Almanac Music: ‘Gimme a Head with Hair’ – Songs about Hair
Combing the Hair (‘La Coiffure’) by Edgar Degas, oil on canvas, c.1896. National Gallery, London, England. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: ‘Gimme a Head with Hair’ – Songs about Hair
Hi, Almanackers. This week’s piece in my ongoing series about key popular song themes involves songs that in some way involve hair. Yeah yeah!
So, dear readers, please put your relevant songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to get things going.
‘Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair’, written by Stephen Foster, performed by Richard Crooks (1937)
‘I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair, / Borne like a vapour, on the summer air…’. First published in 1854. Utterly beautiful.
‘He’s My Blonde Headed, Stompie Wompie, Real Gone Surfer Boy’, written by Jay Justin and Joe Halford, performed by Little Pattie (1963)
Groovy!
‘She’s A Rainbow’, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, performed by the Rolling Stones (1967)
‘Lalalalala…’
‘Hair’, written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, performed by The Original Broadway Cast (1968)
‘Gimme a head with hair…’
‘Sister Golden Hair’, written by Gerry Beckley, performed by America (1975)
Played this one in a band, as a late teen. Always liked the chords, particularly some tuneful use of minors.
‘Blondes (Have More Fun)’, written by Rod Stewart and Jim Cregan, performed by Rod Stewart (1978)
This one blasted out at the St Bernard’s disco in Belmont, Geelong, when I was around seventeen.
‘Suicide Blonde’, written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, performed by INXS (1990)
Very danceable.
‘Strawberry Blonde’, written and performed by Ron Sexsmith (1997)
One from wonderful Ron…what a talent!
………………………………………………
Now, wonderful readers / listeners – it’s your turn. Your responses to this topic are warmly welcomed. In the ‘Comments’ section, please add your own choice of a song (or songs) involving hair, along with any other relevant material you wish to include.
[Note: as usual, Wikipedia has been a good general reference for this piece, particularly in relation to checking dates and other details.]
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
Read more Almanac Poetry HERE
If you would like to receive the Almanac Music and Poetry newsletter we will add you to the list. Please email us: [email protected]
To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.
Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.
Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – click HERE.
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 fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 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.
Hey KD
Great topic and thoughtful intro videos – this should get the hares running.
I’ll open up with the first song to spring to mind:
Almost Cut My Hair – David Crosby (off Deja Vu by CSN&Y – released 1970)
This song includes the memorable line ‘I feel like letting my freak flag fly’
Hi Karl. Thank you for getting the ball rolling – love your choice of an iconic song of its time.
First one that comes to mind KD is:
‘Signs’ – Five Man Electric Band.
Song includes some classic ‘hair’ lines such as in this verse:
“And the sign said
‘Long-haired freaky people
Need not apply’
So I tucked my hair up under my hat
And I went in to ask him why
He said, “You look like a fine upstandin’ young man
I think you’ll do”
So I took off my hat and said, “Imagine that
Huh, me workin’ for you”
Whoa”
Thanks, Col. Good one! Like Karl’s initial choice, this is so much a song of its era.
“Evie, Part 1”, by Stevie Wright (“Evie, Evie, Evie let your hair hang down.”)
“Walk Right In”, by Dr Hook (“Walk right in, sit right down, baby let your hair hang down.”)
Thanks, Anon, for your two – maybe hair ‘hanging down’ will turn into a sub-theme!
“Beauty School Dropout”, by Frankie Avalon (“Who wants their hair done by a slob?”)
How could I forget one of the greatest pop songs ever!
‘San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)’ – Scott McKenzie
Thanks again, Anon. I think this hair theme is going to be, surprisingly perhaps, a very high-yielding one in terms of song choices and comments; after all, hair is – and has been – such an important aspect of popular culture and social history.
And hair mentioned in another classic.
‘Summer Rain’ – Johnny Rivers
‘…Golden hair shining like moonglow…’
Yes, Col – thank you for putting forward one of the key songs of the sixties. ‘San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)’ need to be listed here!
“Barbie Girl”, by Aqua (“You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere.”). Just as well it’s talking about a Barbie doll only!
