I've been trying to collect songs in which the singer refers to himself (or his group) (or herself, or her group) in the third person. This seemed a bit more common in the Sixties, when vocalists were allowed to cut loose in the studio a bit more than in, say, the overproduced Eighties. And there have always been idiosyncratic artists like Jonathan Richman who do this kind of thing all the time.
But I have three solid examples of well-known songs in mind:
* "Matchbox," by the Beatles: "If you don't want Ringo's peaches, honey, don't mess around my tree."
* "I Was Made to Love Her," by Stevie Wonder: "I was made to please her, you know Stevie ain't gonna leave her."
* "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In," by the Fifth Dimension: In the long outro, Billy Davis Jr. (I presume) ad libs, "You've got to sing along with the Fifth Dimension."
I assume I'm missing a bunch of these. Any other ideas?
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I was just thinking about this the other day, listening to "Two For The Price Of One," a scorching 1967 soul tune on which Larry Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson refer to themselves and to each other!
ReplyDeleteHi, everybody,
ReplyDeleteI'm Archie Bell of the Drells
From Houston, Texas
We don't only sing but we dance
Just as good as we walk
I've drunk myself blind to the sound of old T. Rex -- oh, and Who's Next.
ReplyDeleteOne more: Jimi Hendrix's "Fire." "Let Jimi take over."
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Ringo also urge "Rock on, George, one time for Ringo" in "Honey Don't"?
ReplyDeleteMost definitely! Though that's not the third person. Which, come to think of it, neither is my Archie Bell and the Drells suggestion. People, we've got to work harder here!
ReplyDeleteYou may call me Terry, or you may call me Timmy. You may call me Bobbie, or you may call me Zimmy. You can call me RayJay, or you can call me Ray. You can call me anything, but no matter what you say, you're gonna have to serve somebody.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you forgot "Creeque Alley."
ReplyDeleteI guess "Everybody Wang Chung Tonight" isn't the third person, either.
ReplyDeletePrince, "Bob George."
ReplyDeleteEminem, "Stan."
Both from the POV of somebody else, but both third person.