By Tony Attwood
In this series, rather than review what Bob said about each song in his “Philosophy” book I am offering recordings of the song/s in question, and my own thoughts on the song and its origins. And I must continue to admit this is not least because I did try to review Bob’s comments, but felt my efforts were really of no use to anyone – you are better off reading the book. Thus these articles in “The Philosophy” series are provided in case you want a bit more background on the songs that Bob chose.
And I must admit that the majority of the songs Bob chose are ones I didn’t know before looking at Bob’s selection. And maybe that, in part, is because of being brought up in England and not the US, or maybe some of these songs really are just a bit too obscure for me to have found them before coming to Bob’s book. Either way, I am hoping my thoughts might give a bit more background to the songs that Bob chose for “The Philosophy,” and possibly even an insight or two. Although there’s no guarantee.
But today is different for today’s song is one that I actually owned a copy of in my early days of record buying… Money Honey. Here’s the original
It is of course, quite possible that you know another version of this song that sounds somewhat different, because this song has been recorded over and over again – the Wiki article contains a fairly comprehensible list of recordings.
The original was released in the autumn of 1953, the song, being written by Jesse Stone who also wrote under the name Charles Calhoun, and who was active as a songwriter from the 1920s through to the 1960s. He wrote numerous songs, including “Shake, Rattle and Roll” with which Bill Haley had a hit. He passed away in 1999 aged 97.
The original recording of Money Honey was by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters and was an instant hit. Rolling Stone had it listed as number 25 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. That “Greatest Songs” title can be found a number of times in Rolling Stone, and indeed has on occasion had “Like a Rolling Stone” at number one. Reports suggest that Money Honey sold more than two million copies before the end of the 1960s. Not bad for around 170 words.
The theme of the course is dead simple: the singer has run out of money, the rent is due, and he tells his lover that for their affair to continue, she needs to help him out financially.
As such, in many ways this is the antithesis of the notion that pop songs are all about love, lost love and dance. For the woman has to pay the rent, “if you want to get along with me” which is about as far away from love as one can get. (It also implies the couple are living together without being married – a wholly unacceptable concept for song lyrics at the time, but neatly set aside by focusing on the rent). But the implication is that the situation is reversed: the woman doesn’t want to give money to the down-and-out, the implication being she wants a rich man to give her money. It is all very scurrilous.
As such, the lyrics feed into the desperation of the man and the cynical view of some men that women only fall in love because of the man’s ability to provide a good life.
In many senses, this notion of how life is in terms of the average man and woman was (and remains) utterly shocking to those who wanted to criticise rock n roll and its reflection of the world as it actually is, rather than how the romantic songs of the 1940s portrayed it to be. People are supposed to fall in love for reasons of love, not financial reasons, but the song reminded everyone that such idealism is not quite how things work in the real world. (Indeed, throughout much of civilisation, marriages have been arranged as a matter of financial convenience – marriage for love is a relatively modern concept. One only has to read the novels of the 18th and 19th centuries to get the idea).
The recording above was made on 9 August 1953. However, the song got a further boost when Elvis Presley recorded it in 1956.
The key to the success of the song is both musical and lyrical. Musically, the song is in the simple verse-chorus pattern, but there is a real contrast between the two, with the verse being over a drone bass note, while the chorus brings relief to that drone and is sung over the other standard chords of the 12-bar blues. Indeed, it is the eight bars of each verse over the constant drone bass note that distinguishes the song from all that went before.
But the song lyrically has a strong attraction in that it spells out the problems that the working-class man of the era could have. Both the landlord and the singer’s lover demand money, so the singer resolves that future lovers will have to provide for him, not the reverse. A very radical thought!
You know, the landlord rang my front door bell I let it ring for a long, long spell I went to the window, I peeped through the blind, And asked him to tell me what's on his mind He said, Money, honey, uh uh Money, honey Money, honey, if you want to get along with me Well, I screamed and I hollered, I was so hard-pressed I called the woman that I loved the best I finally got my baby about half past three, She said I'd like to know what you want with me Chorus Well, I said tell me baby, what's wrong with you? From this day on our romance is through I said tell me baby face to face 'Bout how could another man take my place, she said Chorus Well, I've learned my lesson and now I know The sun may shine and the winds may blow The women may come and the women may go, But before I say I love you so, I want Chorus
It is, of course, all utterly cynical, and a complete rejection of any standard religious and moral values of compassion, hard work, just rewards or anything else of that nature. What the song says in effect is that we are “Living in the material world” as George Harrison proclaimed 20 years after “Money Honey” was written.
Previously in this series
- Cheaper to Keep Her
- CIA Man – the Fugs
- Detroit City
- Don’t let me be misunderstood
- Dirty Life and Times
- Detroit City
- Dirty Life and Times
- Don’t let me be misunderstood
- I’ve always been crazy
- Keep my Skillet Good and Greasy
- Money Honey
- My Generation and Desolation Row
- Nellie was a Lady
- Old Violin by Johnny Paycheck
- Please don’t let me be misunderstood
- Pump it up
- Saturday night at the movies
- Strangers in the Night
- Take Me from This Garden of Evil
- There stands the glass
- Tutti Fruiti (A wap bop a … etc)
- Waist Deep in the Big Muddy
- Where or When
- Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me
- Without a song