,,, and thanks for ‘Summer Rain’ too, Col.
Thanks, Anon, for ‘Barbie Girl’, very much a song connected inextricably to pop culture.
I’m also a big fan of the Sam Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair) song.
I’m also a massive fan of this song, “Love Grows (Where my Rosemary Goes)”, by Edison Lighthouse. “Her hair is kinda wild and free”.
“Where Do You Go To My Lovely?”, by Peter Sarstedt (“And there’s diamonds and pearls in your hair, yes, there are”)
“Fox on the Run”, by Manfred Mann (“Her hair shone like gold in the hot morning sun.”)
Jolene, Dolly
Sorry, Beyonce
Just Like a Woman, Bob
Style, TS
Cheers
Truly Fair – Guy Mitchell
Girl with the Golden Hair – ABBA
The Roving Kind – Guy Mitchell
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania – Guy Mitchell
Hang on Sloopy (sorry I forgot the artist)
Thanks, Anon, for your most recent additions – you’re on fire! In particular, I’m a big fan of ‘Love Grows (Where my Rosemary Goes)’ and ‘Where Do You Go To My Lovely?’
Tough one KD
Tearing Hair Out – Models
Hairdresser on Fire – Morrissey
Dorothy Parker’s Hair – Mental As Anything
Penny Lane – Beatles
Thanks, Trucker – four wonderful songs! Always a fine thing to receive your music responses as you truck along the highway of life.
By the way, in an associational fashion, Beyonce’s ‘Sorry’ made me think of ‘Sorrow’ by Bowie and others: ‘With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue / The only thing I ever got from you / Was sorrow…’
Ten Pretty Girls – Laurence Rubenstein recorded in 1937.
Fine bunch of songs, Fisho, including ‘Hang on Sloopy’ by the McCoys (and others) – thank you.
Digging a bit deeper into a narrow well (or three)
Life On Mars – Bowie
Rebel Rebel – Bowie
Sorrow – Bowie (cover of McCoys song)
Jean Genie – Bowie
Ziggy Stardust – Bowie
Leilani – Hoodoo Gurus
Come Together – Beatles
When I’m 64 – Beatles
Greetings To The New Brunette – Billy Bragg
Cheers, Swish – thanks for your contributions. Fine and a great variety!
Isn’t ‘Dorothy Parker’s Hair’ a wonderful Beatlesque song?
Thanks, Fishob, for ‘Ten Pretty Girls’.
Thanks again, Swish.
Again, a bunch of fine songs – I think the ‘well’ for this theme is deeper and wider than you imagine. And you are helping to prove that.
And I’m just reminded of the worst bunch of lines in a Beatles song, from Ringo’s ‘ Don’t Pass Me By’ on the Beatles White Album: ‘I’m sorry that I doubted you / I was so unfair / You were in a car crash / And you lost your hair…’ (I love Ringo in general, by the way.)
The Parable of Glen McGrath’s Haircut- TISM
Ha ha ha … beauty. Thanks, Luke!
Bankrobber – The Clash and in their top 10 songs. (“aint no point to wash comb your hair when it’s grey and thinning” and that isn’t even in the best 5 lines of this remarkable song).
Down City Streets, written by Ruby Hunter, sung by Archie Roach – one of the finest (and saddest) of Australian songs.
I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair – Mitzi Gaynor
Ballad of the Teenage Queen – Johnny Cash
One of those Days – Elvis Presley
Blue Ribbon Baby – Tommy Sands
Thanks, Trucker, for these two excellent songs.
Interesting when I just listened to ‘Bankrobber’, it immediately reminded me quite a lot of ‘I Fought the Law’, a version of which The Clash also recorded.
‘Down City Streets’ – yep, ‘used my fingers as a comb’ very much relates to hair.
Thank you, Fisho, for another solid contribution.
Re Cash’s ‘Ballad of a Teenage Queen’ – those fifties Sun records had a wonderfully distinctive sound, didn’t they?
