Saturday, December 02, 2006

Goody, Goody!




I am not a vindictive person. Sometimes I even try to whip up a good retaliatory fever against someone who richly deserves it, but it's just not in me. I'd rather just hope the fates catch up with them and forget the whole thing. Vengeance is Divine, not mine.

Still, I just love this song. Of course, it's too jaunty to be very wrathful, too cute to be truly spiteful.

GOODY GOODY
Johnny Mercer and Matt Malneck
1935

You told me that there wasn't a lesson in lovin'
You hadn't learned - Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?

You told me that you keep playing with fire
Without getting burned - Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?

So you met someone who set you back on your heels -
Goody, goody!
So you met someone and now you know how it feels -
Goody, goody!
So you gave him your heart too, just as I gave mine to you,
And he broke it in little pieces, now how do you do?

So you lie awake just singin' the blues all night -
Goody, goody!
So you think that love's a barrel of dynamite.
Hooray and hallelujah, you had it coming to ya.
Goody, goody for him - Goody, goody for me -
And I hope you're satisfied, you rascal you!

Sound files:

Benny Goodman, Helen Ward vocal (1936)

Ella Fitzgerald (date unknown)

Video:

A fifteen-year-old Frankie Lymon, sans Teenagers, in a live TV performance in 1957. He muffs the lyrics toward the end, but his great smile and stylish delivery carry him through.





3 comments:

Trombonology said...

...And to think that Mercer's inspiration for the title came from an item on a menu in a Chinese restaurant!

I've heard Helen Ward couldn't stand that tune. What was she thinking?

Frankie was cute -- muff and all.

iamfelix said...

Shame to think that 11 yrs. later, Frankie was dead of a drug overdose - what a waste.

iamfelix said...

Sure had a lot of musical moxie for a 15-year-old, though.