Almanac Music: ‘Caught in a trap’ – Songs Referencing Catching.
Mousetrap Cage. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: ‘Caught in a trap’ – Songs Referencing Catching
Hi, Almanackers! This piece in my long-running series about key popular song themes concerns songs that in some way reference catching. Any form of the word ‘catch’ is acceptable in terms of this theme, whether it be in the title or the lyric itself. Add a few words of explanation to your chosen song if you feel it’s necessary.
So, dear readers, please put your relevant ‘catching’ songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to set the tone.
‘You Can’t Catch Me’, written and performed by Chuck Berry (1956)
‘Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying’, written by Gerry Marsden, Freddie Marsden, Les Chadwick and Les Maguire, performed by Gerry and the Pacemakers (1964)
‘Catch Us If You Can’, written by Dave Clark and Lenny Davidson, performed by The Dave Clark Five (1965)
‘Catch the Wind’, written and performed by Donovan (1965)
‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney (actually written by Paul), performed by the Beatles (1969)
‘PC 31 said we caught a dirty one’
‘Kentucky Rain’, written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard, performed by Elvis Presley (1970)
‘Caught in a trap’ (Note from KD: oops, my error. I’ve realised, belatedly, that this quote comes from Elvis’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ – see what I said in my first response in the comments section below.)
‘Catch Me I’m Falling’, written by David Sterry and Richard Zatorski, performed by Real Life (1983)
‘Catch My Disease’, written by Ben Lee and McGowan Southwood, performed by Ben Lee (2005)
………………………………………
Now, dear readers / listeners – it’s over to you. Your responses to this topic are warmly welcomed. In the ‘Comments’ section, please add your own choice of a song (or songs) referencing catching, along with any other relevant material you wish to include.
[Note: as usual, Wikipedia has been a solid general reference for this piece, particularly in terms of checking dates and other details.]
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises is available HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Kev after recently seeing EPIC 4 x times in a month i now have Suspicious Minds as a constant ear worm and its driving me nuts! Pls allow me to kick this one off! Cheers
Here’s a start. More from me later.
I’d do it: Australian Crawl
Gotta get to you: Belinda Carlisle
Emotional highway: Belinda Carlisle
Big scary animal: Belinda Carlisle
10538 Overture: Electric Light Orchestra
Across the border: Electric Light Orchestra
Caught in a trap: Electric Light Orchestra
Jealous guy: John Lennon
Things are hotting up: Mondo Rock
Texarkana: R.E.M.
Well, Willo, of course you’re welcome to kick this theme off with ‘Suspicious Minds’ – as Elvis would’ve said in his southern drawl, ‘Thank you very much.’ And, furthermore, you’ve indirectly indicated the error in my introductory list of songs – I meant to put ‘Suspicious Minds’ instead of ‘Kentucky Rain’. My excuse is that the latter song has been my own constant ear worm for some time!
Thanks, Liam, for your initial selection of ‘catching’ songs. I thought ‘Jealous Guy’ was an especially good pickup. (‘I was trying to catch your eye’)
Here’s a few KD
Howzat – Sherbet
“you messed about
I caught you out”
Rat Trap – Boomtown Rats
“it’s a rat trap
and we’ve been caught”
Catch – The Cure
I Just Get Caught Out – Go-Betweens
Lillee Caught Dilley Bowled Milli Vanilli – TISM
Been Caught Stealing – Jane’s Addiction
Caught By The Fuzz – Supergrass
Trapped – Bruce Springsteen
“Well it seems like I’m caught up in your trap again
And it seems like I’ll be wearin’ the same ol’ chains”
Little Girl – The Sports
“I want to be with my little girl tonight
(Catch as catch can)
Little girl
(Catch as catch can)”
What’s My Scene – Hoodoo Gurus
“What’s my scene? (I’m dying to know)I’ll never know.
Well, I concede
I’ve been caught in someone else’s scene (but that’s not me)”
Run For your Life – Beatles (nb – a very grim song)
“You better run for your life if you can, little girl
Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man
That’s the end, little girl”
Hey There Little Insect – Modern Lovers
“I say hey there, little praying mantis, I have one complaint
Each time on my arm you land it, uh, makes me faint
Say hey there, hey little insect, please calm down
Then we’ll have fun and fool around
Play catch and stuff”
El Paso – Marty Robins
“Out through the back door of Rosa’s I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back and away I did ride”
Balwyn Callin’ – Skyhooks
“She sure knows when she’s got a good catch
And she just won’t let go”
Private Eye – Skyhooks
“I can run a block
I can smash a lock
I can outwit the Lone Ranger
Catch a wife
Or take a life
I’ll get you outta danger”
Late Last Night – Split Enz
“Gone, love took offence at the things I said
Good advice would be to go to bed
Rest my head, yeah
Catch 40 winks
While I dream about the things she said”
I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – Dionne Warwick
“What do you get when you kiss a guy?