Nancy sing me a song: Roy Wood
I can’t reach you: The Who
Cut my hair: The Who
Cousin Kevin: The Who
The pride you hide: Roger Daltrey
So deep within you: Moody Blues
Rule of threes: Mondo Rock
Primitive love rites: Mondo Rock
King Sap (and the Princess Sag): Australian Crawl
Can I be sure: Australian Crawl
Stood Up: James Reyne
I see you: The Byrds
So you wanna be a rock n roll star: The Byrds
For Emily, whenever I may find her: Simon and Garfunkel
Dan, my fling: Carly Simon
Grownup: Carly Simon
Valentine: Belinda Carlisle
Lover boy: Supertramp
Fire brigade: The Move
Do ya: The Move, Electric Light Orchestra
Sweet is the night: Electric Light Orchestra
Power of a million lights: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Whiskey girls: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Darlin’ don’t you go and cut your hair
Do you think it’s gonna make him change?
“I’m just a boy with a new haircut”
And that’s a pretty nice haircut
from ‘Cut Your Hair’ by the always fun Pavement.
Well done, Luke. Never enough TISM on here.
The following are Television Commercial jingles:
Decore Hair Shampoo
Wella Shampoo & Conditioner (“You can tell a Wella woman by the way she wears her hair. You can tell a Wella woman anywhere.”)
I love the crazy ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There are a lot of reggae Rastafarian songs about not cutting your hair and dread locks, dreads, natty dreads and so on. Far from my favourite but perhaps the most well known is Crazy Baldhead (1976) – Bob Marley & The Wailers.
Werewolves of London, of course!
Okie from Muskogee, Merle Haggard having a bit of fun
Red Headed Stranger, Willie
Red Headed Woman, Bruce (guess what it’s about? Cunnilingus of course)
Black Velvet Band (Irish song and a fave)
And KD, yer right about the 50s Sun recordings, Sam Phillips really did have something special there.
‘’”Copacabana”, by Barry Manilow (“With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there”)
She’s not there: The Zombies
See my baby jive: Wizzard
Little Arrows – Leepy Lee
Man I feel Like a Woman – Shania Twain
Party Doll – Steve Lawrence or Buddy Knox
The Girl That I Marry – Howard Keel
She’s My Baby – Johnny O’Keefe
Thought I might finish off day 1, as we collectively inch towards the 1/2 ton, with:
Jet – Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Big black boots/long brown hair
Lady Godiva – Peter and Gordon
There’s a parody song on YouTube titled “Taylor Walker Song, Mullet Man” 2013, by Peter Gaston. The lyrics are about the mullet of Taylor Walker, the Adelaide Crows footballer.
I forgot to mention that the “Mullet Man’ parody song for Taylor Walker was sung to the tune of “Rocket Man”, by Elton John. I also seem to remember Greg Champion a few years ago singing a parody song “He’s a Mullet Man”, to the tune of “We’re from Tigerland”, regarding the mullet of Richmond ruckman, Ivan Soldo, when he was playing for Richmond.
“Ventura Highway”, by America (“Cause the free wind is blowing’ through your hair.”)
“I Got You Babe”, by Sonny & Cher (“So let them say your hair’s too long.”)
“Pretty Flamingo”, by Manfred Mann (“Cause her hair glows like the sun”)
Time to bring up the half century with another single, “You’re Sixteen You’re Beautiful (And You’re Mine)”, by Ringo Starr (“You’re all ribbons and curls.”)
That’s an impressive list you’ve put together, Liam. Your mention of ‘Cut My Hair’ by The Who made me think that ‘cutting hair’ could be a sub-genre in terms of our current theme.
Thanks, Mickey, for your addition by Pavement. (Fits perfectly with what I wrote in my previous comment, too.)
Thanks, Anon, for your jingles and songs – on the money, as always.
Thanks for your response, Julian. ‘Almost Cut My Hair’ was mentioned way back in this discussion. ‘Crazy Baldhead’ is a most welcome new addition. Cheers.
Thanks, Trucker, for your latest lot.
Yeah, ‘Red Headed Woman’ … Bruce certainly covers a great deal of, er, ground, in his subject matter!
