It saddens me to think that some people will simply look at these lyrics without hearing the actual song and even worse not knowing the story behind the song and just see it as fluff that's so cheesy it makes McCartney look like Dylan.
This song is brilliant satire.
See to keep the story as short as possible.. The Turtles wanted to start doing more experimental records, because they were inspired by the stuff The Beatles and other bands had been doing, but the label was basically like, "no.. keep churning out those simple pop tunes."
Elenore is pretty much the result of the writer being like "So they want cliched simplistic pop songs, eh? Let's give 'em the most cliched simplistic pop song ever!"
The "You're my pride and joy etcetra" line is ingenius and pretty much the key point in recognizing that this song is sarcastic. Who the hell would write a "serious" love song that instead of name a person's traits and all, simply said "etcetera"?
I heard an interview with some of the band members and the higher-ups at White Whale, their record company kept saying, "We need another hit, boys! Write another hit.", so they wrote this to appease them, and happy/sadly, up the charts it shot.
I heard an interview with some of the band members and the higher-ups at White Whale, their record company kept saying, "We need another hit, boys! Write another hit.", so they wrote this to appease them, and happy/sadly, up the charts it shot.
@modestmaus The Turtles didn't limit their spoof of lyrics to this song. Near the end of "Happy Together" they include "How is the weather?" a complete non-sequitur that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. It poked at another popular song lyric which had the inane line "I love you no matter the weather". Also, The Doors ended their hit song "Light My Fire" with the last bar a lift from a jingle of an Ajax detergent commercial: "stronger than dirt".
@modestmaus The Turtles didn't limit their spoof of lyrics to this song. Near the end of "Happy Together" they include "How is the weather?" a complete non-sequitur that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. It poked at another popular song lyric which had the inane line "I love you no matter the weather". Also, The Doors ended their hit song "Light My Fire" with the last bar a lift from a jingle of an Ajax detergent commercial: "stronger than dirt".
@modestmaus It's essentially self-parody, a cynical rewrite of "Happy Together". The band assumed that their label would reject it, but they didn't. The result was a hit single that the band themselves didn't expect.
@modestmaus It's essentially self-parody, a cynical rewrite of "Happy Together". The band assumed that their label would reject it, but they didn't. The result was a hit single that the band themselves didn't expect.
It saddens me to think that some people will simply look at these lyrics without hearing the actual song and even worse not knowing the story behind the song and just see it as fluff that's so cheesy it makes McCartney look like Dylan.
This song is brilliant satire.
See to keep the story as short as possible.. The Turtles wanted to start doing more experimental records, because they were inspired by the stuff The Beatles and other bands had been doing, but the label was basically like, "no.. keep churning out those simple pop tunes."
Elenore is pretty much the result of the writer being like "So they want cliched simplistic pop songs, eh? Let's give 'em the most cliched simplistic pop song ever!"
The "You're my pride and joy etcetra" line is ingenius and pretty much the key point in recognizing that this song is sarcastic. Who the hell would write a "serious" love song that instead of name a person's traits and all, simply said "etcetera"?
Plus it has a great hook/melody.
Hear, hear!
Hear, hear!
I heard an interview with some of the band members and the higher-ups at White Whale, their record company kept saying, "We need another hit, boys! Write another hit.", so they wrote this to appease them, and happy/sadly, up the charts it shot.
I heard an interview with some of the band members and the higher-ups at White Whale, their record company kept saying, "We need another hit, boys! Write another hit.", so they wrote this to appease them, and happy/sadly, up the charts it shot.
@modestmaus The Turtles didn't limit their spoof of lyrics to this song. Near the end of "Happy Together" they include "How is the weather?" a complete non-sequitur that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. It poked at another popular song lyric which had the inane line "I love you no matter the weather". Also, The Doors ended their hit song "Light My Fire" with the last bar a lift from a jingle of an Ajax detergent commercial: "stronger than dirt".
@modestmaus The Turtles didn't limit their spoof of lyrics to this song. Near the end of "Happy Together" they include "How is the weather?" a complete non-sequitur that has nothing to do with the rest of the song. It poked at another popular song lyric which had the inane line "I love you no matter the weather". Also, The Doors ended their hit song "Light My Fire" with the last bar a lift from a jingle of an Ajax detergent commercial: "stronger than dirt".
Sorry, not Light My Fire, but Touch Me Baby.
Sorry, not Light My Fire, but Touch Me Baby.
@modestmaus It's essentially self-parody, a cynical rewrite of "Happy Together". The band assumed that their label would reject it, but they didn't. The result was a hit single that the band themselves didn't expect.
@modestmaus It's essentially self-parody, a cynical rewrite of "Happy Together". The band assumed that their label would reject it, but they didn't. The result was a hit single that the band themselves didn't expect.