MM – 1910/1962

“I’m Henery the Eighth, I Am” (also “I’m Henery the VIII, I Am” or “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”; spelled “Henery” but pronounced “‘Enery” in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston. It was a signature song of the music hall star Harry Champion.

Joe Brown included the song on his first album A Picture of You in 1962. In 1965, it became the fastest-selling song in history to that point when it was revived by Herman’s Hermits, becoming the group’s second number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, dethroning “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones. Despite that success, the single was not released in the UK. The Herman’s Hermits version is a very short song, one of the shortest ever to be a number-one single in the US.

In the well-known chorus, Henery explains that his wife had been married seven times before, each time to another Henery:

I’m ‘Enery the Eighth, I am,
‘Enery the Eighth I am, I am!
I got married to the widow next door,
She’s been married seven times before
And every one was an ‘Enery
She wouldn’t have a Willie nor a Sam
I’m her eighth old man named ‘Enery
‘Enery the Eighth, I am!

However, in the Hermits’ version, Peter Noone ends each chorus with “I’m her eighth old man, I’m ‘Enery” and never sings “named”.

MM – 1969

“Make Your Own Kind of Music” is a song by American singer Cass Elliot released in September 1969 by Dunhill Records. It was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, with production by Steve Barri. In the United States, “Make Your Own Kind of Music” was a Top 40 hit, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Largely viewed as a commercial disappointment despite strong airplay on U.S. Top 40 radio stations in November 1969, the song found new life in the 2000s due to its use in TV shows such as Lost and the feature film Free Guy.

MM – 1983

“Believe in Me” is the title of a popular song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. The song appears on Fogelberg’s eighth studio album Windows and Walls (1984).

When “Believe in Me” was recorded in May 1983, Fogelberg handled most of the musical creation himself, playing guitar and bass as well as recording his vocals; musician Mike Hanna (who played acoustic guitar on the track) was the only other performer in the studio. Fogelberg later described the song in the liner notes to a retrospective album: “One of my best love songs. Written at my old house in Nederland, Colorado, while building the ranch. Obviously, all was not well.”

MM – 1962

“500 Miles” (also known as “500 Miles Away from Home” or “Railroaders’ Lament”) is a song made popular in the United States and Western Europe during the 1960s folk revival. The simple repetitive lyrics offer a lament by a traveler who is far from home, out of money, and too ashamed to return. In a May 1963 interview on Folk Music Worldwide, Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary characterized the song, which appeared on the group’s 1962 debut album, as “a reflection of loneliness.”

MM – 1965

“Elusive Butterfly” is a popular song written by Bob Lind, released as a single in December 1965,  which reached number 5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the adult contemporary chart in the spring of 1966.  It also reached number 5 in the UK, after entering the charts on 19 February 1966, remaining there for five weeks.  In Australia, Lind’s “Elusive Butterfly” entered the charts on April 10, 1966, and spent three weeks at number 2 during July of that year. On the New Zealand listener charts it reached number 12.

Bob Lind wrote “Elusive Butterfly” around sunrise while pulling an all-nighter in 1964: at that time he was living in Denver, performing at local folk clubs. Lind credits the song’s inspiration as the W. B. Yeats‘ poem “The Song of Wandering Aengus“, stating: “I wanted to write something that [like Yeats’ poem] had the sense we feel of being most alive when we’re searching or looking or chasing after something. That expectation is more life affirming than getting the thing you’re after.” The song was originally five verses long and, with the instrumental passages Lind included, its performance time approximated ten minutes: (Lind quote:) “I played it for everybody I knew but I didn’t [think] ‘Man, this is my best song: it’s going to be a hit [that] millions of people [will] hear…It was just another [Bob Lind] song. I was thrilled [then] by everything I wrote.”

MM – 2005

If I could be where you are – Enya

This song translates both the feeling of abandonment and the desire to help abandoned people.

This link between the need to receive and the need to give is called Love.

It begins with the Offering, and if the resonance occurs, it is because the Love is there.

“If I Could Be Where You Are” is the fourth track from Irish singer, songwriter, and musician Enya‘s sixth studio album, Amarantine, released on November 21, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. The song was released as the first promotional single as a one-track charitative single for Japan. The inserts feature photos not available anywhere else.

This is a song of sadness, for how else can one describe such sorrow? Not knowing where a loved one is, not knowing how they are, not knowing how to find them.

They are the missing.

Enya said that “If I Could Be Where You Are” was one of her favourite songs on the album. The track appeared on the ‘Songs for Japan’ charitative compilation created to benefit relief efforts for the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

MM – 1961

“Last Kiss” is a song written by Wayne Cochran and first recorded by Cochran in 1961 for the Gala label. Cochran’s version failed to do well on the charts.  Cochran re-recorded his song for the King label in 1963. It was revived by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, who took it to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Wednesday, Pearl Jam, and several international artists also covered the song, with varying degrees of success.

Wayne Cochran was initially inspired to write “Last Kiss” after having lived near a dangerous stretch of two-lane rural highway where several collisions occurred yearly.  He began writing the song in 1956 or 1957, coming up with the chord progression, first verse, and chorus, but became stuck and abandoned the song for several years.

Cochran has claimed he was inspired to finish the song when he heard that a friend of a friend, 16-year-old Vera Janette “Jennie” Clark, had died in an automobile collision while on her first date. However, Clark’s death occurred in December 1962, over a year after Cochran recorded the song, and five years after he says he finished writing it.

MM = 1960

“Tell Laura I Love Her” is a teenage tragedy song written by Jeff Barry and Ben Raleigh. It was a US top ten popular music hit for singer Ray Peterson in 1960 on RCA Victor Records, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.  Later that same year, it was recorded and released by Ricky Valance in the United Kingdom, where it went to the No. 1 spot on the UK singles chart.  The song has been a hit in 14 countries, and has sold over seven million copies.

The song tells the tragic story from a witness’ perspective of a young man named Tommy who is in love with Laura and wants to marry her, so he enters a stock car race, despite being the youngest and most inexperienced driver, hoping to win and use the prize money to buy Laura a wedding ring. The second verse tells how his car overturns and bursts into flames, although nobody knows what had happened. Tommy is fatally injured and his last words are “Tell Laura I love her… My love for her will never die”. In the final verse, Laura prays inside the chapel, where a church organ is heard, and where she can still hear Tommy’s voice intoning the title one more time, before it fades out.