And I must mention that ‘Black Velvet Band’ is just about my all-time favourite Irish song – when it’s sung by my all-time favourite Irish group, The Grehan Sisters, the combination is irresistable!
Thanks again Liam, Karl and Fisho, for your latest offerings.
Honeycomb – Jimmie Rogers
What is Love – The Playmates
Cheers, Fisho, for your latest choices. Thank you.
Hey KD – I know the Beatles have had a good run within this ‘hair’ theme, but I have a couple more that either fit or else fit (with a degree of imagination)….
Another Day – Paul McCartney
Every day, she takes a morning bath, she wets her hair
A Day In The Life – The Beatles
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Enjoy your weekend. BTW – from the photo, you look like you have a fine crop of hair that you probably drag a comb over every now & then.
I have been asleep at the wheel. A lot of the best folk and country songs mentioning hair have already been submitted, mostly by Trucker Slim, so I will open in some other genres.
A Read Headed Woman – music and lyrics by George Gershwin from the Jazz Opera Porgy and Bess
Edd Byrnes and Connie Stevens – Kooky, Kooky, (Lend Me Your Comb)
Jody Miller – Home of the Brave (“The school board says “He can’t come to school no more”
Unless he wears his hair like he wore it before”)
and now to some songs that I like…….
The Carter Family – Wildwood Flower (“Oh, I’ll twine with my mingle’s and waving black hair”)
Richard Thompson – 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (“Red Hair and black leather, my favourite colour scheme”)
Richard Thompson – Beeswing (“Brown hair zig-zag around her face’)
Judy Small – Mary Parker’s lament (“With auburn hair flying, I’d walk with my man”)
Bob Dylan – Pretty Peggio (“Come a-running down your stairs Combing back your yellow hair”) (This is a minimal rewrite of the Scots folk song The Bonnie Lass of Fife)
…and I’ll add to Dave’s excellent list:
Richard Thompson – She Cut Off Her Long Silken Hair
Thanks, Karl, for your latest offerings – particularly liked your choice of ‘A Day in the Life’.
And, yeah yeah, I can’t complain about my own hair situation!
Cheers, Dave, as Karl has already said, your list is an excellent one. Love your folk content, too, as I’ve noted in the context of other themes.
I’ll single out ‘Wildwood Flower’, certainly in the Book of Genesis as far as American country music is concerned. Imagine being in the vicinity of the tiny community of Maces Spring, Virginia, where the Carter family where located in the late 1920s and listening to them perform it, with Maybelle Carter’s innovative guitar playing, combining lead and rhythm, and Sara Carter’s distinctive lead vocals.
I should be watching the Hawks Suns game but King just kicked his fourth and the Suns are giving us a, er, haircut. So here’s a few more, excellent songs related to what I ain’t got much left on my noggin.
Black Haired Boy, Guy Clark
Black Haired Girl, Dave Alvin
Curly Locks, Lee Sratch Perry
Hairdresser, ZZ Top
The Haircut, The Waifs
I must make reference to the John Lennon classic “Gimme some truth”:
No short-haired, yellow-bellied
Son of Tricky Dicky’s
Gonna Mother Hubbard soft soap me
With just a pocket full of hope/soap
Money for dope
Money for rope.
Great mix of songs here, Rick – some country, a bit of reggae, rock and folk. Thank you.
Hey KD….do you want to play ‘Name That Dylan Song’?
Wondering if she’d changed it all
If her hair was still red
See for me that her hair’s hangin’ down
It curls and falls all down her breast
I’m gonna grow my hair down to my feet so strange
So I look like a walking mountain range
Thanks for ‘Tangled Up in Blue’, one of my favourite Dylan songs!
My pleasure – TUIB is one of my favourites too.
The other Dylan songs were:
Girl From The North Country – hair’s hangin’ down
I Shall Be Free No.10 – grow my hair down to my feet (off Another Side, 1964)
Oh yes – thanks for the two other songs as well! (My brain’s still getting in gear at this stage of the day!)
“Joelene”, by Dolly Parton (“With flowing locks of auburn hair”)
Thanks, Liam, for ‘Gimme Some Truth’ – I meant to respond to you a little earlier.
