To Sir, With Love

But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?


It wasn’t the only career he considered. For a brief period, the young Don Black trod the boards as a stand-up comedian, at a particularly inauspicious time. “Variety was dying,” he has recalled. “I blame myself.” [1]

Don Black wrote the lyrics to “To Sir, With Love” and Mark London the music. Black revealed to the Sunday Times August 10, 2008: "It's one of the very, very few songs that I've worked on where I've written the words first. Normally, I may give the composer a title or suggest a couple of lines, but I don't like to write the whole lyric first. If you write the lyric first, you tend to ramble. You want the structure there to work against it."

In his biography, Wrestling With Elephants, Black identified a certain glint in the eye which is common to the great composers he has known and worked alongside and now he has another term for them too.

“I have called them professional dreamers and I think they are,” he says. “That’s certainly what I do – I walk around parks and sit on buses and think of these things. It doesn’t strike you at the time, but as I look back, that is what I have spent most of my life doing. And if you compound that, year after year after year, hopefully it is good for you.” [2]

 

To Sir With Love

Words and music by Don Black & Marc London © 1967

Those school girl days of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind I know they will still live on and on,
But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume.
It isn't easy but I'll try

If you wanted the sky I'd write across the sky in letters
that would soar a thousand feet high,
To Sir, With Love.

Those awkward years, have hurried by why did they fly away.
Why is it Sir children grow up to be people one day,
What takes the place of climbing trees and dirty knees in the world outside?
What is there for you I can buy?

If you wanted the world I'd surround it with a wall I'd scrall
These words with letters ten feet tall,
To Sir, With Love.

The time has come, for closing books and long last looks must end,
And as I leave I know that I am leaving my best friend,
A friend who taught me right from wrong, and weak from strong.
That's a lot to learn.
What can I give you in return?

If you wanted the sky I'd write across the sky
If you wanted the world I'd surround it with a wall
If you wanted the moon I would try to make a start

If you wanted the sky
If you wanted the world
If you wanted the moon

If you want to try

VIDEO

Don Black won an Academy Award, received five Academy Award nominations, three Tony nominations, five Ivor Novello Awards and a Golden Globe. He's written songs such as "Born Free", "Ben" (as recorded by Michael Jackson), "To Sir With Love" (as recorded by Lulu) “Sam“ (as recorded by Olivia Newton-John), and a quintet of James Bond theme songs - "Thunderball", "Diamonds Are Forever", "The Man With The Golden Gun", "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The World Is Not Enough". He's written over a hundred songs for movies such as The Pink Panther Strikes Again, True Grit, Dances With Wolves and Out Of Africa. He was awarded an *OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honors list and awarded with an Honorary Degree of Doctor Of Arts by the City Of London University. He's worked with the leading composers of our time, including Henry Mancini, Quincy Jones, Marvin Hamlisch, Jule Styne, Elmer Bernstein, Michael Legrand and Charles Aznavour. 

Don Black's official website: www.donblack.co.uk 

1. Music Week: “Don Black” 2007 June by Adam Woods
http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=2&storycode=1031246

2. Classic Bands.com: The Don Black Interview by Gary James http://www.classicbands.com/DonBlackInterview.html

Jewel, Lilith Fair and the Story Behind "Bitter"

I could slip, I could fall
In that mean and awful hall
With the other jealous bitches
And the bitter grumbling men
I could sneer, I could glare
Say that life is so unfair
And the one who made it
Made it cuz her breasts were really big.

-- Bitter (Sobule/Barone)

Everyone thought that I wrote that first verse about Jewel. I honestly didn't. I really have no beef with her. She's talented, has a nice voice, and can yodel. But I do have a story.

I was at SXSW (a music industry showcase in Austin). I had just been signed to Atlantic Records and was about to play one of those horrible shows for chatty catty record company posers -- I did not have this attitude fully developed back then. Anyway, it was a double bill with an unknown female singer/songwriter also debuting on Atlantic named'¦ Jewel.

Jewel, at that time, was this cute, slightly chubby hippie girl who sang folk songs and lived in a van (that was the story). She performed before me, as I had put out a CD on another label earlier and had more of a name (which was not saying much). As she got on stage, the jaded audience maybe looked up once, and then talked through her entire set. After her 5th song, she left in tears.

I felt so bad for her, and knew exactly how she felt. I went backstage, gave her a hug, and gave her some big sisterly advice: "It wasn't you. You were great, and they are just big assholes." I thought to myself, this poor girl is going to be so eaten up by this world of broken promises and heartache (something like that).

