Often copied, never bettered…
JOE continues our look at some of our favourite all-time classic songs with one of Quentin Tarantino’s musical muses.
Artist, album and year: Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis, 1968
Why is it a classic? In lyrical terms, we can all relate to that moment of total infatuation with someone else, especially that euphoric mix of nerves and excitement when you’re around someone that makes your heart beat a little bit faster.
What’s brilliant is how the brass builds and builds as the lyrics in the opening chorus get more and more heated. All this without even mentioning the incredible languid, smooth and seductive beat that runs throughout the song from the opening note until the last.
Did you know? : The song was originally offered to Aretha Franklin who turned it down.
Also, Dusty Springfield’s mother came from Kerry which might explain her extremely Irish Christian name, Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien.
The lyrical hook: “Billy Ray was a preacher’s son, And when his daddy would visit he’d come along”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjydOI4MEIw
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