Back in the 1970s, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show was a popular band. I remember they were on the radio a lot. A lot of their songs featured lyrics by none of than Shel Silverstein, a famed poet, children's book author, cartoonist and singer-songwriter. My husband actually doesn't like Shel Silverstein that much, mainly because his skanky ex-wife once said he was like the little boy in the story The Giving Tree. She likened herself as the tree, who kept giving and giving... Actually, the reverse was true, but I digress. Anyway, Shel Silverstein did actually pen quite a few hits for Dr. Hook, as well as Loretta Lynn ("One's On The Way"), The Irish Rovers ("The Unicorn"), and Johnny Cash ("A Boy Named Sue").
Dr. Hook's song "On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone" always reminds me of Armenia. Back then, I had a bootleg cassette of their greatest hits that I'd listen to all the time...
They also sang Silverstein's "Sylvia's Mother", another song my husband hates...
Later, they sang a creepy song called "Only Sixteen"...
I always liked "Sharing The Night Together", which is sort of a sweet but dated song...
And "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman"...
And "Better Love Next Time"... Wow, walk down memory lane with this one!
Just watching this makes me feel old as dirt. But Dr. Hook was a fun and whimsical band. They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Dr. Hook's song "On The Cover Of The Rolling Stone" always reminds me of Armenia. Back then, I had a bootleg cassette of their greatest hits that I'd listen to all the time...
They also sang Silverstein's "Sylvia's Mother", another song my husband hates...
Later, they sang a creepy song called "Only Sixteen"...
I always liked "Sharing The Night Together", which is sort of a sweet but dated song...
And "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman"...
And the ever popular, "You Make My Pants Want To Get Up And Dance"...
"Sexy Eyes"
And "Better Love Next Time"... Wow, walk down memory lane with this one!
Just watching this makes me feel old as dirt. But Dr. Hook was a fun and whimsical band. They don't make 'em like this anymore!
iknew Shel Silverstein wrote "The Unicorn Song" but ihad no ide he wrote all that other stuff. A Boy Named Sue? One's on the Way? Wow. I remember "Sylvia's Mother." "And the operator said . .. forty mor cents . . for the next . . . three. . . minutes. Pleeeeeeease Mrs. Avery," etc.
ReplyDeleteI hated "The Giving Tree" even without the associations your husband had with the song. To me, if this makes sense, the depth seemed fake. It was like "The Emperor's New Clothes." People to me seemed to be trying to derive deep meaning and symbolism that weren't really there. Some idiots were always doing vacuous plays about it in either late elementary school or LDS girls' camp when I was forced to go.
Yuck. I'm not sure if Bill's ex was LDS when she said that to him, but because of that, he doesn't like "The Giving Tree". She is also prone to quoting Dr. Seuss. That ought to give you an idea of her maturity level. Not that I think Dr. Seuss wasn't brilliant, but when you're a grown woman who has to use Dr. Seuss to make allusions, I'd say you need to read a book.
ReplyDeleteI always liked Shel Silverstein and even liked "The Giving Tree"... although I can tell you that there's no way my husband could be the selfish little boy in that story.