Editorial
Front Page - Friday, November 19, 2010
I Swear...
‘She’s Gone’ – quite the song!
Vic Fleming
“Everybody’s high on consolation.”
That’s the first line of the Hall and Oates song “She’s Gone.”
I recently was put in mind of this song. So much so that I borrowed the title for today’s I Swear Crossword.
If you are reading this online, you can find that crossword at http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/10-dr.html, where you will need Acrosslite software to download it.
I’d tell you more about that, but it would spoil the puzzle for you.
“She’s Gone” is famous enough as a song to have its own Wikipedia article.
That made me even more curious.
In a 2009 interview with Ken Sharp of American Songwriter, John Oates was quoted:
“There’s a lot of craft in songwriting. The divine inspiration is when the idea comes. It may be a riff. It may be a word. It may be a phrase. It may be a title.
“Sometimes, in the best of both worlds, that divine inspiration extends through the whole song. I’ve literally sat down and written a song from beginning to end, almost complete lyrics and everything without ever stopping … in two minutes.
“The chorus of ‘She’s Gone’ was like that. I sat down with the guitar and sang the chorus of ‘She’s Gone’ basically the way that it is. Then I played it for Daryl because I didn’t have anything else.
“It just happened. I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this really great chorus.’ And we wrote the verses together. ‘She’s Gone’ is a song that endures.”
I suppose that last remark is an understatement. Although, “She’s Gone” did not skyrocket to fame on its first launch.
It was released as a single in 1974. It had been on a 1973 album, “Abandoned Luncheonette.” Its success was moderate by H&O standards, peaking at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Nevertheless, I think that is the era from which I remember the song.
In 1974, Tavares covered “She’s Gone,” putting it on an album, “Hard Core Poetry,” and it became a hit, topping the U.S. R&B chart and peaking at No. 50 on the Hot 100.
Lou Rawls then covered it for a 1974 album, which he titled “She’s Gone.”
Thus, apparently sensing some unrealized potential, Atlantic Records re-released the original in 1976, after Hall & Oates had moved to RCA and scored big with “Sara Smile.”
“She’s Gone” raced up the ’76 charts, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2008, Hall and Oates parodied the song, singing about Alan Colmes departing the “Hannity & Colmes” for a gig on “The Daily Show.” Of course, that parody was titled “He’s Gone.”
Memorable lyrics from this song include:
“Everybody’s trying to tell me what’s right for me.” Been there? I have, too.
“I’d play the devil to replace her.” Hmmm.
“My face ain’t looking any younger.”
“I think I’ve … got the strength to carry on.”
•••
Thanks to all who wrote me encouraging words about my bout with writer’s block.
I’m happy to report: IT’S GONE!
(For the record, “If You Don’t Come Across” was written pretty much the same way “She’s Gone” was written.)
Vic Fleming is a district court judge in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he also teaches at the William H. Bowen School of Law. Contact him at vicfleming@att.net.
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