I love Lennon’s Imagine album, as a whole, too.
And this talk of John Lennon has reminded me of the wonderful song, ‘Julia’, from the Beatles White album: ‘Her hair of floating sky is shimmering…’
Thanks, Anon, for ‘Jolene’ – Trucker Slim mentioned it much earlier in the discussion.
“Delta Dawn”, by Tanya Tucker (“Looking for a mysterious dark-haired man”)
Does “Dreadlock Holiday”, by 10cc qualify? It’s not about dreadlocks but it’s in a holiday destination where dreadlocks are common.
Some tunes from my fave 80s band and a couple by their lead singer and main songwriter.
Androgynous, The Replacements
Talent Show, The Replacements
Sadly Beautiful, The Replacements
My Dad, Paul Westerberg
Crackle and Drag, Paul Westerberg (about Sylvia Plath)
“A Little Ray of Sunshine”, by Axiom (“With the gold flowing hair that nature provided”)
Thanks, Anon, for your latest three – of course, ‘Dreadlock Holiday does qualify, because of its title.
Thanks, Rick, for your most recent bunch – as interesting as always.
Plath is just about my favourite twentieth century poet (along with Larkin and Yeats), so I was particularly drawn to ‘Crackle and Drag’, and it is a song that deserves repeated listens, in order to get its full import.
Good arvo KD – it’s been a lovely autumn day over this way.
A few more from the pen & mind of Mr. Dylan – all off his January 1974 Planet Waves album
Hazel, dirty-blonde hair
I wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen with you anywhere
Something there is about you that strikes a match in me
Is it the way your body moves or is it the way your hair blows free?
You’ve turned your hair to brown
Love to see it hangin’ down
Hi Karl – fine and autumnal in this neck of the woods, too.
Great to see some more Dylan songs enter the mix in connection with our hair theme.
Hey KD – the splendid autumn days continue and the trees are putting on their annual colour extravaganza festival – free of charge!
I thought I’d move onto the 1975 Blood On The Tracks album and add to the earlier TUIB lyrics:
From Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts
‘Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town’ &
‘The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, “Closed for repair”
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair’
From Shelter From The Storm
‘Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair’
I’m surprised this song lyric, which just popped into my head, hasn’t been mentioned so far:
Yellow is the colour of my true love’s hair
In the mornin’, when we rise
Donovan’s ‘Colours’ obviously…..
Thanks, Karl. Dylan and Donovan – what’s not to like?
Three more folk classics about hair (and as it turns out, death)
Roddy McCorley – Irish folk song about the hanging of rebel recorded by The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers although the best version I have heard was sby Brian Mooney at Traynor’s folk club in 1964.
(“About the hemp rope on his neck The golden ringlets clung”)
The Highwayman – an early 20th century poem set to music by various folk singers including Phil Ochs and Loreena McKennitt. The best version is Andy Irvine’s arrangement of Loreena McKennitt’s song.
(” He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.”)
Joan Baez – Mary Hamilton. Scots folk song recorded by lots of people but every ageing folkie knows this song from Joan’s excellent version on her first album
(“Last night I washed the queen’s feet
Put the gold in her hair
And the only reward I find for this
The gallows to be my share”)
Pencil Thin Moustache, Jimmy the Buffet
One Particular Harbour, Jimmy, again!
Dumb Blonde, Dolly
Dear Abby, John Prine
Jesus, the Missing Years, Mr Prine, again
Thanks, Dave, for your folk trio. Loved the accompanying detail, too.
And thank you again, Trucker. To single out one of your choices, ‘Dumb Blonde’ is an enjoyable early Dolly tune, and reminds me of her famous quote about blondes: ‘I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb… and I also know that I’m not blonde.’
Hey KD
I’m still flicking through my Dylan songbook and came across 3 contenders for the ‘hair’ theme – all from the June 1978 Street Legal album.