As bad as I felt for her, I was determined to kick some ass. I opened up with my "when it's a hostile crowd" opening number, Don't Fuck With Me. It has worked opening up Paul Weller's lager-swilling fans, Don Henley's ex hippie now Republican crowd, and even did magic with the semi-goth frat boy Godsmack show. And yes, this cheap trick worked in Austin. They shut up. I knew right then and there that I was going to be Atlantic Record's new diva. "I was gonna be a star" (said in a kind of 1930's NY Broadway manager way).

Zoom'¦ 7 months later: I was playing the Lillith Fair. This was big, this was huge. Except for the fact that I was on the second stage scheduled at 4:00. And the tickets said the show started at 4:30. My audience consisted mostly of volunteers putting out the folding chairs. On the main stage at 8:00 was... yes, Jewel.

Things had not turned out the way I had imagined.

I just want to say again, and I know I am being redundant, that I am not bitter and am happy for Jewel's success. This is not a zero sum game. I was so grateful to be at Lillith. But dang, what about me? Jewel was in a cool rock van with two lounges and a satellite dish. I was in a rented Ford Probe with my friend David. Jewel was probably at the Ritz. I was in the junkie/whore motel. Most whores do not look like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Zoom... 2 days later: Sorta bummed. I woke up with a terrible sore throat. I called the promoter, and she said there was a doctor set up in a trailer behind Stage three. As I walked in, the doctor said, "when I heard you were coming, I was so excited. I have to tell you that my two daughters adore you. They know every lyric you sing."

I was starting to already feel better. I just needed a little love. I needed to know that there were smart girls out there that appreciate good music and are not sucked in by all the crap. I needed to know that someone looked beyond I Kissed a Girl and was moved by my melodic sense and lyrical prowess. I needed someone to buy my CD. This was a sign. I could start hoping again.

As I skipped out the door, the doctor rushed out and asked if I wouldn't mind signing an autograph for his daughters. I eagerly did, while making an extra flourish on the J. As I walked out for the second time, he said, "thank you so much, Jewel."

Posted on the Lilith Fair site. A cry for help?

I don't want to get bitter.
I don't want to turn cruel.
I don't want to get old before I have to.
I don't want to get jaded
Petrified and weighted.
I don't want to get bitter like you

Like you with the darts in your eyes
You with disdain for mankind
I was charmed, now I wonder

So, I'll smile with the rest
Wishing everyone the best
And know the one who made it,
Made it cause she
Was actually pretty good



Oh, I have another little story relating to my song Bitter. Bitter was going to be the big single off my 3rd CD, Happy Town, but the label was worried that it had the word "bitch" in it (and this was way before the FCC got out of hand). They wanted me to replace "bitch" with something that Wal-Mart would be okay with. I went back in the studio and replaced the offending word with... "cunt."

I thought it was funny. They didn’t.

(Originally written by Jill Sobule for Performing Songwriter magazine Sept 2009.)

Buy at the Jill Store

Happy Town CD
Long out of print, we've rescued Jill's acclaimed 1997 album from oblivion and are offering it here for the first time in years! Plus, we're releasing the CD with its original "controversial" cover art (depicting a pill instead of test tubes). Not available in any store, this CD can only be purchased at select live shows and here on the website! Includes these fan favorites: Bitter, Happy Town, Barren Egg, Half a Heart, When My Ship Comes In, Clever, I'm So Happy, Little Guy, Underachiever, Love Is Never Equal, Soldiers Of Christ, Attic, Sold My Soul, and Super 8.

Regular price: $15.00 - ON SALE NOW: $12.00

http://www.jillsobule.com/store

“Bitter” Video

[I should point out that I work for Jill Sobule and posted this article on her FB Musician Site, which I am the administrator of. The comments below are from her site, where I first posted this. I didn't want anyone wondering why everyone thinks I am Jill Sobule!! I am taller and not as Jewish. -- Vincent]

Jill's site:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jill-Sobule/8040904099

"October in Paris” by Jill Sobule

Well, it was about a trip I took with my old French boyfriend Yves (who is now my best buddy). Anyway, we had a miserable time together. I wanted to go to the Impressionist museum, and he was the one that said, "Monet, could suck his dick". He was not fond of the Orsay museum for whatever reason. It was also miserable weather and the trains were on strike. We broke up a week later. 

Oh yes, we visited his parents who were not keen on me: American and Jewish. And he told them I was "bisexual". Why would he say that to his 80 year old old fashioned French parents? 