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia
After you do, he’ll never phone ya
I’ll never fall in love again”
No Dancing – Elvis Costello
“He’s getting down on his knees
He finds that the girl is not so easy to please
Oh, oh, after all, his nights were just a paper striptease
She’s caught it like some disease”
Accident Waiting To Happen – Billy Bragg
“One of these nights you’re gonna get caught
It’ll give you a pregnant pause for thought
You’re a dedicated swallower of Fascism”
The Few – Billy Bragg
“Our neighbours shake their heads
And take their valuables inside
While my countrymen piss in the fountains
To express our national pride
And to prove to the world that England
Is not as rotten as she looks
They repeat the lies that caught their eyes
At school in history books
And the wars they think they’re fighting
Were all over long ago
What do they know of England?
Only England knows”
Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music
“Oh-oh, catch that buzz
Love is the drug I’m thinking of”
Diamond Dogs – David Bowie
“Come out of the garden, baby
You’ll catch your death in the fog
Young girl, they call them the Diamond Dogs”
The Laughing Gnome – David Bowie
“Ha-ha-ha, hee-hee-hee
I’m a laughing gnome, and you can’t catch me”
Said the laughing gnome”
Changes – David Bowie
“Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets
And every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test”
Do It Again – Steely Dan
“In the morning you go gunnin’ for the man who stole your water.
And you fire ’til he is done in, but they catch you at the border.
And the mourners are all singin’ as they drag you by your feet.
But the hangman isn’t hangin’, so they put you on the street.
Yeah you go back, Jack, do it again.
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round.
You go back, Jack, do it again.”
Brilliant stuff, Swish! Excellent comprehensiveness, range and relevance to the theme. (And you’re certainly right about ‘Run for Your Life’.)
Heat of the moment: Asia
One step closer: Asia
Dear Angie: Badfinger
Come and get it: Beatles
Lovely Rita: Beatles
Spinning Wheel: Blood, Sweat & Tears
Mr Soul: Buffalo Springfield
It happens each day: The Byrds
Sweet love: Company of Strangers
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes: Crosby Stills & Nash
It’s a hard life: Roger Daltrey
For the love of a woman: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Carrying Cathy: Ben Folds
Bring On the Lucie (Freda Peeple): John Lennon
Blue sky mine: Midnight Oil
The living years: Mike and the Mechanics
Winter sky: Mondo Rock
A beat for you: Pseudo Echo
Any day above ground: James Reyne
House of cards: James Reyne
Somewhere they can’t find me: Simon and Garfunkel
Oh darling: Supertramp
Lovesick: The Swingers
(Nothing but) flowers: Talking Heads
Stranger within: Ultravox
Passing strangers: Ultravox
I can’t reach you: The Who
Sensation: The Who
Bargain: The Who
Good Friday morning KD.
My scan of Dylan’s writings reveals a definite absence of ‘on theme’ lyrics ~ and most of the non Dylan lyrics that came to me have already been listed ~ my favourite, after “Catch The Wind,’ being ‘You get enough germs to catch pneumonia’.
Anyway, my Dylan contribution has been front & centre of mind over the past month or so…
Man Of Peace
‘Look out your window, baby, there’s a scene you’d like to catch
The band is playing “Dixie”, a man got his hand outstretched
Could be the Fuhrer
Could be the local priest
You know sometimes Satan, you know he comes as a man of peace’
‘Well, the howling wolf will howl tonight, the king snake will crawl
Trees that’ve stood for a thousand years suddenly will fall
Want to get married? Do it now
Tomorrow all activity will cease
You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace’
Excellent long list of on-theme material, Liam. Thanks for these. To select just one for comment – for me, ‘Come and Get It’, written by Paul McCartney (definitive version by Badfinger), is one of the catchiest songs of the entire rock/pop era.
Good Friday morning to you, Karl. Thank you for ‘Man of Peace’. I’m a major fan of ‘Catch the Wind’, too, by the way.
Starting with Folk,
Van Diemen’s Land (There are many versions of this song about transportation of poachers, from England, Scotland and Ireland – This one was recorded by the BBC from the singing of Scot, Jimmy McBeath)
Come all ye gallant poachers and countrymen beware
If you go a-poaching, take your gun, your dog, and snare
For the hares in the habitations, they roam at their own command,
So beware of the wolves and tigers, boys, going to Van Diemen’s Land,
’Twas poor Jock Brown from Glasgow, Will Guthrie and Munroe,
They were three daring poachers, the country will did know,
The keepers caught them hunting all with their guns in hand,
They were fourteen years transported unto Van Diemen’s Land.
Tam Lin – Fairport Convention (I first heard this song sung by Fairport and it’s one of the best songs they did, However the very informative website, Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music, says it was first mentioned in a Scots publication in 1549 and the first version of the lyrics were published in 1769. I have listed some of the lyrics before, this time I am only posting the “caught” reference.)
“So Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee
And she’s gone to Carterhaugh as fast as go can she
“O tell to me, Tam Lin,” she said, “why came you here to dwell?”
