Here are my favourite “awful” lyrics that I would not change:
Elenore, gee, I think you’re swell
And you really do me well
You’re my pride and joy, et cetera
– The Turtles
(It turns out you can use et cetera as a lyric!)
“I am”, I said, to no one there
And no one heard at all, not even the chair.
– Neil Diamond
(So, tell me Mr Diamond, how long has your chair been listening to the conversations you have with yourself?)
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
– Bob Dylan
(But Bob, you just called him a man.)
Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed
Someone’s taken my place
– Simon & Garfunkel
(Really?!!!)
© Ralph Shaw Music 2025