Now, I make him sound like a terrible person. I adore him now-but was a terrible boyfriend.  
-- Jill Sobule, March 08, 2010 in an email to me.


“October in Paris”

October in Paris 
The skies are all gray 
Walk all alone on the Champs-Elysées 
It just reminds me of our German Tanks 
Rolling through the arches 

October in Paris 
It's not a great night 
Everyone's pissy 
The trains are on strike 
It must have been better in twenty-five 
Josephine Baker and Absente 

You're absent in my life 
There's nothing I can do about it 
The more I travel, 
The more I unravel 
You're absent in my life 

It's raining in Paris 
The red traffic lights 
Stream like mascara 
defusing the sky 
It just reminds me 
How much I dislike 
Monet's Water Lilies 

And it's so pathetic 
When someone name drops 
Puts famous dead artists 
And Paris in song 
Please forgive me for 
All I've done wrong 
Today my self-worth is absent 

You're absent in my life 
There's nothing I can do about it 
The more I travel 
The more I unravel 
You're absent... 
You're gone... 
You left me in the storm... 
You're absent in my life 


This song was on her Valentine CD called "Be Mine... Please" (2000).

“Wendell Lee” by Jill Sobule

Jill and Wendell Then

 

I was thinking about old flames and where they are now. Let’s see, I have had maybe 7 or 8 (serious to semi-serious) break ups in my life. I am thinking that means you went out with them for, say, more than 3 months. So, that doesn't count Robbie Naiman, who in 6th grade, asked me to go steady in the morning, then broke up with me after second recess. It seemed an eternity. That does not include my terrible crush (a year later) on my best friend Mary Gardner, who accidentally (or was it?) touched my breasts.
 
I had not done it yet. You would have never guessed. I considered myself a rather hip girl for my age. I had a fake ID, had smoked pot, and played in a glam rock band with older guys who had suspect English accents (they were from Denver). Yet, I think, I was the last of my girlfriends to go “all the way”-fourth base. I was starting college in a week and this seemed absurd and somewhat shameful.

Second day of my freshman year at Colorado University: I thought I would find the cutest guy in our dorm, make an advance, and get over that hump.

During our dorm floor orientation, this adorable, but sort of badass looking Hawaiian boy with dark aviators and surfing shorts, walked in. 

I had not gone all the way yet with a boy, and thought... enough was enough. So, that night, after a party, I took him to an all night Denny’s for an English muffin, and the rest was history.
 
We lasted the rest of the year, but it was always pretty iffy. I was in my depressive anorectic phase, and he was the popular campus drug dealer. One of our more "romantic" moments was when I came home from class -- it was my birthday -- and he had the number 19 written in cocaine on the glass coffee table. So there are tons of Wendell Lees: a photographer, a wine dealer, a lawyer, but none seem to match.

Many years later: I spent an entire evening on the internets trying to find out what ever happened to Wendell. No luck. Not everyone has a personal vanity website, tweets, or does Facebook. After that, I started Googling other people from the past. This was not a complete waste of time as I ended up writing a song called…Wendell Lee.

The song has been out in the world (on California Years) for almost nine months. People have inquired if I have heard from Wendell.

Last week: I received an email from Wendell. He had not heard the song. I sent him the record (with a wooden dreidel –I have a ton of them left over from my holiday CD). He is, I think, honored to have a song with his name in the title. He was, however, curious about what the little wooden toy was all about. Just to let you know, he has fared better than the other exes in the song. He is still cute, has his hair, and a job.
He sent me a bunch of pictures that he took from our time together. I have not seen myself from that period in many a year. I forgot about my Loraine Newmanish perm. I forgot that despite the hairdo, I was actually kind of cute too. I never felt that way though. I was about to go into a full-blown eating disorder the following summer. Is youth wasted on the young? Nah, just let’s you reflect and write a good semi-depressing song. -- Jill Sobule

Jill and Wendell Today

“Wendell Lee”
(Written by Jill Sobule, Robin Eaton)
 
Hey Wendell, where are you now?
I searched online, but nothing found
I wonder what you done and what you become
Wendell, you were the first for me
We were both stoned and seventeen
After our date at the Denny's, we got it on
We got it on

It didn't last too long

Hey Robin, I typed in your name
Nothing came up, so I'm afraid
I'll never know exactly why you broke up with me
But it turned out okay
Met someone else on that same day
Her name was Jenny and I wrote her that song
Didn't last too long
And the list goes on

These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
I went out with
Before I met you
These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
Thought would be the one
Oh