“The Queen of Fairies caught me when from my horse I fell
And at the end of seven years she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh and fear it be myself”
’The Lincolnshire Poacher – Traditional. (in the 50s and 60s this song was heard more in classroom singing than at folk clubs. In the late 50s schoolkids used to sing “It’s my delight on a Friday Night with a bottle of Richmond Beer)
When I was bound apprentice in famous Lincolnshire
Full well I served my master for more than seven year
’Til I took up a-poaching, as you will quickly hear
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
As me and my companions were setting of a snare
’Twas then we spied the gamekeeper, for him we did not care
Far we can wrestle and fight, my boys, and jump o’er anywhere
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
As me and my companions were setting four or five
And taking of them up again, we caught a hare alive
We caught a hare alive, my boys, and homeward we did steer
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
We put him over our shoulder and then we trudged on home
We took him to a neighbour’s house, and sold him for a crown
We sold him for a crown, my boys, but I dare not tell you where
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
Good luck to every gentleman that lives in Lincolnshire
Good luck to every poacher that wants to steal a hare
Bad luck to every gamekeeper that will not sell his deer
Oh, ’tis my delight on a shiny night in the season of the year.
Catching up with The Clash:
Rock the Casbah – Now over at the temple/Oh, they really pack ’em in/The in-crowd say it’s cool/To dig this chanting thing/But as the wind changed direction/And the temple band took five/The crowd caught a whiff of that crazy Casbah jive/Sharif don’t like it/Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah/Sharif don’t like it/Rocking the Casbah, rock the Casbah
Guns of Brixton – You know it means no mercy/They caught him with a gun/No need for the Black Maria/Goodbye to the Brixton sun/You can crush us, you can bruise us/But you’ll have to answer to/Oh-oh, the guns of Brixton
What’s My Name – I tried to join a ping-pong club/Sign on the door said “All full up”/I got nicked, fightin’ in the road/The judge didn’t even know/[Chorus]/What’s my name?
Atom Tan – Now the corporations stopped (Stopped pushing fast food)/Been a multiple shooting (Downtown at the bank)/Reluctantly the panic (Begins to catch fire)/But it did not affect (The steady sale of junk)/Oh, the state office looked (It looked like Hollywood)/With make-up bleeding (All over the cracks)/Whoa, he blew his lines (Facing the cameras)/He suffered the first all live heart attack/Oh, you’ve caught an even atom tan
Fine folk choices in your opening foray into this ‘catching’ theme – thanks, Dave. These choices offer an interesting and highly effective counterpoint in relation to the material preceding yours.
Some punchy Clash material in your opening salvo – thanks so much, Rick.
You Just Like Me Cos I’m Good In Bed – Skyhooks (lots of catching on Living In The 70s)
“At half past one I’m flat on the floor
Caught like a rat in a trap
Fifteen times a week and you still want more
God you talk such crap”
The Job That Ate My Brain – Ramones
“Out of the bed at 6:15, in a rush and you can’t think
Got to catch the bus and train, I’m in a rush and feeling insane
I can’t take this crazy pace, I’ve become a mental case
Yeah, this is the job that ate my brain”
Smokin’ In The Boys Room – Brownsville Station
“A-checkin’ out the halls
Makin’ sure the coast is clear
Lookin’ in the stalls
No, there ain’t nobody here
Oh, my buddy Fang, and me and Paul
To get caught would surely be the death of us all
Smokin’ in the boys’ room
Smokin’ in the boys’ room”
Thanks for your most recent selections, Swish. I think you’re very right to comment as you do about the Living in the 70s album, particularly if what you are referring to is the extent to which women are represented in terms of ‘trapping/catching’ men. (‘Balwyn Calling’ is another good example of this.) And, theme-wise, there’s also the ‘I just caught another disease’ line in the ‘Living in the Seventies’ song itself.
Last one, promise
Aloha Steve and Danno – Radio Birdman
“ McGarrett’s on the line to Danno
We gotta pick up this guy
Put out an APB
Not much time to tell you why
Governor says it’s top priority
Washington says so too
Tell Chin to get here fast
5-0 is on the move
Steve, I want to say thank you
For all you’ve done for me
My night is dark and empty
When you’re not on TV
There’s an agent in the field
I wanna have him tailed
He’s been staying at the Hilton
Should be staying in the jail
He’s working for the KGB
Here’s his dossier
Those Reds won’t be happy
‘Til this guy gets his way, come on
Steve, I want to say thank you
For all you’ve done for me
My night is dark and empty
When you’re not on TV
Dark specter of espionage
Hangs over fair Hawaii
McGarrett’s one cool guy
The guilty will not go free
Steve and Danno, they made the scene
The agent had done his deed
Caught with a stiff and a silenced gun
He said, “Book him Danno, murder one”
Steve, I want to say thank you
For all you’ve done for me
My nights are dark and empty
When you’re not on TV, no
Book him Danno, murder one
Book him Danno, murder one
Book him Danno, murder one
Book him Danno, murder one
Book him Danno, murder one
Book him Danno, murder one
Said, “Book him Danno
Yeah, book him now”
Yeah”
Thanks for ‘Aloha Steve and Dano’, Swish. (And feel free to list as many songs as you like, of course.)
