I think I've got something to say to you
It's late September and I really should be back in school..."
- Maggie May by Rod Stewart
This book! OH. This book. I'm not sure it adds any great meaning to anybody's life but my own, but it fills one of those feel-good boxes (that I do so enjoy ticking) with its quirk factor and trivia.
If I had to nail it down (by all means, let's), it'd be the fact that it appeals to my not-so-inner-quiz night-attending geek. My three favouritest ever, ever, ever songs inspired by women are, in order, Maggie May by Rod Stewart, Lola by The Kinks and My Sharona by The Knack.
I always knew why Stewart penned the lyrics to Maggie May: he lost his virginity (many, many, many years ago) with an unknown girl at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival in 1961. As songs of regret go, it's a classic (in my mind). Lola, by The Kinks, is a song my very open-minded dad liked to sing to me as a kid which, going by the rather oppressive environment he grew up in, is rather surprising. The song itself is about a sexual experience with a transvestite. I'm not sure who the song is really about - Rolling Stone had their own idea that it was Candy Darling - whether or it not it was isn't categorically stated in the book, but it makes for interesting reading, anyway. And My Sharona, gosh as rock tracks go it is awesomeness personified. As rock tracks inspired by dirty lustful intentions towards young girls not even out of their teens go, oh dear *pulls a face* Did it put me off the book? No way! But I listen to My Sharona with a prejudiced ear, now.
If you're into music trivia this is well worth the read. I'd also recommend The boy in the song: the true stories behind 50 classic pop songs.
Title: The girl in the song : the true stories behind 50 rock classics
Authors: Michael Heatley & Frank Hopkinson
Published: Chicago Review Press, 2011
1 comment:
Reading it!
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