Oh Billy, my, how you changed
You lost your hair and gained that weight
I wonder if I
Look that bad too
Have you kept up with my career?
Do you still wish that you were near?
I hope that you regret
You fucked my best friend
Marilyn
Marilyn

These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
I went out with
Before I met you
These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
Thought would be the one
Oh

Hey Alex, now what do I do?
Went on Classmates and I found you
Do I pay extra for your address and phone?
No, I leave it alone
I got a new love in my life
I think that this one could be right
If not, I'll add another verse to this song
And the list goes on

These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
I went out with
Before I met you
These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
Thought would be the one

These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
Thought would last and make me happy
These are some of the people that I (Some of the people)
Thought would be the one
Oh

Hey Wendell, where are you now?
Hey Wendell, where are you now? 

 

Video for “Wendell Lee”

 


 


 

Even Jews Get The Blues On Christmas

“Even Jews Get The Blues On Christmas”
by Michelle Lewis

[Michelle’s song has become one of my holiday favorites. That startled faces of the people as they open the door as I’m caroling is fantastic. It fits nicely into my “Sorry About Your Crappy Childhood” theme week besides... I couldn’t wait ten months to post it.]

Vincent: Another great song, Michelle. I particularly like:

Christmas Eve, I'd lie in bed awake
Listening for reindeer
Praying hard that Santa could make one mistake

I can just see a little kid in bed muttering, "Please, please, please," over and over.

Michelle: Ha! I'm so glad you got the visual, Vincent!
I spent several years as a kid trying to figure out how exactly Santa could discern the kids who celebrated Christmas from the ones who didn't. I decided Santa must have something like superpowers - telepathy and an acute sense of smell (to smell the cookies left out for him). The debacle that followed involved a Ouiji board, an Easy-Bake oven, a smoke alarm and our next door neighbor's wreath. This resulted in my parents having to debunk the whole Santa fantasy for me once and for all.

Pathetic, but true story.


On being Jewish at Christmas-time...

War on Christmas? Feh!

Not here in my neck of the San Fernando Valley, where literally every house, and I mean, EVERY house on the block has lights up, including my own. I might add that several families inside those houses on my block are Jewish, um, including my own. No one wants to be the buzz kill, I guess.

Some big faker on Fox news thought he could create some kind of anti-PC frenzy by fanning this non-story. But ask any Jewish person you know - it ain't so.

Christmas still kicks the ass of any other December holiday. I don't EXPECT any one to look at me and say "Happy Chanuka" in all seriousness... in fact... I'd probably think they were f**king with me if they did. "Merry Christmas," "Happy Holidays"... it all sounds like "blah blah blah blah blah." It's just something retailers say this time of year instead of ‘have a nice day." I know, I know, you want to put the "Christ" back in Christmas. If you care that much about the religious part, why not wish me a happy Day of the Second Assumption as well, huh? You won't - because it's all about Christmas, The Season.

Yeah, I get really ornery about this whole "war on Christmas" nonsense. The phrase "Happy Holidays" may seem like an attack on all-things-Christian to Bill O Reilly, but from where I stand, it's a tiny little nod to the possibility that other holidays exist. That's all. No one is trying to undermine the awesomeness of the day, believe me. That would be like shooting spitballs at the sun.

Personally, I'm looking forward to having the day off with nothing to do but watch movies and order Chinese take out.




"Even Jews Get the Blues (on Christmas)"


Middle of December
Feeling a familiar malaise
Tinsel in the windows
Red and green for miles
And I'm down for days

So much something over nothing to do
But a lame blockbuster movie and some Chinese food...

Even Jews Get the Blues on Christmas
Even Chanuka babes feel the crush
We all eat too much, don't drink enough
And pray for New Years Day
Even Jews get the blues on Christ.... Mas

Back when I was younger
Christmas Eve, I'd lie in bed awake
Listening for reindeer
Praying hard that Santa could make one mistake

But I'm finally accepting my plight
Either marry me a Catholic or give up the fight

Even Jews Get the Blues on Christmas
Even atheists and Muslims feel the pain
Of the endless whines, the last on lines
And so much left to do
Even Jews get the blues on Christ.... Mas

Chanuka Shmanuka, everyone knows it's Christmas-lite
As if candles and latkes are meant to be some consolation prize
Though I can't spin a dreidle, I know all the verses to Silent Night

Even Jews Get the Blues on Christmas
Even Buddhists could lose all their zen
From the crowded malls, the decked out halls
On someone else's day
Even Jews get the blues on Christ.... Mas
And I'll sing the songs, it won't be long
Cause Santa's on his way (but not for me)
Even Jews get the blues on Christ.... Mas


MP3 of “Even the Jews Get The Blues..” available here.

