Tuesday, October 4, 2016

One Question Stays or Goes From 'Is You Is' To 'R U Mine'

Insecure guys in relationships ask a certain question.

For the Arctic Monkeys, it's "R U Mine?" a rock song released by the UK band in 2012 that became a gold record despite (or because) the fact the title was written in text-speak instead of English.
Not that it's the first time that question became a hit.

The U.K. punk band The Clash scored in 1982 with "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" which became the band's only No. 1 single a decade later. It still sounds good today. The lyric "Don't know which clothes even fit me" says all you need to know about that particular relationship. Next time, pick up your underwear, Joe.

In 1967, Paul Revere & The Raiders, an American band with the British Invasion sound, scored with "Him Or Me" -- What's it gonna be?

Long before that, bandleader Louis Jordan topped the "race charts" in the 1940s with a raucous sound that helped pave the way for '50s rock-and-roll (which, unfortunately, ended Jordan's time at the top). His slang-slinging hits include the raucous "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" from 1944, which reached the top three on the R&B, pop and country charts, a rare triple for anyone, especially a black artist at the time.

One can imagine that if Jordan's girlfriend was an English teacher, just the title of that song would be enough to produce a curt "I am NOT."

This is a pretty universal sentiment, the dude asking the intentions of the girl, usually with a rival lurking in the shadows.

I don't know of any songs where a woman asks that specific question--Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" wants to know something subtly different.



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