Hound Dog, Elvis – You ain’t nothin’, but a hound dog/Just crockin’ all the time/You ain’t nothin’, but a hound dog/Crockin’ all the time/Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit/And you ain’t no friend of mine
Hey Joe, Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe/Where you going with that gun in your hand?/Hey Joe/I said, where you going with that gun in your hand?/I’m going down to shoot my old lady/You know, I caught her messing around with another man
Sneaking Sally Through the Alley, Robert Palmer – I said, ah I can’t find nothing wrong with being friends cos sometimes/She lets me use the car/She said if you can’t find nothing wrong with your mind/You’d better, you’d better find something wrong with her, her/So I began to try to explain that it just wasn’t, just wasn’t what she thought oh/I’d better find something to do with my time/The fact is oh I’ve just been caught
Champagne Supernova, Oasis – Someday you will find me/Caught beneath the landslide/In a Champagne Supernova in the sky/Someday you will find me/Caught beneath the landslide/In a Champagne Supernova/A Champagne Supernova in the sky
Thanks for your latest choices, Rick – some rippers, there. To select just one for comment, I’ve always particularly liked ‘Champagne Supernova’ – I feel it’s one of Oasis’s top few songs. (And I love the official film clip too, in which, from memory, the dominoes spell ‘HELP’ at the end.)
Hi KD
A quick scan of the entries so far and I don’t see:
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
‘Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality’
The lyrics in Rick’s ‘Champagne Supernova’ twigged the Queen lyric in my memory bank.
If you insist KD
Night Rally – Elvis Costello and the Attractions
“ Everybody’s singing with their hand on their heart, about
Deeds done in the darkest hours
That’s just the sort of catchy little melody
To get you singing in the showers”
A couple more:
Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues, and I’ll go with Charlie Rich’s version – Everybody’s gone away./Said they’re movin’ to L.A./There’s not a soul I know around./Everybody’s leavin’ town!/Some caught a freight./Some caught a plane./Find the sunshine, Leave the rain?/They said this town’s a waste time./I guess they’re right, it’s wasting mine!/Some gotta win! Some gotta lose!/Good time Charlie’s got the blues!
evermore, Taylor Swift, title track of what I reckon is her best album since 1989, not that the other albums aren’t great, they are but evermore is something else – And I was catching my breath/Staring out an open window/Catching my death/And I couldn’t be sure/I had a feeling so peculiar/That this pain would be for/Evermore
Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars), REM, in the 80s it was REM and The Replacements and I loved REM up until Monster but their 80s output was phenomenal, this is from their first release, an EP for christ’s sake! – Of secret stigma, reaping reel/Diminished, a carnival of sorts/Chronic town, poster torn, repeat reel/A stranger, a stranger to these parts/Gentlemen, don’t get caught/Cages under cage/Gentlemen, don’t get caught/Boxcars (are pulling) out of town/Boxcars (are pulling) out of town/Boxcars (are pulling) out of town
I loathe Billy Joel, but here goes with We Didn’t Start The Fire
Rosenbergs, H-Bomb
Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King and I
And The Catcher in the Rye
Eisenhower, vaccine
England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace
Santayana goodbye
Excellent pickup with ”Bohemian Rhapsody’, Karl. Thanks for that song! Potentially a place on the Dubravs podium for that one, even if that’s a bit like Napoleon crowning himself emperor. (Just a little jest there!)
Great pickup, too, Swish, with ‘Night Rally’.It’s starting to look like Karl might have to build a bigger podium! ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ is a fine theme choice, too, in terms of picking out the ‘Catcher in the Rye’ line.
Thank you for your latest material, Rick. And, as you’d know from previous comments of mine, I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments regarding REM.
Hi KD
As an AFL casual observer without affiliation I have been quite surprised by the recent post of negative sentiment towards Geelong. For what it is worth, I have been impressed by the skill of the Geelong players as a team over many years and enjoy watching them. If I had an AFL podium based on exhibited skill, they would be on one of the higher rungs.
Speaking of podiums, I had offered to award podium medals for the ‘walking’ theme. After many hours of deliberation & debate & dispute, the judging panel of me, myself & I decided it was all too hard ~ there were too many gold medal contenders. Award ceremonies can be divisive (eg Brownlow, Oscars) so better to say that ‘everyone’s a winner in their own way’.
Finally, in the absence of a commercially available on-theme lyric, I offer:
‘I’m caught in a whirlwind, with nothing to believe in’ (c) Karl Dubravs 10 Nov 1976
Fair enough to all that, Karl. All good!
Thanks for your own on-theme lyric.
Two Bruce, One Creedence.
Atlantic City
Now I’ve been looking for a job, but it’s hard to find
Down here, it’s just winners and losers
And don’t get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, I’m tired of coming out on the losing end
So, honey, last night I met this guy
And I’m gonna do a little favor for him
[Chorus]
Well, I guess everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
So fix your hair up nice and set up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Meeting Cross The River
And tonight’s gonna be everything that I said
And when I walk through that door, I’m just gonna throw that money on the bed
She’ll see this time I wasn’t just talking
Then I’m gonna go out walking
Hey, Eddie, can you catch us a ride?
Lodi (Creedence)
If I only had a dollar
For every song I’ve sung
Every time I’ve had to play
While people sat there drunk
You know I’d catch the next train
Back to where I live
Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again
Oh, Lord, I’m stuck in Lodi again
Thank you, Dave, for this neat, thematically highly apt threesome. Bruce, like Bob D, is an excellent long-standing friend of this song theme series, isn’t he?
Here’s an old-fashioned ‘standard’ – ‘Catch a Falling Star’ by Perry Como, released in 1957.
