Heck Of A Guy

Lyrical Recap

Yesterday’s post, The Worst Pop Song Lyrics - Not Bad Enough For Heck Of A Guy, formulated a special case within the category of “Worst Lyric In Pop History:” The Most Unsuccessful Lyrics Of A Pop Song You Like.

While that title lacks the vernacular zing of the original “Worst Lyric” appellation, it has the advantages of comparative precision¹ and the potential for abject humiliation.

Having specified this concept, The Heck Of A Guy Blog now proudly presents

The Most Unsuccessful Lyrics Of A Pop Song Not Only Liked But Beloved By DrHGuy

The year is 1969. Richard Nixon succeeds Lyndon Johnson as the 37th President. The first Concorde test flight is conducted. Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart. The first U.S. troop withdrawals are made from Vietnam. The Eagle lands on lunar surface, and Neil Armstrong takes the first steps on moon. The “miracle” New York Mets win the World Series. ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, is created. The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.²

In music, the Beatles give their last public performance in 1969. The Who release Tommy, the rock opera. John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct their Bed-In. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan is stabbed to death by the Hells Angels, who had been hired to provide security for the event. Oh, and a music festival of some sort takes place on Max Yasgur’s farm in rural New York.

In 1969, DrHGuy returns, at his parents’ request, to their home in southwest Missouri. As a result, he downscales academically from Oklahoma Christian College, no easy task in itself, to serving out his sophomore year at Missouri Southern College, a four year institution until recently known as Joplin Junior College. He meets the woman of his dreams - she is married and he is still way too Christian. He intermittently dates the woman who will eventually become his first, but thankfully not last, wife.

The #1 song on the pop charts in early 1969 is performed by The Foundations, a British band whose lineup fluctuates but typically features a couple of West Indians, some white guys, and the token Sri Lankan during a time when integrated pop bands were a novelty.

That song is Build Me Up Buttercup.

DrHGuy pronounces the tune catchy but flimsy and destined for a short life on local AM radio with the occasional revival as a golden oldie.

DrHGuy was correct about “catchy” and “flimsy.”

DrHGuy, in fact, sings this song quite often in 1968. And in 1969, 1970, 1971, … 2007. He sometimes (wisely) sings it to himself but also (eventually) croons it to the above-mentioned girl of his dreams and (much later) to other female companions. Significantly, he does not sing it to the first-wife-to-be.

It is only several years after first hearing Build Me Up Buttercup, however, that DrHGuy recognizes the song’s trick,³ an understanding which is necessary if one is to appreciate why the lyrics are unsuccessful and just how bad they are.

The key is the disjunction between the music and the lyrics.

The music is perky pop with a soupcon of non-gritty Motown, evoking a happy, almost giddy energy from the opening bars.

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Then, there are those quasi-backup singers (think Pips sans Gladys Knight) echoing phrases and adding the occasional hey-hey-hey, thus triggering in any listener who has been repeatedly exposed to groups like the Temptations and Supremes a Pavlovian response consisting of a vision of two to four similarly attired singers performing, with precision, the trademarked Cholly Atkins Motown choreography (one never saw a stationary Pip or Vandella except between numbers).

First, check out the ba-da-da

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And then, take a look at these characteristic Pips’ dance moves.

The orchestration of Build Me Up Buttercup includes bongos, for God’s sake, and flaring horns and let’s not even talk about that organ; the band does everything short of shouting out “Happy” a la “Tequila” in the Champs song of that name; listen to the zesty percussion and horns in this brief segment.

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From this evidence, a musicological jury can come to only one verdict:

Build Me Up Buttercup is a friggin’ singalong, dancealong funfest.

Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that.

In this case, there is a lot wrong with that.

Finally, The Wretched Lyrics

The lyrics so slickly vocalized by Colin Young, the lead singer, are not as jaunty as the melody.

The words are a plea from the singer to a woman who has repeatedly and invariably mistreated him:

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will

There is nothing subtle or complex here. One has only to read the words.

“I’ll be over at ten”, you told me time and again
But you’re late, I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah)
I run to the door, I can’t take any more
It’s not you, you let me down again


And, how exactly does the guy respond to these put-downs?

Although you’re untrue, I’m attracted to you all the more

… I’ll be home
I’ll be beside the phone waiting for you

And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin’

And, just in case it’s still not clear, the begging is repeated in a bonus reprise that ends the song. After the sought-after woman has scorned the singer repeatedly, he still gives it that last, humbling, hopeless shot - with emphasis and a fadeout. In this clip from the final portion of the song, the final desperate plea begins about five seconds from the start.

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Is this pitiful or what?

And it is even more pitiful that the final emphatic “I need you” is DrHGuy’s favorite moment in the piece. He really nails it with that jolt of fortissimo.

The unmistakable conclusion is that the singer digs it. He’s not mourning unrequited love. He - apparently - gets off on it.

What Does It Mean

DrHGuy doesn’t’ get it. Maybe the underlying notion is to dissipate the grief of rejection through the cognitive dissonance of the gleeful music.

No? Well, DrHGuy doesn’t really believe that either.

Yet it’s indisputable that DrHGuy, though acutely aware of the dissonance between words and music and the miserable state of affairs described by the lyrics, still likes the damn song - a lot.

Nor is DrHGuy alone in his enchantment. Build Me Up Buttercup enjoyed a revival in 1998 when it was played over the end credits of There’s Something About Mary, the Farrelly Brothers movie about men being humiliated in the pursuit of a woman. It’s also played at every Red Sox game at Fenway and every home game of the University of Wisconsin football team. And the leader of a cover band counsels wannabe cover bands, “If the crowd starts to dissipate at any time in the night, we pull out the aces in our sleeves, one of which is ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ by the Foundations.” It’s also said to be big at Karaoke establishments. This morning, YouTube has an inventory of 844 Karaoke, music videos, and other performances listed under “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

Finally, DrHGuy wishes to point out that he performs this happy go lucky song about a loser only when alone or to an audience consisting exclusively of a woman with whom he has been successful. His taste in music may be suspect but he is not without a modicum of social savvy.

As for a explanation of the popularity of Build Me Up Buttercup, it remains, like the spooklight, a mystery - at least to DrHGuy.

Lyrics

Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin’
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart

“I’ll be over at ten”, you told me time and again
But you’re late, I wait around and then (bah-dah-dah)
I run to the door, I can’t take any more
It’s not you, you let me down again

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time, and I’ll make you happy
(Hey, hey, hey!) I’ll be home
I’ll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin’
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart

You were my toy but I could be the boy you adore
If you’d just let me know (bah-dah-dah)
Although you’re untrue, I’m attracted to you all the more
Why do I need you so

(Hey, hey, hey!) Baby, baby, try to find
(Hey, hey, hey!) A little time and I’ll make you happy
(Hey, hey, hey!) I’ll be home
I’ll be beside the phone waiting for you
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin’
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart

I-I-I need you-oo-oo more than anyone, baby
You know that I have from the start
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don’t break my heart
{fade}

Footnotes

_____________________

1. ”Worst” can be defined innumerable ways, almost all of them subjective while an “unsuccessful” lyric is one that does not produce the intended or desired results↩
2. DrHGuy’s number in that draft is 19. 1969 is also the year DrHGuy first realizes his calling to the field of medicine.↩
3. In his defense, DrHGuy was very busy in those days↩