Light On Dark Water

The Drifters: Save the Last Dance For Me

Weekend Music

I thought I had posted this earlier this evening. Apparently there is a way to abandon a post in TypePad without a draft having been saved. 

 

As I was saying earlier: a good song is one that's good no matter who's singing it. By that standard, an awful lot of rock groups have written very few good songs. The vocals and the arrangement here are great, but the song would still be enjoyable sung by anyone who can carry a tune. And the good ones usually make you want to sing them. This is basically a three-chord song, and I picked up my guitar and had everything but the bridge worked out in a couple of minutes. I can barely carry a tune at all, but if I practiced this a bit people could hear it and say "that's a good song" even as they looked for things to throw at me. That's not true of an awful lot of rock songs–think of most of the Rolling Stones' work, for instance.

13 responses to “The Drifters: Save the Last Dance For Me”

  1. Louise

    Very interesting Maclin, I’m sure you’re right.

    Reply
  2. Louise

    And I love your comment about a good song making you want to join in! That would make a neat rule of thumb.

    Reply
  3. Mac

    Not that I plan to prove the point by posting my version.

    Reply
  4. Louise

    LOL!

    Reply
  5. Louise

    I really did laugh at your last comment, but somehow I also find it really touching to think of someone in his house all the way over in Alabama working out the chords to the song and singing along. And then to think that all over the world there are people in their homes singing along to good tunes right now. That’s a happy thought.

    Reply
  6. Marianne

    Thanks for posting this; it’s one of my favorites. And love the bit about people looking for things to throw at you — I think my daughter’s wanted to do that all her life every time I’ve burst into song!

    Reply
  7. Mac

    There’s a touching and potentially very sad story behind the song. One of the writers, presumably the lyricist, was crippled by polio and the song was based on his wedding day.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Save_the_Last_Dance_for_Me

    Reply
  8. Jeff Woodward

    Mac —
    It’s a three-chord song except in Emmylou Harris’s revelatory cover of it. Listen to the introduction of a minor chord at the line “If she asks….”
    As succinct an example of musical genius as I’ve ever heard.
    http://youtu.be/vwsxFjONXIA

    Reply
  9. Mac

    Beautiful. I like the way the solos bring out more of the Latin flavor, too.
    Even apart from things like the minor that you mention, what real musicians actually play probably has more variety than the basic E-A-B7 that are enough for me to make it work.
    (I took the liberty of cleaning up your edits–hope that was ok.)

    Reply
  10. Sally Thomas

    I love this song. And I love the idea of anyone, anywhere in the world, singing along with it. (oh I know! yes I know!)

    Reply
  11. Mac

    “that the music’s fine…” That was enough to start me humming it again as I walked the dogs just now.

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  12. Beth

    How about the opposite, someone with an amazing voice (think George Jones) who sings awful material, but you still enjoy hearing it?

    Reply
  13. Mac

    I’m having trouble coming up with an example for myself. I guess it happens sometimes with pop music. I mean, I know I’ve said “I don’t like that, but I have to admit that the singer has a really good voice.” (“That guitar player is really good,” etc.) But in those cases I don’t really enjoy it, in the sense that I want to keep listening to it. George Jones is an interesting example: I’ve often thought about conventional Nashville country music that a whole lot of talent, vocal and instrumental, goes into producing some fairly awful music.

    Reply

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