As I woke up this morning, this lyric was on my mind……
Sonny Got Caught In the Moonlight – Robbie Robertson (from his 1987 self titled album)
‘Sonny got caught in the moonlight
A wanted man with a haunted heart
Sonny found out the hard way
Playing for keeps, loser weeps
He said he’d come back when the lion sleeps’
Another good one, Karl. Thanks! ‘Sonny Got Caught In The Moonlight’ certainly illustrates another interesting way to get caught (‘Sonny got caught in the moonlight’)
Outfit, Drive By Truckers but known as a Jason Isbell song, full lyrics:
You wanna grow up to paint houses like me
With a trailer in my yard till you’re 23
You wanna feel old after 42 years
Keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gear
Well I used to go out in a Mustang
A 302 Mach One in green
Till me and your mama made you in the back
And I sold it to buy her a ring
And I learned not to say much of nothing
So I figure you already know
But in case you don’t or maybe you forgot
I’ll lay it out real nice and slow
Don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit
Don’t ever say your car is broke
Don’t worry about losing your accent
Cause a Southern Man tells better jokes
Have fun but stay clear of the needle
Call home on your sister’s birthday
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus
Don’t give it away
Don’t give it away
Five years in a St. Florian foundry
They call Industrial Park
I worked hospital maintenance and Tech School
Just to memorize Frigidaire parts
But I got to missing your mama
And I got to missing you too
So I went back to painting for my old man
And I guess that’s what I’ll always do
So don’t let ’em take who you are boy
And don’t try to be who you ain’t
And don’t let me catch you in Kendale
With a bucket of wealthy man’s paint
Don’t call what you’re wearing an outfit
Don’t ever say your car is broke
Don’t sing with a fake British accent
Boy don’t act like your family’s a joke
Have fun, but stay clear of the needle
Call home on your sister’s birthday
Don’t tell them you’re bigger than Jesus
Don’t give it away
Don’t give it away
Jaws of Life, James McMurtry – Questions in the eyes of the precious few/It’s like they want to say man what’s happened to you/I’ve got aches and pains where I didn’t used to/And I kind of hope they’ve got ’em too/They’re too polite to be direct/Too uptight to really connect/Scared to see our own reflection/Caught in the jaws of life/(chorus)/Caught in the jaws of life/Found myself chewed up like everyone else/It Made no difference what I thought/And who I was I still got caught/In the jaws of life
Other People’s Houses, Paul Kelly – They had to catch two buses to reach their destination and the trip seemed to take forever unless he fell asleep along the way/When they got off at their stop they were in a bigger, brighter neighbourhood/All the houses were a long way back from the street and some of them were hidden from view by big hedges/Looking down the street was like looking through the wrong end of a telescope/His mother guided him through this country/She knew exactly where to go/She carried in her bag a big, heavy ring full of keys – all keys to other people’s houses
Charro, Elvis Presley, title track and only film in which Elvis’s character doesn’t sing a song – There’s something hanging, in the wind/Your past is catching up and closing in/You’ve been halfway to hell and back again/And now you laugh in the devil’s face/With your last breath/You’ll run a race with life and death/But will you live to see tomorrow?/Charro
Have the Thin Lizzy song, Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight) been put forward? Karl’s Robbie Robertson song reminded me of it, both great songs.
Has
Thanks for your latest choices, Rick, including the fine, evocative ‘Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in its Spotlight)’, which hadn’t been put forward until you did so.
Seeing as we’re a sporting website, and for some reason Dave Nadel missed this one – Roy Harper (“When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease”):
When an old cricketer leaves the crease
You never know whether he’s gone
If sometimes you’re catching a
Fleeting glimpse of
A twelfth man at silly mid-on
It’s a bit regrettable that the direct cricketing sense of ‘catch’ doesn’t make it into the lyric.
Thanks for this cricket song, Andrew. I think it fits very well in terms of our current theme.
In overall terms, I very much think of the Almanac as a site of sport and culture, something I often describe it as when I post stuff connected to it on social media or talk about it in conversation
The Circle Game – Joni Mitchell
Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star
Caught in the Act – Redgum
Change your name, get a new address
All it takes is gall
Fifty-five bucks a week’s no social
Security at all
It’s a form of reprisal, a song of survival
Keep your morals intact
Don’t be naive, you’re stealing from thieves
It’s a matter of tact
Just don’t let yourself get caught in the act
Insure your goods with the AMP
Get your house ransacked
Split the cheque and throw a party
When your stuff comes back
It’s a form of reprisal, a song of survival
Keep your morals intact
Don’t be naive, you’re stealing from thieves
It’s a matter of tact
Just don’t let yourself get caught in the act
Buy a dust coat, have it embroidered
“Ace Removal” man
A Myer’s salesman will sign your form
Then help to load your van
It’s a form of reprisal, a song of survival
Keep your morals intact
Don’t be naive, you’re stealing from thieves
It’s a matter of tact
Just don’t let yourself get caught in the act
Get yourself a delinquent Bankcard
Make it ANZ
Meet your needs and not your greed’s
Get yourself ahead
It’s a form of reprisal, a song of survival
Keep your morals intact
Don’t be naive, you’re stealing from thieves
It’s a matter of tact
Just don’t let yourself get caught in the act
Moonlight Shadow – Mike Oldfield (but the song wouldn’t be half as good as it without the singing of Maggie Reilly)
The last that ever she saw him
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Lost in a riddle that Saturday night
Far away on the other side
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn’t find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun
Far away on the other side
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn’t find how to push through
I stay, I pray
See you in Heaven far away
I stay, I pray
See you in Heaven one day
Four A.M. in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
A star was glowing in the silvery night
Far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night
But she couldn’t find how to push through
I stay, I pray
See you in Heaven far away
I stay, I pray
See you in Heaven one day
Far away on the other side
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy and the air was alive
But she couldn’t find how to push through
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Far away on the other side
Thanks for your latest selections, Dave. (And you’re certainly on the money regarding Maggie Reilly’s singing in ‘Moonlight Shadow’.)