Changing Of the Guards
‘They shaved her head’
‘He’s pulling her down and she’s clutching on to his long golden locks’
New Pony
‘She got great big hind legs
And long black shaggy hair hanging in her face’
Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)
‘There’s a babe in the arms of a woman in a rage
And a longtime golden-haired stripper on stage’
Here’s Johhnnnnnnyyyy:
You Comb Her Hair
Chattanooga City Limit Sign
City Jail
Custer
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town
Dorraine of Ponchartrain
Drums
Frankie’s Man, Johnny
Hammer and Nails
Jacob Green
and The Little Lady Preacher, Tom T Hall (only barely scraps in with this line: “She had a guitar picker by the name of Luther Short, a hairy-legged soul lost out in sin”)
“Surfin’ U.S.A.”, by The Beach Boys (“A bushy bushy blond hairdo”)
“Witchy Woman”, by Eagles (“Raven hair and ruby lips”)
Thanks, Trucker. Johnny is always welcome in contexts like this, as is Tom T.
Thank you, Anon, for your latest two.
“Oh Carol”, by Smokie (“So I pulled on over, tossed your hair off your shoulder”)
Thanks Anon – another single as we edge closer to the ton!
A couple of ‘hair’ lines from Dylan’s 1976 ‘Desire’ album:
Isis
‘So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong’
One More Cup Of Coffee
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth on the pillow where you lie
Thanks Karl – Bob is always most welcome!
“Sara Smile”, by Daryl Hall & John Oates (“Baby hair with a woman’s eyes”)
Television advertisement jingle for “New Clinic Hair Shampoo”, from the 1970s (“The shine that only healthy hair has”)
Television advertisement jingle for Loxene Hair Shampoo, from 1979 (“Loxene Shine, You Can Feel It”)
Congratulations to everyone involved for reaching another century for the Almanac Music Readers.
Hey KD!
A few more Dylan ‘hair’ lyrics to add to this collection.
Angelina (Shot Of Love album outtake)
‘Blood dryin’ in my yellow hair as I go from shore to shore’
Tight Connection To My Heart (off Empire Burlesque)
‘…they’re beating the devil out of a guy/For wearing a powder-blue wig’
Highlands (off Time Out Of Mind)
‘Wouldn’t know the difference between a real blonde and a fake’
Thanks, Anon – deservedly the one to bring up the century for this theme.
Thanks, Karl, for the additional Dylan material. Always welcome!
“Just The Way You Are”, by Billy Joel (“Don’t change the colour of your hair, mmm”)
“Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”, by Kenny Rogers (“You’ve painted up your lips and rolled and curled your tinted hair,”)
Thanks for the Kenny and Billy songs, Anon.
“Green Green Grass of Home”, by Tom Jones (“Hair of gold and lips like cherries”)
The Hold Steady are one of the best US rock bands of the last 25 years, modelling their sound somewhere between punk and the E Street Band. Craig Finn, lead singer and songwriter is the very definition of literate, deepening the meaning of his band’s songs and his solo work with literary and biblical references, an empathetic understanding of hard luck and people engaged in transgressive behaviour, with well-placed wit, soft humour and surprising metaphors and turn of phrases. Well beyond standard rock lyrics. Some great examples in the songs listed here but God in Chicago is particularly mesmerising. First time we saw them was at The Corner around 2010. And it went off. Huge show, you could feel the energy surge both ways, band to audience and audience to the band. Apparently for year after in interview when asked about the band’s best gigs, Craig Finn would cite that show.
God in Chicago – Craig Finn
The Bear and Maiden Fair – The Hold Steady (for Game of Thrones)
Denver Haircut – The Hold Steady
How a Resurrection Really Feels – The Hold Steady
All These Perfect Crosses – Craig Finn
Thanks, Anon, for the Tom Jones song.
Thanks, Trucker, for the info and songs connected to The Hold Steady. I’ll certainly check them out.
I’m putting this song in, as both a statement of purpose and as a literal note that I have more songs coming.
It Ain’t Over Yet, Rodney Crowell
For such a fine songwriter this later date song is one of his best, aided by Roseanne Cash.
111 comments – love that number, well done!
Here’s 112 – not sure if it’s been mentioned
Joni Mitchell – Blonde In the Bleachers, off ‘For The Roses’ 1972
‘The blonde in the bleachers
She flips her hair for you’
Thanks, Rick – really like ‘It Ain’t Over Yet’ – the song has a great ‘feel’, for one thing.
