It struck me the other day that there are a lot of songs with knees in them. Yes, knees, those things in the middle of your legs. I could probably find a lot more songs if I looked it up, but I’m doing this just from memory:
When I see my small granddaughter, we sing “Head, shoulders, knees and toes.”
There’s always “Dem Bones,” the _____ spiritual based on Biblical verses from Ezekiel.
__________________________________
Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected to the shin bone Shin bone connected to the knee bone
Knee bone connected to the thigh bone
Thigh bone connected to the hip bone
Hip bone connected to the back bone
Back bone connected to the shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone
Neck bone connected to the head bone
Now hear the word of the Lord.
__________________________________
I remember the song vividly from the final episode of “The Prisoner,” which answered no questions about the show’s mysteries and infuriated so many fans that Patrick McGoohan (the star) went into hiding .
“Well I got down on my elbows” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Boy, it was killing me to remember an Eric Clapton song containing “on my knees.” Then it hit me — “Layla,” one of the ultimate rock songs.
___________________________________________
What’ll you do when you get lonely
And nobody’s waiting by your side?
You’ve been running and hiding much too long
You know it’s just your foolish pride
Layla, you’ve got me on my knees
Layla, I’m begging, darling please
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind
I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down
Like a fool, I fell in love with you
You turned my whole world upside down
Duane Allman’s stinging slide guitar propels that song into another galaxy.
BTW, the real Layla was George Harrison’s wife, Patti, who left Harrison for Clapton –“when your old man let you down”. Her maiden name was Patti Boyd and she was the blonde schoolgirl McCartney chats up on the train in “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Everything is connected!
Huxley – my dad had a whole collection of 78 rpm records that I discovered as a child. The Golden Gate Quartet was one of my favorites, and this cut was at the top – crackles and pops included.
I certainly should have remembered Layla. I know that one very well.
neo: I found “Cecilia” kept interfering when I tried to remember “Layla.” I would start to hear “Layla,” then it would switch to “Cecilia.”
Gee, Officer Krupke we’re down on our knees
‘Cause no one wants a fellow with a social disease
Gee, Officer Krupke what are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke, Krup you
Since we are coming up on Christmas: O Holy Night (“fall on your knees”).
There is a “parlor game” (does anyone else still have a parlor?) in which the goal is for people to recall and sing portions of as many songs as they can on a given topic, or containing a specific word. Our family and friends have always had a great deal of fun with it.
You don’t actually need the published game, just the idea and a bunch of paper slips with topics & words (like playing Charades), but it has a nice format and gives some team-playing and game-over structure – plus LOTS of topics & words.
Fun trivia: we played one time at a son’s wedding reception (very much pre-Covid) with a large group of our extended family and the new in-laws, most of us being card-carrying Mormons.
The topic that ran the longest was “drinking songs.”
Go figure.
“Then I’ll get on my knees and praaayyyy…
We don’t get fooled again”
We recently watched an episode of “Jeeves and Wooster” with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in which Jeeves engineers a hilarious (and desirable) outcome by tricking multiple people into singing “Sonny Boy” before a raucous crowd. The first words–which you hear many times–are “Climb upon my knee, Sonny Boy.”
This clip is a bit long, but contains the entire sequence. Hugh Laurie’s “Sonny Boy” is first.
Sorry to bring this one up again. This is a Chrissie Hynde song derived from her rape experience.
Tattooed Love Boys The Pretenders
(first stanza)
I ran twenty doors around the house
Black and blue between love boys
Tore my knees up getting tattooed
‘Cause I needed to find out what the thing was for
I remember driving around San Diego, turning on the radio and hearing that song for the first time. Holy smokes, that thing has the energy level set at 11.
Mark Steyn once commented that Valentine’s poems are restricted in that there are only five words in English that rhyme with love e.g. glove, dove. Words that rhyme with knee are more plentiful and occur often in lyrics e.g. me, bee, gee, he.
I hope you’re not counting this as a dance post !!!
Completely off-topic, but Dave Rubin has an interview with a defector from North Korea. It’s harrowing since she talk about her life in NK, her time as a sex slave in China, and HOW WE ARE GETTING MORE LIKE THOSE TYRANNYS WITH CANCEL CULTURE.
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
If you’re happy and you know it
And you really want to show it
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
______________________________________________
I just made that up based on the old children’s song. But wiki assures me it’s a known variation.