Some winners:
English Civil War, The Clash – Ha, ha, I told you so, trala, hurrah/Says everybody that we know, hurrah, trala/But who hid a radio under the stairs?/Who got caught out unawares?/New Party army came marchin’ right up the stairs
Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine, Tom T – I had to catch a plane up to Atlanta that next day/As I left for my room, I saw him picking up my change/That night I dreamed in peaceful sleep of shady summertime/Of old dogs and children and watermelon wine
The Pushbike Song, The Mixtures – Riding along my pushbike honey/When I noticed you/Riding down town in a hurry honey/Down South Avenue/You looked so pretty/As you were riding along/You looked so pretty/As you were singing this song/Put on the speed/And I tried catching up/But you were pedaling harder too/Riding along like a hurricane honey/Spinning out of view/You looked so pretty/As you were riding along/You looked so pretty/As you were singing this song/Sing this song
Time After Time, Cyndi Lauper – If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me/Time after time/If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting/Time after time/If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me/Time after time/If you fall, I will catch you, (I’ll be waiting) I will be waiting/Time after time
What a great quartet, Rick! I’ve been wanting to insert ‘Old Dogs’ into one of our themed songlists for some time, and I’m glad to see you’ve found the opportunity with this ‘catching’ theme. Also, it’s excellent to find ‘Time After Time’ listed – for me, Lauper’s She’s So Unusual album is one of the top half-dozen pop/rock records of the 1980s.
I had to check through the list three times, I was so sure TaT had already been posted. Anyway, on we go. Cheers
TaT is probably the pickup of the songlist so far, anyway, Rick, given that it was there waiting to be discovered for some considerable time.
And yes, onwards!
The Weight – The Band
“ Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog.
He said, “I will fix your rack, if you’ll take Jack, my dog.”
I said, “Wait a minute, Chester, you know I’m a peaceful man.”
He said, “That’s okay, boy, won’t you feed him when you can.”
Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.
Catch a cannon ball now, t’take me down the line
My bag is sinkin’ low and I do believe it’s time.
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she’s the only one.
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone.
Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fanny, And (and) (and) you can put the load right on me.”
Thanks for ‘The Weight’, Swish – a fine addition to our ‘catching’ songlist.
All My Friends Are Getting Married – Skyhooks
Well all my friends are getting married
Yes they’re all growin’ old
They’re staying home on weekends
They’re all doin’ what they’re told
But I’m caught up in this magic
I’m all caught up in the fun
I’m all caught up in this music
Maybe I’ll never have a son
Tex Loves Daisy – Brent Parlane
we caught the last train home
I kissed you on the mouth
we were living in the seventies
life was easy then
Creeque Ally – The Mamas and the Papas
Sebastian and Zal formed the Spoonful
Michelle, John, and Denny gettin’ very tuneful
McGuinn and McGuire just a catchin’ fire
In L.A., you know where that’s at
And everybody’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass
Caught in the Crowd – Kate Miller-Heidke
I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn’t know then what I know now
I was dumb, and I was proud
And I’m sorry
If I could go back do it again
I’d be someone you could call friend
Please please believe that I’m sorry
Fine quartet, thanks Dave – spot-on theme-wise and possessing excellent variety. Especially glad to see one of my old favourites, ‘Tex Loves Daisy’ get a guernsey.
The Band’s great song, a ripper by Skyhooks, I reckon this theme has some miles to go. And now, let’s go country:
Louisiana Man, by the great Cajun fiddle player, Doug Kershaw and covered by, well most everybody from Buck Owens to Bobbie Gentry, from Jonny Rivers to Dave Edmunds and Johnny Cash to Charlie Pride – He’s got fishing lines strung across the Louisiana rivers/Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat/He’s setting traps in the swamp catching anything he can/He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man/He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man
Ghost Riders in the Sky, another well covered country song, including a Christmas version by REM called Ghost Reindeer in the Sky (lol). I’m gunna go with Johnny Cash’s version from the late 70s – Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat/He’s ridin’ hard to catch that herd, but he ain’t caught ’em yet/’Cause they’ve got to ride forever on that range up in the sky/On horses snortin’ fire, as they ride on, hear their cry/As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name/”If you want to save your soul from Hell, a-ridin’ on our range/Then cowboy, change your ways today, or with us you will ride/Tryin’ to catch the Devil’s herd, across these endless skies”
Gulf Coast Highway, a Nanci Griffith song but sacrilege, I’m going with the Emmylou cover accompanied by Willie – Gulf Coast Highway, he worked the rails/He worked the rice fields with their cold dark wells/He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico/The only thing we’ve ever owned/Is this old house here by the road/And when he dies/He says he’ll catch some blackbird’s wing/And we will fly away to heaven/Come some sweet blue bonnet spring
This song is more reggae than country, actually, it’s all reggae:
Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear, the lyrics alone do not do justice to this great song and album – Where is Bagawire? He’s nowhere around/He can’t be found/First betrayer who gave away Marcus Garvey/Son of Satan, first prophecy/Catch them, Garvey, whoa/Hold them, Marcus, hold them, mmm/Prophecy fulfilled, whoa/Catch them, Garvey, catch them, mmm/Hold them, Marcus, hold them, whoa/Marcus Garvey, Marcus, mmm
Thanks for the three country and one reggae, Rick. I do agree with you that this theme has a considerable way to go yet. (Always nice to get a bit of reggae in the mix, too.) Cheers.
‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ (1969), credited to Lennon-McCartney, but written solely by Lennon. The song is credited to The Beatles, but all the instruments were played by Lennon and McCartney, without any input from Harrison and Starr who were otherwise engaged in the matter of hours it took John and Paul to record this fine Berry-esque rocker.
The relevant theme-connected line is ‘Caught the early plane back to London’.
This song might be the worst pop song of the 1960s. I hated it the first time I heard it and then it became a monster hit and stayed in the charts for weeks. It was written by Bobby Russell, who also wrote some quite acceptable songs and recorded by Bobby Goldsboro who made an entire career (and lots of money) recording oversentimental schmaltz. I have only included the relevant verse and the chorus and I apologise for polluting this thread.
Honey – Bobby Goldsboro
I came home unexpectedly
And caught her cryin’ needlessly
In the middle of the day
And it was in the early spring
When flowers bloom and robins sing
She went away
[Chorus]
And Honey, I miss you
And I’m bein’ good
And I’d love to be with you
If only I could
Thanks for the song, Dave – I suppose it takes all types of songs to make up a themed songlist!
And jeez, you’re certainly correct about ‘Honey’!
‘Hearts on the Nightline’ – Richard Clapton (1979): ‘And I don’t know if I can survive / Keep getting caught up in this arcade of lies’
Some songwriters I like:
Standing in the Cold, in the Rain, Ed Kuepper – Well I’m standing in a comer/With a privileged girl/And I remember how much/That used to excite me then/But we were caught blue handed/The double standards/Of our love meant nothing/When I saw you/Saw you standing/In the cold in the rain/So we saved what we could
Then tried to hold up/The saddest sounds/And tell a different story/But I can’t help it/If I’m lucky/So when you come on/Down to my place/Wear your little raincoat/For when we’re/Standing/In the cold, in the rain
Walking Around Sense, Patterson Hood – They caught your mama underneath the Jaguar/She was acting so mad, I never seen her so sad/I told her I’d try to help her get treatment/An intervention to help her intentions/I never told her I could make her your hero, just better than zero/But she held me to much more than that/Met her at the Rock and Roll Induction/Liposuction, another shot of headlines/She don’t even have walking around sense
Saint Peter Upside Down, Craig Finn – They caught up with Simon Peter/They hung him upside down/They took the fisherman’s ring off his finger/They hung him upside down/We all gotta sell out somebody sometimes/Kid, you gotta lay your burden down/I’m speeding through a Saturday morning/And Saint Peter’s hanging upside down
Keep On Courtney Barnett, this is a cover , a song by Melbourne three piece, Loose Tooth, who are on Courtney’s record label, Milk! – These are muesli and ice cream days/One step between sweet serene and cleaning windscreens/Swollen feet, yeah, you’re quite the catch/Grinning under a bridge with a plastic bag/Keep on, keep getting on/You will not be happy ’cause you don’t know what you want/Your mind inside, you’re so unsatisfied/You will never give it up
An interesting, thematically on-the-money foursome – many thanks for these, Rick.
Speaking of songwriters, did someone say John Prine? Here’s 4 from the master:
Lake Marie, an absolute classic – Many years later/We found ourselves in Canada/Trying to save our marriage/And perhaps catch a few fish/Whatever came first/That night she fell asleep in my arms/Humming the tune to, “Louie Louie”/Aah baby, we gotta go now
Sweet Revenge, a lesser known song but a ripper – I caught an aisle seat on a plane/And drove an English teacher half insane/Making up jokes about bicycle spokes/And red balloons/So I called up my local deejay/And he didn’t have a lot to say/But the radio/Has learned all of my favorite tunes
The Other Side of Town, kind of a Linda Goes to Mars thing but not nearly as sharp nd weird – My body’s in this room with you just catching hell/But my soul is drinking beer down the road a spell/You might think I’m listening to your grocery listBut I’m leaning on a jukebox and I’m about halfway there/A clown puts his makeup on upside down/So he wears a smile even when he wears a frown/You might think I’m here when you put me down/But actually I’m on the other side of town
In Spite of Ourselves, a standout classic and a singalong at least when we have friends over –
She don’t like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin’ her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the Easter Bunny
She’s my baby I’m her honey
I’m never gonna let her go
He ain’t got laid in a month of Sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin’ my undies
He ain’t too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it’s oxygen
He’s my baby
And I’m his honey
Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves
We’ll end up a’sittin’ on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we’re the big door prize
We’re gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won’t be nothin’ but big old hearts
Dancin’ in our eyes
She thinks all my jokes are corny
Convict movies make her horny
She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs
Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs
She takes a lickin’
And keeps on tickin’
I’m never gonna let her go
He’s got more balls than a big brass monkey
He’s a wacked out werido and a lovebug junkie
Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon
Payday comes and he’s howlin’ at the moon
He’s my baby I don’t mean maybe
Never gonna let him go
In spite of ourselves
We’ll end up a’sittin’ on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we’re the big door prize
We’re gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won’t be nothin’ but big old hearts
Dancin’ in our eyes
There won’t be nothin’ but big old hearts
Dancin’ in our eyes
In spite of ourselves
Cousin Kevin: The Who (lyrics include “To stand in the rain and catch cold so you died”)
Thank you for this Prine quartet, Rick – they are the epitome of song lyric excellence, in my opinion.
