Wednesday, July 13, 2005

And if you know song lyrics

Driving home today, I heard the song “Tell Her No” by the Zombies. This song holds the distinction of being the second-most negative song (repeating the word “no”) after the Human Beinz “Nobody But Me.” But I also noticed that it might be the only top-40 song to kick off with the word “and”:

And if she should tell you “come closer”
And if she tempts you with her charms
The only other example I can think of is the beginning of “Funky Cold Medina” by Tone-Loc which starts “And we go a little something like this.” It’s debatable whether this is a lyric or just an introduction. Any other examples?

(Hey, I have a long commute. These are the kind of things I think about.)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't McCartney's "My Love" start "And when she goes away" or something like that? (my cd's are at home)
Paddy

Eric said...

Yep, there's one!

Anonymous said...

Well, it's not EXACTLY the same thing, but Joel Whitburn's 'Top Pop Records 1955 - 1972' lists 17 song titles starting with 'And'. The only ones I remembered were "And When I Died" (Blood, Sweat & Tears, 1969) & "And You and I" (Yes, 1972)

Eric said...

Yes yes and yes. I didn't even think of song titles first - how dumb is that? I'm particularly ashamed I didn't think of "And She Was." I *heart* the Talking Heads.

Joe Clifford Faust said...

Josh Joplin's "I Am Not the Only Cowboy" self-consciously starts with "and":

And it starts like this we crave to be kissed / by a moment complete in its happiness

Bruce said...

"Closer to the Heart" by Rush

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start...

Anonymous said...

"Walk Away, Renee" by the Left Banke starts, "And when I see the sign ..."