Think of how many pop songs have that phrase in the title, refrain, or somewhere in the verses. The ones that come to my mind right away:
All Night Long – Joe Walsh (Urban Cowboy soundtrack)
All Night Long – Lionel Richie
Boogie Woogie All Night Long – John Lee Hooker
Tube Snake Boogie – ZZ Top
I Was Made for Dancing – Leif Garrett
Black Water – Doobie Brothers
I think it reflects youthful defiance by the songwriter.
For all of you Parrot Heads out there…Jimmy Buffet wrote a song “Knees of my Heart”
“Bee’s knees” is a slang expression from the Roaring 20’s meaning “excellent.” I am reminded of “boss” from the 1960s. 1922 songs: Bee’s Knees.
Chorus:
It’s the Bees Knees, and just take it from me, there’s one thing I want to say
You’re going to hear it night and day, in almost every way
It’s always Bees Knees when the violin man just makes up his mind to please
And when he starts to play, that’s when you’ll say
“It’s sure the old Bees Knees”
Rather catchy, syncopated rhythm. Violin player amiming to please-Stephane Grapelli and Django. Heard Grapelli in concert.
Bee’s Knees on YouTube. A YouTube search brings up song titles, not lyrics. Disclaimer: Juice WRLD lyrics NSFW.
“Holes in my confidence. Holes in the knees of my jeans …” Duncan (Paul Simon) https://youtu.be/j59mB-7AR04
(not sure if it’s the original Paul Simon version I liked decades ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdUf3jXqcko bruises (Chairlift Live! new for me)
“I grabbed some frozen strawberries, so I could ice your bruisy knees.
But frozen things always unfreeze …”
One nice thing about these music interludes, while we wait for final legal acceptance of the almost obviously stolen election, is the discovery of different versions of liked songs. I thought bruises was great a few years, then forgot about it, then had trouble remembering it a couple months ago, and found it. Frozen strawberries that have melted into pink, and black and blue.
In this season of constant turmoil, we kneeded that.
And there are bee songs; and tree songs; and glee songs.
But I couldn’t find any ghee songs.
Any collection of songs concerning knees would not be complete without Taj Mahal’s Big kneed gal.
Let’s not forget songs that literally have knees in them – hambone!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV4NgrLPynA
When I see my small granddaughter, we sing “Head, shoulders, knees and toes.”
There’s always “Dem Bones,” the _____ spiritual based on Biblical verses from Ezekiel.
__________________________________
Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected to the shin bone
Shin bone connected to the knee bone
Knee bone connected to the thigh bone
Thigh bone connected to the hip bone
Hip bone connected to the back bone
Back bone connected to the shoulder bone
Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone
Neck bone connected to the head bone
Now hear the word of the Lord.
__________________________________
I remember the song vividly from the final episode of “The Prisoner,” which answered no questions about the show’s mysteries and infuriated so many fans that Patrick McGoohan (the star) went into hiding .
–“The Prisoner”, “Dem Bones” @ 1:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVHqTzyZ-oM
Tim
But I couldn’t find any ghee songs.
Trying to butter us up? 🙂
The first knee song that came to me. O Holy Night
“Well I got down on my elbows” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Boy, it was killing me to remember an Eric Clapton song containing “on my knees.” Then it hit me — “Layla,” one of the ultimate rock songs.
___________________________________________
What’ll you do when you get lonely
And nobody’s waiting by your side?
You’ve been running and hiding much too long
You know it’s just your foolish pride
Layla, you’ve got me on my knees
Layla, I’m begging, darling please
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind
I tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down
Like a fool, I fell in love with you
You turned my whole world upside down
–Derek and the Dominoes, “Layla”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ6m5dAef9o
___________________________________________
Duane Allman’s stinging slide guitar propels that song into another galaxy.
BTW, the real Layla was George Harrison’s wife, Patti, who left Harrison for Clapton –“when your old man let you down”. Her maiden name was Patti Boyd and she was the blonde schoolgirl McCartney chats up on the train in “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Everything is connected!
Huxley – my dad had a whole collection of 78 rpm records that I discovered as a child. The Golden Gate Quartet was one of my favorites, and this cut was at the top – crackles and pops included.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s18LfsdPUgg
Aggie: Breathtaking!
huxley:
I certainly should have remembered Layla. I know that one very well.
neo: I found “Cecilia” kept interfering when I tried to remember “Layla.” I would start to hear “Layla,” then it would switch to “Cecilia.”
