In February 1967, John Lennon’s four-year-old son Julian came home from nursery school with a painting that he’d done of his classmate, Lucy O’Donnell. When John asked his son about the picture, which showed a girl floating among the stars, Julian replied, “It’s Lucy, in the sky, with diamonds.”
At the time when I wrote “Nights In White Satin” I didn’t own many things in the world,” Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward said. “But I did own something totally useless which was a set of white satin sheets that this girlfriend of mine had given me.”
It’s a tale of two torch songs. The original, written in French as “Les Feuilles Mortes” (literally, “Dead Leaves”) was a dark lament of lost love and regret. The translated version, “Autumn Leaves,” touched on the same theme, but in a gentler, more wistful way.
Jack Norworth never cared much for baseball, but he wrote a song about the game that sports fans have been belting out for almost 120 years.
In 1974, John Lennon’s “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” became his first and only chart-topping solo single during his lifetime. It was from his Walls and Bridges album and featured Elton John on harmony vocals and piano.
On March 22, 1980, Roger Waters’ “Another Brick in the Wall,” became the Pink Floyd’s one and only U.S. No. 1 hit.
The American Legion and the Boy Scouts denounced it. The New York Times called it “nightmarish and bloodcurdling.” And after it incited a near riot in a local theater, the city of Memphis banned “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets..
Glen Hansard formulated a simple stairstep guitar progression and an opening line: “I don’t know you, but I want you” for “Falling Slowly,” the Oscar-winning song for the film “Once.”
“Happy Birthday to You” began its life in 1893. Written by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Hill, it was originally entitled “Good Morning to All,” and intended as a classroom greeting from teachers to students.
“Love Is All Around” became 56 seconds of TV theme song history for songwriter Sonny Curtis who wrote and performed it for The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” coupled Blue Oyster Cult’s mysticism with a beautiful melody, lush harmonies and one of the coolest guitar riffs of the ‘70s.
“When I wrote ‘Only the Good Die Young,’ the point of the song wasn’t so much anti-Catholic as pro-lust,” Billy Joel said.