And yes, keep those songs coming!
Cheers, Karl. Love ‘Blonde in the Bleachers’. Thanks for that one.
(New theme next Friday – I aim for one a fortnight, though occasionally there’s variation to this.)
From the Stray Cats, Rumble in Brighton, Brian Setzer belts out these hairy lines. Well there’s the Rockabilly Cats with their pomps real high’.
Then two lines later
‘The cool Skinheads with their rolled up jeans’.
There’s more out there.
Glen!
Thanks, Glen – two good pickups there, from the one song!
If we return to 1978 the third track on side one of Rose Tattoo’s first album was the ‘Butcher and Fast Eddy’, about a fatal gang fight in Melbourne’s Northern suburbs.
As Angry commences to tell the story the third line he sings is:
‘And gangs of short haired boys roam the streets’.
Glen!
“Baby, it’s you”, by Promises (“Running your fingers through my hair”)
Has anybody mentioned ‘Long Blonde Hair’?
It’s a rockabilly song and was written back in 1957 by John Powers. My recollection of it was the Crackajacks version, recorded back in 1980. Do yourself a favour, have a listen.
Glen!
Fine song, Anon – one of my favourites from its late 70s era.
Thank you, Glen, for your latest two – ‘Butcher and Fast Eddy’ and ‘Long Blonde Hair’. (I’m a bit of a Rose Tattoo fan, actually.)
Not sure if you heard KD but Taylor Swift released an album on the weekend. Yes, it’s stunning. Oh and it has a couple of songs with hair referenced. In fact the second song, LOML, references the first song, in a neat connection.
But Daddy, I Love Him
LOML (Love of My Life/Loss of My Life)
Clara Bow
Yeah Slim, I heard about the new Swifty album – funny about that!
Great to get the ‘hair update’ about it so promptly. Thank you.
“Let’s Make a Night to Remember”, by Bryan Adams (“With your hair hanging down on your shoulders”)
Thanks, Anon, for the Bryan Adams song.
One more by Taylor, from the new album:
Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus (Your hologram stumbled into my apartment/Hands in the hair of somebody in darkness)
And here’s a few random songs:
Tennessee Woman, Charles Brown & Sleepy Creek
Did I Shave my Legs for This, Ðeana Carter (hairy legs)
The Winner, Kris Kristoffersen (hairy hands)
And two songs from Johnny Cash from the late 50s:
The Caretaker
Honky Tonk Girl
Cheers
Thanks for these songs, Rick – fine bunch of performers, too.
“Dancing in the Dark”, by Bruce Springsteen (“Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face”)
Here Kevin, Long Blonde Hair, as mentioned a few days back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMe6c1oLwWg
They don’t write songs like this anymore, nor do they make film clips like this.
Glen!
Hey KD! How you been?
I was recently reminded of one of my mid-teen favourite albums (Led Zeppelin III) and this led my to one of my favourite songs off the album – ‘That’s The Way’. The songs impacted on me in multiple ways. Here’s a line relevant to this topic:
‘I can’t believe what people saying,
You’re gonna let your hair hang down,’
Looking forward to a new theme comin’ o’er the horizon.
Cheers, KD
Thanks for the Springsteen song, Anon.
I’m fine, thanks, Karl. Hope you are, too.Thank you for the Led Zep song. My earliest clear Zep memory is around my mid-teens when a kid I played with in a basketball team with gave me a cassette of the Houses of the Holy album – I recall ‘The Rain Song’ and ‘Dancing Days’ being favourites.
Thanks for the Springsteen song, Anon.
I’m fine, thanks, Karl. Hope you are, too.Thank you for the Led Zep song. My earliest clear Zep memory is around my mid-teens when a kid I played with in a basketball team gave me a cassette of the Houses of the Holy album – I recall ‘The Rain Song’ and ‘Dancing Days’ being favourites.
“Born to Run”, by Bruce Springsteen (“Girls comb their hair in rear view mirrors.”)