“Winter” by Tori Amos

Amos explained this song concerning thoughts about her father and failed aspirations to Rolling Stone: "The 'White Horses' are your dreams. That doesn't really say it. Opportunities? Roads that you thought you would go down and haven't experienced, and all these potential experiences are gone now. Those doors are closed. And imagination — the belief that your imagination can take you to places. The magical world having gone from your world, which to me there's nothing more painful than that — when you can't access your magical world. There was a moment when I thought I was too young to not be able to access that anymore. But I've noticed over the years that a lot of teenagers feel locked out of that world. They don't know how to get back anymore because in trying to become an adult you feel like you have to circumcise the magical world." -- Song Facts


"Winter"

Snow can wait
I forgot my mittens
Wipe my nose
Get my new boots on
I get a little warm in my heart
When I think of winter
I put my hand in my father's glove
I run off
Where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice
"Your must learn to stand up for yourself
Cause I can't always be around"
He says
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear

Boys get discovered as winter melts
Flowers competing for the sun
Years go by and I'm here still waiting Withering where some snowman was
Mirror mirror where's the crystal palace
But I only can see the myself
Skating around the truth who I am
But I know dad the ice is getting thin

When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change my dear

Hair is grey
And the fires are burning
So many dreams 
On the shelf
You say I wanted you to be proud of me
I always wanted that myself

He says
When you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses have gone ahead

I tell you that I'll always want you near

You say that things change My dear

Video for "Winter"

Good Enough by Sarah Mclachlan

"Good Enough"
by Sarah McLachlan

Bill DeMain: What was the inspiration behind "Good Enough?"

Sarah: A lot of things. That song has been such an amazing experience for me because I've learned so much from it. There's so many different stories that I attach to it now. But it sort of came from, initially really missing my best girlfriend. It started out as fiction, about a couple in which the woman was pretty much alienated by just about everybody, because her husband was really abusive and domineering, which sort of somewhat mirrors my mother and father's relationship. And basically, I am the friend coming in, saying hey, you deserve more than this, why don't you come with me and I'll take care of you. The video that I'm going to do for that song is the first sort of dramatic narrative that I've done. Everything else has been pretty abstract, trying to find a parallel universe to describe it differently. But we're going to have a little girl, a man and woman, and a friend, possibly an imaginary friend. We're going to look at the relationship between the little girl and her friends and also between the mother and the little girl. And there's quite a bit of alienation from the father, who's been behind the scenes the whole time anyway.

Bill DeMain: Are songs an act of discovery for you?

Sarah: Yeah, and sometimes long after the fact. Going back to "Good Enough," one of the things I was focusing on was don't tell me why he's never been good to you, don't tell me why nothing's good enough. For a couple years, every time I'd see my mom, I'd say, you know, you deserve more, you deserve to be happier than you are. Why are you putting up with this? Basically telling her that the only thing she knew sucked. So she never wanted to see me, and I wondered why. I couldn't understand it, then I wrote that song. Around the same time, I tried reverse psychology and didn't hassle her anymore and just accepted that she had accepted. Then she opened up. She completely changed and she started saying, I'm not going to accept this anymore, I'm changing this and this and this. It was fantastic, because I wasn't beating it into her, she was doing it on her own. That song taught me that. I have a lot of emotional attachment to that song.

-- Sarah McLachlan Finds Her Own Walden Pond by by Bill DeMain

(www.taxi.com/faq/songwriting/mclachlan.html)


"Good Enough"
Sarah McLachlan

Hey your glass is empty
it's a hell of a long way home
why don't you let me take you
it's no good to go alone
I never would have opened up
but you seemed so real to me
after all the bullshit I've heard
it's refreshing now to see
I don't have to pretend
she doesn't expect it from me

Don't tell me I haven't been good to you
don't tell me I have never been there for you
just tell me why
nothing is good enough

Hey little girl would you like some candy
your momma said that it's OK
The door is open come on outside
no I can't come out today
it's not the wind that cracked your shoulder
and threw you to the ground
who's there that makes you so afraid
you're shaken to the bone
and I don't understand
you deserve so much more than this

So don't tell me why
he's never been good to you
don't tell me why
he's never been there for you
don't you know that why
is simply not good enough
so just let me try
and I will be good to you
just let me try
and I will be there for you
I'll show you why
you're so much more than good enough.

Video for "Good Enough"