Tag: Story Behind the Song

“The River” Had a Happy Ending After All

The River One of the many depressing songs on Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 double album The River, is the title track. The song ends with the singer haunted by memories, wondering “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true / Or is it something worse?” The story is based on real life, but the real-life inspirations for the song did not have the ending foreseen in the lyrics.

“The River”

The singer of “The River” tells the story of meeting Mary in high school. The singer first recounts how the high school kids would go down to dive in the river. While the image is one of teenage joy, the music and earlier lines about growing up “to do like your daddy done” hint at something sadder. By the time the singer is nineteen, Mary is pregnant, and the couple find themselves getting married at the courthouse “with no wedding day smiles.”

In the song, more troubles come.  The singer faces hard times and acts like he no longer remembers the past.  Meanwhile, Mary “acts like she don’t care.” But the singer does remember the past.  And it is those good times at the river that haunt his days.

The Inspiration for “The River”

Springsteen based his song on his sister Virginia (“Ginny”), who during her senior year of high school became pregnant. Ginny married her boyfriend, Michael “Mickey” Shave, who was a rodeo rider, in a small ceremony. The two then began their young family life together.

In this video from one of his performances during the the No Nukes: The Muse Concerts For a Non-Nuclear Future on September 19-23, 1979 at Madison Square Garden, you can hear Springsteen introducing the new song with, “this is my brother-in-law and my sister.”

The Real-Life Story

Although Springsteen imagined a sad life resulting from such a start, things worked out better for Ginny and Mickey than they did for the singer and Mary. Ginny and Mickey have been married for more than forty years, and they had three children and several grandchildren.

While, like everyone, Ginny and Mickey may wonder some days about what might have been, the real-life people who inspired “The River” do not seem as haunted as the characters in the song.

Not only did things work out for the couple, but their wedding gave Ginny’s brother what Rolling Stone Magazine calls his fifth greatest song. It sounds like everyone’s dreams came true after all.

What do you think of “The River”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    How a Bull Moose, a Bear, and a Beetle Gave Elvis a Hit Song

    Teddy Bear On February 15 in 1903, the first Teddy bears appeared in a toy store window.  The name for the bears was inspired by the man who was the president of the United States.

    Morris Michtom, who owned a toy store, had written a letter to President Theodore Roosevelt asking permission to use the name “Teddy” for his bears. The president gave his approval. Other toy makers soon followed Michtom’s lead in naming stuffed bears, leading to the popular Teddy bear.

    The Inspiration for the First Teddy Bear

    The stories of the details about the event that inspired Michtom’s letter vary somewhat.  But it is clear that Michtom got the idea from President Roosevelt’s encounter with a bear.  While hunting in Mississippi in 1902, President Roosevelt, who would later found the Bull Moose Party, showed mercy to a bear.

    Some stories today claim the bear was a cub tied to a tree, but it more likely was an old bear. Either way, the incident illustrated another side of Roosevelt. Political cartoonists portrayed the event by illustrating a cub, showing the tough Roosevelt as a softy at heart.

    “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear”

    The most famous song about Teddy bears was released more than five decades later in 1957.  That year, a rock icon showed his softer Teddy bear side.

    Elvis Presley sang “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” in the movie Loving You (1957), his second film and his first in color. The song went to number one on the charts that year.

    “Boll Weevil” And Its Connection to “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear”

    Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe wrote “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” but part of the inspiration for the song came indirectly from an insect. Wikipedia and other sources report that the song’s roots go back to a traditional blues song, “Boll Weevil.”

    In “Boll Weevil,” a boll weevil talks to a farmer, threatening the cotton crop while looking for a home. The song has been around since at least the 1920s, and it may have its origins in Roosevelt’s time.

    One of the most famous early recordings of “The Boll Weevil” was by Lead Belly in the 1930s.

    Can you hear “Teddy Bear” in Lead Belly’s song? If not, listen to singer-songwriter Brook Benton‘s version of “The Boll Weevil Song,” which became a hit in 1961.

    Now you hear it, don’t you? And now you know, how a bull moose, a bear, and a beetle helped give Elvis Presley a hit song.

    Cartoon by by Clifford Berryman via public domain. What are your favorite songs about bears and bugs? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    He said his name, Bojangles

    Jerry Jeff WalkerIn the video below, singer-songwriter Todd Snider tells a wonderful story about hanging out with Jerry Jeff Walker, who wrote the classic “Mr. Bojangles.” And then the songwriter himself — who was born born Ronald Clyde Crosby on March 16, 1942 in Oneonta, New York — appears with Snider to sing the song.

    Video of Snider and Walker

    It’s great to see Snider on stage with Walker, as they are both very talented artists who do not get near the acclaim they deserve. So it makes me happy to think of the two hanging out at a bar. Check it out.

    The Inspiration for “Mr. Bojangles”

    In the introduction, Snider jokes about how Walker came out of jail with the song. And he is telling the truth.

    Although many mistakenly believe that the song is about the dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Walker was inspired to write the song by a different man.  He met the real “Mr. Bojangles” in a New Orleans jail during the Fourth of July weekend in 1965.