Thanks, Glen – I enjoyed ‘Long Blonde Hair’, both the song and the clip. Great fun!
Thank you for ‘Born to Run’, Anon – a classic, of course.
Hey KD
Nothing to do with hair…but if you’re a Houses of the Holy mid teen vintage & I’m a betweenee LZIII/LZIV mid teen vintage, then I guess Route 66 might be very relevent to you this year???? I have an article coming out tomorrow that references LZIII, LZIV & HotH as time markers. The topic relates very much to the article you had re-published today.
Cheers…
Cheers, Karl. Thanks for the ‘heads up’. I’ll certainly have a look.
Can’t believe I missed two of Springsteen’s greatest songs! I’m looking too far from my wheelhouse. Anyway, one last effort. Not sure if Claptons song has already been noted. Probably has. It’s close to my fave from him (another rock artist I have to force myself to not think too much about his character).
Flea, St Vincent
The Impossible, The Drums
Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton
I Like It, Debarge
The Highwayman, Phil Ochs
Cheers
Many thanks, Rick, for these.
I’ve never been an Eric Clapton fan in terms of his solo career songs, though always acknowledged the quality of his guitar playing.
Oh – and to those wondering – a new song theme should be posted by me next Friday. I try for one a fortnight, but I missed the boat in terms of last Friday (yesterday).
“I Say A Little Prayer”, by Dionne Warwick (“And while combing my hair now”)
“The Brady Bunch” television theme song, by Frank DeVol and Sherwood Schwartz (“All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls.”)
Thanks, A – two more for the big list.
“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”, by Elton John (“A handful of grease in her hair”)
Cheers, A – thank you.
“Just Like A Woman”, by Bob Dylan (“But lately I see her ribbons and her bows have fallen from her curls”)
Yes, Anon – excellent! Thank you.
Not to pierce your balloon Anon (because your work rate on this theme and others is outstanding) but someone called Just Like a Woman much earlier in this thread. Oh, that’d be me. I have been fixated on that line and verse for maybe 40 years, in how incredible it is; there’s at least two competing ideas His Bobness puts in front of the listener, weaving her age, growing up and emerging sexuality into 5 lines. Five lines! The lyric you cite (such simple words) are the core of the competing, intersecting ideas. As an introductory verse it widens the aperture of what the song will explore, never leaving the core premise (including Dylan, as protagonist) and lie, hidden as an easter egg, to apply Taylor Swift terminology, is revealed later in the song. Psst, he does feel pain. Anyway, great song.
And to show fairness to the spirit of this thread, one of the songs I cited later in this run, The Highwayman had already been put forward by Dave Nadal.
Cheers
“Betty Davis Eyes”, by Kim Carnes (“Her hair is Harlow gold.”)
Thanks, Rick, for the clarification, as well as the explanatory detail.
And thanks, Anon, for ‘Bette Davis Eyes’.
“Fearless”, by Taylor Swift (“Run your hands through your hair.”)
Congratulations to the Almanac Music Readers for reaching another 150!
Thank you, Anon, for the TS number, and for your big role in our 150.
“Good Vibrations”, by The Beach Boys (“And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair”)
“Shake It Off”, by Taylor Swift (“And to the fella over there with the hella good hair.”)
More fine selections – thanks Anon.
“I Love The Flower Girl”, by The Cowsills (“Flowers in hair, flowers everywhere.”) and (“All I had left was was one little flower from her hair.”)
Thanks for ‘I Love The Flower Girl’, Anon.
“(They Long to Be) Close to You”, by Carpenters (“So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold.”)
Lovely song choice – thank you, Anon.
“Six Ribbons”, by Jon English (“So take my six ribbons to tie back your hair’)
Thanks, Anon, for ‘Six Ribbons’ – a good song, written (as well as being performed) by Jon English, with a traditional folk feel.
“Atomic”, by Blondie (“Oh, your hair is beautiful.”)
“Mr Sandman”, by The Chordettes (“And lots of wavy hair like Liberace”)
Thanks for ‘Mr Sandman’, Anon – nice to see ‘Mr Showbusiness’ get a mention, too.