For a moment there, I thought you were addressing me, Liam! Thanks for your song by The Who.
One from a favourite American band of mine, Cheap Trick – ‘Surrender’:: ‘Stay away, you’ll never know what you’ll catch’.
Three great songs, well two great songs and one fun as song, especially when I was 12!
My Ding-a-Ling, Chuck Berry – Mmm, and then mamma took me to grammar School/But I stopped off in the vestibule/Every time that bell would ring/Catch me playing with my ding-a-ling-a-ling
Come On Baby Let’s Go Downtown, Neil Young, from his 1975 live album, Tonight’s the Night that has aged beautifully – Walk on, talk on, baby tell no lies/Don’t you be caught with a tear in your eye/Sure enough they’ll be selling stuff/When the moon begins to rise/Pretty bad when you’re dealing with the man/And the light shines in your eyes, yeah
Harlen County, Jim Ford – Mama tried hard, poor ol’ Daddy got tired/Couldn’t even get a job with a shotgun/One winter I was out cuttin’ kindlin’/The news came to Mama that mornin’/They had a penny ante poker game down at the junction/Big Jack caught Daddy cheatin’ and he shot him/Over fifteen cents to buy a loaf of bread with/(Swing low sweet chariot)/We are gathered here today to ask the Lord/To take us out of Harlan County
Thanks for your three highly apt songs, Rick. Yes, everyone knows ‘My Ding-a-Ling’ – doesn’t matter how you say or write it, it’s always suggestive!
One final input, because these songs came up in a playlist I was listening to yesterday.
Laid, James – Caught your hand inside a till/Slammed your fingers in the door/Fought with kitchen knives and skewers/Dressed me up in women’s clothes/Messed around with gender roles/Line my eyes and call me pretty
Power, Kanye West, when this came out in 2010 Kanye was the best music artist in the world, brilliant rapper, lyricist, performer and he had the beats, it is sad what has become of this giant of American music, this song, not just these selected lyrics, may be an indication of how aware he was of the likelihood of the fall he suffered through his brutal and disgusting bigotry and mental health issues – My furs is Mongolian, my ice brought the goalies in/I embody every characteristic of the egotistic/He knows he’s so fuckin’ gifted/I just needed time alone with my own thoughts/Got treasures in my mind, but couldn’t open up my own vault/My childlike creativity, purity, and honesty/Is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts/Reality is catching up with me/Taking my inner child, I’m fighting for custody/With these responsibilities that they entrusted me/As I look down at my diamond-encrusted piece
Empire State of Mind, Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys, and what a magnificent song – Lights is blinding, girls need blinders/So they can step out of bounds quick, the sidelines is/Lined with casualties who sipping life casually/Then gradually become worse, don’t bite the apple, Eve/Caught up in the in-crowd, now you’re in-style/Into the winter gets cold, en vogue with your skin out/City of sin is a pity on a whim/Good girls gone bad, the city’s filled with them
I love this latest input, Rick, particularly the Kanye lyrics, which seem very much, as you indicate, a prediction of his future.
NEW THEME BEGINS TOMORROW, FRIDAY MAY 1- it promises to be a real biggie, IMHO!
Went to the Robert Finley concert at the Night Cat. He is a 72 year old US soul/blues/gospel/rocknroller who was only “discovered” 10 years back. Great show, lots of groove and his voice, just the right dollop of smooth soul mixed with graveled blues. A highlight was the song, Get It While You Can, which seems an appropriate title and theme for a 72 year old soul/bluesman, whose fortunes turned after he turned 60, lost his wife, house, sight and job, no kidding. Whatever the back story (and life), it is a standout on record and live. And it has lyrics I noted last night that fit this theme:
Didn’t know the dealer
But I sure did know his daughter
But if I hadn’ta chased her
I never would’ve caught her
[Chorus]
You gotta take it when you can get it
Get it while you can
Wrap it up in bacon, sizzle it in a pan
If it don’t come in the mailbox
It might take a moving van
But you gotta take it when you can get it
And get it while you can
Cowritten with John Prine.
Great addition to our ‘catching’ theme, Rick. The selected song contains a ‘get it while you can’ message which is particularly apt for people of a certain vintage (us), I believe!