Please turn on your magic beam/
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.

The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman” is from 1954 and has aged remarkably well. You can hear the rich harmonies and vocal variety that would become much more established in the 60s pop and rock. This song was 10 years ahead of its time. It is almost sung acapella for most of the song. There are only the bells and clapping?? accompanying the voices, but the song sounds as full as a symphony.

The women’s voices blend beautifully. I would love to hear more of this in today’s music. I think the closest thing we have gotten in the last 30 years is probably Boys II Men. The Beach Boys were the pinnacle.

The lyrics are typical of their time: upbeat and optimistic about finding love. We find this through 1962 in Rock and it would be the late 60s in pop before we began to explore other themes. One of the differences between this list and Rolling Stones top 500 songs list is that I felt that there are too many 50s songs on that list; many have not aged well. This is one song that deserves to stay.

Mr. Sandman Lyrics

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Make him the cutest that I’ve ever seen (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Give him two lips like roses and clover (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
Sandman, I’m so alone (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Don’t have nobody to call my own (bung, bung, bung, bung)
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I’ve ever seen
Give him the word that I’m not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over
Sandman, I’m so alone
Don’t have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream

Mr. Sandman (yes) bring us a dream
Give him a pair of eyes with a “come-hither” gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace
Mr Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold)
Would be so peachy before we’re too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr Sandman, bring us a dream

Songwriters: Pat Ballard

My head is battling with my heart/
My logic has been torn apart.

“Sway” is a beautiful song by Bic Runga about the difficulties of communicating with the opposite sex-specifically with a crush. In Runga’s heart she wants to tell him to “come stay with me all the time” but she needs to practice saying his name out loud because she loses the nerve to say these things when she is around him.

Instead she’ll say less direct things like “sway my way”. That is, if you feel like it, come hang out with me. Her mind is hedging and protecting her from getting hurt but by doing so she is not expressing what she feels. It may work, it may not. We don’t find out.

The song has an easy 90s sound that is not over-produced. The mix brings Runga’s raw voice to the forefront and we hear the indecision in her voice. Should I tell him my feelings or should I hide them? We can hear that struggle.

Sway Lyrics

Don’t stray, don’t ever go away.
I should be much too smart for this,
You know it gets the better
Of me, sometimes.

When you and I collide,
I fall into an ocean of you,
Pull me out in time
Don’t let me drown.
Let me down…
I say its all because of you.

And here I go
Losing my control,
I’m practicing your name
So I can say it to your face.

It doesn’t seem right,
To look you in the eye.
And let all the things you mean to me,
Come tumbling out my mouth indeed its time.
Tell you why I say its infinitely true.

Say you’ll stay, don’t come and go
Like you do,
Sway my way, yeah I need to know
All about you.

And there’s no cure,
And no way to be sure.
Why everything’s turned inside out
Instilling so much doubt.

It makes me so tired,
I feel so uninspired.
My head is battling with my heart,
My logic has been torn apart.

And now, it all turns sour,
Come sweeten every afternoon.

Say you’ll stay, don’t come and go,
Like you do.
Sway my way, yeah I need to know
All about you.

Say you’ll stay, don’t come and go,
Like you do.
Sway my way, yeah I need to know
All about you.
Its all because of you.
Its all because of you.

Songwriters: Bic Runga

If only for today/
I am unafraid.

Some songs are probably just better to be enjoyed than analyzed: “Great Balls On Fire”, “I am the Walrus”, Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”, etc. Can you imagine saying to someone in any circumstances (non-sarcastically) “take my breath away”? That is what Terri Nunn is saying, she sees someone who she is interested in and says “take my breath away.” It is absurd, yet it works because that is not what we think the song is saying. We think she is asking the universe to help her find a love to take her breath away. It works better like that. That is how she sings it.

“Take my Breath Away” was a huge hit in the 80s and it has aged well. It has the synthesizer, which many songs with synthesizers don’t age well. However, the four-note bass beat is so distinctive that you hear it and it fits so perfectly with this song. The other reason the song has aged well is Nunn’s vocals: they are amazing. She is loud and powerful and then soft and delicate. Some female singers would belt this out powerfully the whole song, but that is not the correct interpretation.

Interestingly this song was offered to The Motels first, and they passed. Had they recorded something like this, The Motels would be a strong candidate for Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. If you have two songs in the Top 500 songs, you are a shoo-in in my book.

Take My Breath Away Lyrics

Watching every motion
In my foolish lover’s game.
On this endless ocean
Finally lovers know no shame.
Turning and returning
To some secret place inside.
Watching in slow motion
As you turn around and say…

Take my breath away,
Take my breath away.

Watching I keep waiting,
Still anticipating love.
Never hesitating to become the fated ones.
Turning and returning
To some secret place to hide.
Watching in slow motion
As you turn to me and say…

Take my breath away.

Through the hourglass I saw you,
In time you slipped away.
When the mirror crashed I called you,
And turned to hear you say.
“If only for today,
I am unafraid.”

Take my breath away,
Take my breath away.

Watching every motion
In this foolish lover’s game.
Haunted by the notion
Somewhere there’s a love in flames.
Turning and returning
To some secret place inside.
Watching in slow motion
As you turn my way and say…

Take my breath away,
Take my breath away.
Take my breath away,
Take my breath away.

Songwriters: Giorgio Moroder / Tom Whitlock