Gee, Officer Krupke we’re down on our knees
‘Cause no one wants a fellow with a social disease
Gee, Officer Krupke what are we to do?
Gee, Officer Krupke, Krup you
https://youtu.be/j7TT4jnnWys
Since we are coming up on Christmas: O Holy Night (“fall on your knees”).
There is a “parlor game” (does anyone else still have a parlor?) in which the goal is for people to recall and sing portions of as many songs as they can on a given topic, or containing a specific word. Our family and friends have always had a great deal of fun with it.
It is called Encore!
https://www.boardgamecapital.com/encore-rules.htm
You don’t actually need the published game, just the idea and a bunch of paper slips with topics & words (like playing Charades), but it has a nice format and gives some team-playing and game-over structure – plus LOTS of topics & words.
Fun trivia: we played one time at a son’s wedding reception (very much pre-Covid) with a large group of our extended family and the new in-laws, most of us being card-carrying Mormons.
The topic that ran the longest was “drinking songs.”
Go figure.
“Then I’ll get on my knees and praaayyyy…
We don’t get fooled again”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q
We recently watched an episode of “Jeeves and Wooster” with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry in which Jeeves engineers a hilarious (and desirable) outcome by tricking multiple people into singing “Sonny Boy” before a raucous crowd. The first words–which you hear many times–are “Climb upon my knee, Sonny Boy.”
This clip is a bit long, but contains the entire sequence. Hugh Laurie’s “Sonny Boy” is first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU7JrcCO94g
Sorry to bring this one up again. This is a Chrissie Hynde song derived from her rape experience.
I remember driving around San Diego, turning on the radio and hearing that song for the first time. Holy smokes, that thing has the energy level set at 11.
Mark Steyn once commented that Valentine’s poems are restricted in that there are only five words in English that rhyme with love e.g. glove, dove. Words that rhyme with knee are more plentiful and occur often in lyrics e.g. me, bee, gee, he.
I hope you’re not counting this as a dance post !!!
Completely off-topic, but Dave Rubin has an interview with a defector from North Korea. It’s harrowing since she talk about her life in NK, her time as a sex slave in China, and HOW WE ARE GETTING MORE LIKE THOSE TYRANNYS WITH CANCEL CULTURE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTEDYEwfiwk
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
If you’re happy and you know it
And you really want to show it
If you’re happy and you know it, slap your knees
______________________________________________
I just made that up based on the old children’s song. But wiki assures me it’s a known variation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You%27re_Happy_and_You_Know_It
That’s right, chillun, be happy!
And who can forget, “Oh, Susanna,” by Steven Foster from 1848.
So many good knee songs. How did I miss “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Oh, Susanna,” “Gee, Officer Krupke” and “Sonny Boy”?
Good work, all.
Rainstorms In My Knees by Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zQwsAn_nMc
“All night long”
Think of how many pop songs have that phrase in the title, refrain, or somewhere in the verses. The ones that come to my mind right away:
All Night Long – Joe Walsh (Urban Cowboy soundtrack)
All Night Long – Lionel Richie
Boogie Woogie All Night Long – John Lee Hooker
Tube Snake Boogie – ZZ Top
I Was Made for Dancing – Leif Garrett
Black Water – Doobie Brothers
I think it reflects youthful defiance by the songwriter.
For all of you Parrot Heads out there…Jimmy Buffet wrote a song “Knees of my Heart”
“Bee’s knees” is a slang expression from the Roaring 20’s meaning “excellent.” I am reminded of “boss” from the 1960s. 1922 songs: Bee’s Knees.
Rather catchy, syncopated rhythm. Violin player amiming to please-Stephane Grapelli and Django. Heard Grapelli in concert.
Bee’s Knees on YouTube. A YouTube search brings up song titles, not lyrics. Disclaimer: Juice WRLD lyrics NSFW.
“Holes in my confidence. Holes in the knees of my jeans …” Duncan (Paul Simon)
https://youtu.be/j59mB-7AR04
(not sure if it’s the original Paul Simon version I liked decades ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdUf3jXqcko bruises (Chairlift Live! new for me)
“I grabbed some frozen strawberries, so I could ice your bruisy knees.
But frozen things always unfreeze …”
One nice thing about these music interludes, while we wait for final legal acceptance of the almost obviously stolen election, is the discovery of different versions of liked songs. I thought bruises was great a few years, then forgot about it, then had trouble remembering it a couple months ago, and found it. Frozen strawberries that have melted into pink, and black and blue.
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