Monday, November 23, 2020

Stupid lyrics competition: Little Black Egg vs. Little Green Bag



The Little Black Egg

The Nightcrawlers

I don't care what they say
I'm gonna keep it anyway
I won't let them stretch their necks
To see my little black egg with the little white specks

I found it in a tree
Just the other day
And now, it's mine, all mine
They won't take it away

Here comes Mary, here comes Lee
I'll bet what they want to see
I won't let them stretch their necks
To see my little black egg with the little white specks

I found it in a tree
Just the other day
And now, it's mine, all mine
They won't take it away

Oh goldurn, what can I do?
Your little black egg's gonna tell on you
I won't let them stretch their necks
To see my little black egg with the little white specks

My little black egg
My little black egg
My little black egg
My little black egg 




"The Little Black Egg" is a song first performed by Daytona Beach, Florida garage band The Nightcrawlers in 1965. It was a minor hit in both the US and Canada, reaching number 85 on the US Billboard charts in 1967, while doing slightly better in Canada, where it hit number 74. The song has been since covered by multiple artists including Inner City Unit, The Lemonheads, Neighb'rhood Childr'n, Tarnation, The Primitives and The Cars. It was The Nightcrawlers' only hit.


The song was written in 1965 for an Easter concert, in which the band opened for The Beach Boys. The song was originally recorded in 1965 by sound engineer Lee Hazen and released on Hazen's record label Lee Records; the 1965 release became a regional hit in The Nightcrawlers' home state of Florida and in the Midwest. The song was re-released on Kapp Records in 1966, finally charting nationally in both the US and Canada early the following year. Allmusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald describes the song as a "slightly bizarre nursery rhyme", with lyrics about a rotten bird's egg. Other explanations[by whom?] claim the song referenced miscegenation in segregated Florida.



 
The George Baker Selection – Little Green Bag

Yeah
Lookin' back on the track for a little green bag
Got to find just a kind or losin' my mind
Outside in the night, outside in the day

Lookin' back on the track gonna do it my way
Outside in the night, outside in the day
Lookin' back on the track gonna do it my way
Lookin' back

Lookin' for some happiness
But there is so a loneliness to find
Turn to the left turn to the right
Lookin' upstairs lookin' behind

Lookin' for some happiness
But there is so a loneliness to find
Turn to the left turn to the right
Lookin' upstairs lookin' behind

Lookin' back on the track for a little green bag
Got to find just a kind or losin' my mind
Outside in the night, outside in the day
Lookin' back on the track gonna do it my way

Lookin' back on the track for a little little green bag
Got to find just a kind or losin' my mind
Lookin' for some happiness
But there is so a loneliness to find

Turn to the left turn to the right
Lookin' upstairs lookin' behind
Lookin' for some happiness
But there is so a loneliness to find

Turn to the left turn to the right
Lookin' upstairs lookin' behind 




Names are the theme that haunt this song. It was supposed to be called "Little Greenback," like in money, but the seven-inch single debut was misprinted by publisher label Negram. Wouldn't you know it, it became their top hit, and so became known by the wrong name. Worse yet, they had to change the name of the album to reflect that. If you listen to the words, "greenback" is actually the word sung.

George Baker, meanwhile, was actually born Johannes Bouwens. He's from the Netherlands, you see, and so "Little Green Bag" first made the top-40 on the Dutch charts, then Belgium, and finally internationally.

Have you ever heard such a unique construction? It starts out with jazzy bass and tambourine, with a bouncy bass line and drum. Then the vocals slide in with an almost whisper, and then suddenly the song opens up and it's a Spanish romance ballad.

Yes, Quentin Tarantino fans, this song was of course your very first introduction to the QT universe. It's the opening credits to Tarantino's debut Reservoir Dogs, with the suits and shades ambling down the street. This pushed it back to international success yet again in 1992, causing it to pop up in weird places like Japanese whiskey commercials.

(All of this is from Wikipedia. Sorry, I'm feeling lazy today! The clear winner is The Little Black Egg, which is basically about nothing. This came out when I was in Grade 5, and a girl I knew - Carmen, the popular girl everyone wanted to know - called it My Little Black Apron with the Little White Specks. We all called it that, all year long.)