    I met him in a cell in New Orleans;
    I was down and out;
    He looked to me to be the eyes of age,
    As he spoke right out;
    He talked of life, talked of life,
    He laughed, clicked his heels and stepped.

    Walker was in the slammer for public intoxication when he met the homeless man who inspired the song. The man did tell Walker the sad story about the dog, and then he danced.

    He Said His Name “Bojangles”

    According to Wikipedia, the man did tell Walker he went by the name “Mr. Bojangles.”  Apparently, he used the name to conceal his real identity from the police.

    A 2000 article in the Post and Courier newspaper, though, claims that after Walker met the man in jail, Walker later added the “Bojangles” name.  The article says that Walker used a common name used by street dancers in New Orleans. By contrast, Walker’s biography supports that the man in jail did use the name “Bojangles.”

    Either way, the song is one of the all-time classics. Many also may have been introduced to the song by Sammy Davis Jr.’s wonderful version. But I wonder whatever happened to the man who inspired the song and whether or not he ever knew a great song was written about him?

    In the video below, Jerry Jeff Walker talks to Bruce Robison about writing “Mr. Bojangles” and plays the song. Check it out.

    What is your favorite Jerry Jeff Walker song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    U.S. Speed Limits and I Can’t Drive . . . 15?

    15 mph sign On May 21 in 1901, Connecticut passed the first state speed law regulating motor vehicles. That first law limited city drivers to 12 mph but allowed drivers in the country to go up to 15 mph.

    At the time, there had been other speed laws for non-motorized vehicles such as horse-drawn wagons, including laws banning such wagons from proceeding at “a gallop.” But the 1901 Connecticut law prompted other states to start passing similar laws, which eventually led to you getting that speeding ticket.

    Some of our readers may remember the 1970s when rising gas prices caused states to lower speed limits, culminating with President Richard Nixon in January 1974 signing the National Maximum Speed Law, making the national speed limit 55 mph. At the time, there was a public service campaign designed to get drivers to obey the new laws.

    One 1978 television commercial that stood out for me was one about Grinnell, Iowa. In my many years of driving, I have often thought about the commercial that makes a powerful argument for not driving too fast. The producers do a good job of drawing you in before hitting you with a powerful — and yes manipulative — message. In case you do not remember the commercial, check it out below.

    By 1987, though, concerns about fuel supplies diminished and Congress passed a law allowing states to raise speed limits up to 65 mph. Then in 1995 the national speed limit was completely repealed, leaving it up to each state to set its own speed limits. Apparently, we decided we wanted to get to our destinations faster even if we were to wipe out poor Grinnell.

    While many credit the 1987 increase and the later 1995 repeal to a drop in concern about fuel availability, I give full credit to a protest song by Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55,” which was released in 1984 on his VOA album. It is one of the most famous songs written in response to Congressional legislation.

    Hagar has explained that he came up with the idea for the song when he was driving in upstate New York at 2 a.m. after returning to the U.S. after a long plane trip. When an officer pulled over Hagar for going 62 mph on a four-lane highway, a weary and exasperated Hargar uttered the immortal words, “I can’t drive 55,” realizing immediately it was a great idea for a song.

    As soon as Hagar arrived to his house in Lake Placid, he sat down and wrote the rest of the song. And the rest, like the national speed limit law, is history.

    What is your favorite song about speeding? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    “I’ll Take You There”: Inspired by Murder and a Jamaican Riff

    The song “I’ll Take You There” by the Staples Singers originated out of a songwriter grieving his murdered brother.

    Staples Singers Cleotha I'll Take You There Cleotha “Cleedy” Staples, the eldest daughter of Roebuck “Pops” Staples who sang in the Staple Singers, passed away February 21, 2013. Cleotha, who had Alzheimer’s, was 78.

    The Staple Singers — which also included Cleotha’s sisters Mavis, Pervis and Yvonne — started in the 1940s and recorded many memorable songs like “Respect Yourself” and “Uncloudy Day.” But when most people hear the name of the group, the first song that comes to mind is the classic “I’ll Take You There.”

    The song first appeared on the album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (1972). In 1972, “I’ll Take You There” went to number one on both the Billboard R&B Singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In this TV performance excerpt, you can see Mavis Staples to your right singing lead while Cleotha is on your far left of the singers. Pops is playing guitar.

    The uplifting song comes from a tragic story. Stax vice-president Al Bell began writing “I’ll Take You There” after attending the funeral of his second brother who was murdered.

    According to Bell, after returning from the funeral, he sat on the hood of a bus in his father’s back yard and began hearing the bass line and then the words. He then gave the song to the Staple Singers, who were a gospel act at the time.

    Regarding the music, Wikipedia points out that the opening to “I’ll Take You There” comes from a Jamaican instrumental reggae tune from Harry J All Stars called “The Liquidator.” The tune is now often used before football matches (that’s “soccer” for us in the states). Check it out.

    It is a cool opening riff that helped make “I’ll Take You There” so memorable. But it is also the blending of the voices of the Staple Singers including Cleotha Staples that explains why we still listen to the song more than forty years later. RIP Cleotha Staples.

    What is your favorite song by the Staples Singers? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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