THE INFLUENCERS PART 1 (PITTSBURGH)

Sometimes I needed a little push before I decided to like a song. These are the people who did the pushing. Each of them told me that they liked a song and I decided to like it because they did. It’s no surprise that when I hear these songs, I think of the influencers who introduced them to me. This perhaps begs the question: What do these songs tell us about the influencers?

1968 Hey Jude The Beatles Debbie Baker

Hey Jude Lyrics

Hey Jude, don't make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better

Hey Jude, don't be afraid You were made to go out and get her The minute you let her under your skin Then you begin to make it better

And any time you feel the pain Hey Jude, refrain Don't carry the world upon your shoulder For well you know that it's a fool Who plays it cool By making his world a little colder

Na, na, na, naa-naa Na-na-naa, naaa

Hey Jude, don't let me down You have found her, now go and get her (let it out and let it in) Remember (hey Jude) to let her into your heart Then you can start to make it better

So let it out and let it in Hey Jude, begin You're waiting for someone to perform with And don't you know that it's just you Hey Jude, you'll do The movement you need is on your shoulder Na-na-na, na Na-na-na, na, yeah

Hey Jude, don't make it bad Take a sad song and make it better Remember to let her under your skin Then you'll begin to make it better

Better, better, better, better (I'm begging you) better, oh!

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (Jude) Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (Jude, Jude, a Jude, a Jude, a Juda-Juda)

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude) Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (Hey, you know you can make it, Jude) Jude, you're not gonna break it

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (don't make it bad, Jude) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (take a sad song and make it better) Jude, hey Jude, woah! Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (Jude) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (yeah, hey, hey, hey, hey)

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (now Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude!) Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la)

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude Na, na, na, na-na-na-naa Na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude

Debbie Baker LOVED The Beatles! When she would get a new Beatles album, she would play it for us when she came to babysit. I remember her trying to play The Walrus backwards on our record player. For Hey Jude specifically, Judy Taylor also gets some credit for its introduction.

1970 The Boxer Simon & Garfunkel Molly

The Boxer Lyrics

I am just a poor boy

Though my story's seldom told

I have squandered my resistance

For a pocketful of mumbles

Such are promises

All lies and jest

Still, a man hears what he wants to hear

And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family

I was no more than a boy

In the company of strangers

In the quiet of a railway station

Running scared

Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters

Where the ragged people go

Looking for the places only they would know

Lie-la-lie...

Asking only workman's wages

I come looking for a job

But I get no offers

Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue

I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome

I took some comfort there

Lie-la-lie...

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes

And wishing I was gone

Going home

Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me

Leading me

Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of every glove that laid him down

OR cut him 'til he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains

Lie-la-lie...

Unlike her older brother, Molly was patient to explore past the radio-played songs on an album and occasionally discovered songs like The Boxer. I remember her telling me it was her favorite song from the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. I wonder if Molly, at the time, understood the desperate loneliness of that song, or if, like me, it was just the catchy repetition of “Lie-la-lie” that give it its appeal.

1970 Green Eyed Lady Sugarloaf Steve Hammond

Green Eyed Lady Lyrics

Green eyed lady, lovely lady Strolling slowly towards the sun Green eyed lady, ocean lady Soothing every raging wave that comes

Green eyed lady, passion's lady Dressed in love, she lives for life to be Green eyed lady feels life I never see Setting suns and lonely lovers free

Green eyed lady, windswept lady Moves the night, the waves, the sand Green eyed lady, ocean lady Child of nature, friend of man

Green eyed lady, passion's lady Dressed in love, she lives for life to be Green eyed lady, feels life I never see Setting suns and lonely lovers free

It was no secret that I enjoyed Steve’s company as well as his world. He had the coolest bedroom, tinkered with electronics and reached out to the universe on his ham radio. His closet was filled with treasures like King Arthur’s shield, and his treehouse was almost too high. He once took me along to destroy a nest of yellowjackets! In 1970, the year Green Eyed Lady was released, Steve was 15 and on the verge of driving and girlfriends. That same year, 9-year-old me moved far away -- perhaps to Steve’s relief. In this context, it doesn’t come as a surprise Steve’s preference for this song. Or mine.

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