YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

THE CARPENTERS
SONGWRITERS: JOHN BETTIS & RICHARD CARPENTER
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: NOW & THEN
LABEL: A & M RECORDS
GENRE: ROCK
YEAR: 1973
 
        The Carpenters(officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen(1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct soft musical style, combining Karen's contralto vocals with Richard's harmonizing, arranging and composition skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded ten albums, along with numerous singles and several television specials.
        The siblings were born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California, in 1963. Richard took piano lessons as a child, progressing to California State University, Long Beach, while Karen learned the drums. They first performed together as a duo in 1965 and formed the jazz-oriented Richard Carpenter Trio followed by the middle-of-the-road group Spectrum. Signing as Carpenters to A&M Records in 1969, they achieved major success the following year with the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". Subsequently, the duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary music genres. The Carpenters had three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen number-one hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, in addition to twelve top-10 singles. They have sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The duo toured continually during the 1970s, which put them under increased strain; Richard took a year off in 1979 after he had become addicted to Quaalude, while Karen suffered from anorexia nervosa.
          Their career together ended in 1983 when Karen died from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding these circumstances increased public awareness of eating disorders. Though the Carpenters were criticized for their clean-cut and wholesome conservative image in the 1970s, their music has since been re-evaluated, attracting critical acclaim and continued commercial success.
When I was young
I'd listen to the radio
Waitin' for my favorite songs
When they played I'd sing along
It made me smile
 
Those were such happy times
And not so long ago
How I wondered where they'd gone
But they're back again
Just like a long lost friend
All the songs I loved so well
 
Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-wo-wo
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're starting to sing's
So fine
 
When they get to the part
Where he's breakin' her heart
It can really make me cry
Just like before
It's yesterday once more
 
Lookin' back on how it was
In years gone by
And the good times that I had
Makes today seem rather sad
So much has changed
 
It was songs of love that
I would sing to them
 
And I'd memorize each word
Those old melodies
Still sound so good to me
As they melt the years away
 
Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-wo-wo
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're starting to sing's
So fine
 
All my best memories
Come back clearly to me
Some can even make me cry
Just like before
It's yesterday once more
 
Every sha-la-la-la
Every wo-wo-wo
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're starting to sing's
So fine.

 FOR MY LOVER

TRACY CHAPMAN
SONGWRITER: TRACY CHAPMAN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: TRACY CHAPMAN
LABEL: ELEKTRA RECORDS
GENRE: FOLK
YEAR: 1988
 
      Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her hits "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason", along with other singles "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", "Baby Can I Hold You", and "Crossroads". She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award–winning artist.
           Chapman was signed to Elektra Records by Bob Krasnow in 1987. The following year she released her debut album, Tracy Chapman, which became a worldwide success. The album earned Chapman six Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, three of which she won: Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her single "Fast Car", and Best Contemporary Folk Album. Chapman released her second album, Crossroads, the following year, which garnered her an additional Grammy nomination.
         Since then, Chapman has experienced further success with six more studio albums, which include her multi-platinum fourth album, New Beginning, for which she won a fourth Grammy Award, for Best Rock Song, for its lead single "Give Me One Reason". Chapman's most recent album is Our Bright Future, released in 2008.
          Tracy Chapman is the self-titled debut album by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, released on April 5, 1988, by Elektra Records. The album was recorded at the Powertrax studio in Hollywood, California. In 1987, Chapman was discovered by fellow Tufts University student Brian Koppelman. He offered to show her work to his father, who owned a successful publishing company; however, she did not consider the offer to be serious. After multiple performances, however, Koppelman found a demo tape of her singing her single "Talkin' 'bout a Revolution", which he promoted to radio stations, and she was eventually signed to Elektra Records.
In early attempts to produce the first album, many producers turned down Chapman as they did not favor her musical direction. David Kershenbaum, however, decided to produce it as he wanted to record an acoustic music album. It was recorded in Hollywood, California in eight weeks. Most of the writing is based on political and social causes.
          Tracy Chapman gained critical acclaim from a wide majority of music critics, praising the simplicity, Chapman's vocal ability and her political and social lyrical content. The album received commercial success in most of the countries it was released, making it to the top of the charts in many countries, including Austria, New Zealand, Switzerland, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. It peaked at Nº 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales exceeding over six million copies in the United States alone.
         Three singles were released from the album, with the most commercially successful single being "Fast Car". The song was performed at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute. It rose to the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also did well in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. Tracy Chapman is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Two weeks in a Virginia jail
For my lover, for my lover
Twenty thousand dollar bail
For my lover, for my lover
 
And everybody thinks
That I'm the fool
But they don't get
Any love from you
 
The things we won't do for love
I'd climb a mountain if I had to
Risk my life so I could have you
You, you, you...
 
Everyday, I'm psychoanalyzed
For my lover, for my lover
They dope me up and I tell them lies
For my lover, for my lover
 
And everybody thinks
That I'm the fool
But they don't get
Any love from you
 
The things we won't do for love
I'd climb a mountain if I had to
Risk my life so I could have you
You, you, you...
 
I follow my heart
And leave my head to ponder
Deep in this love
No man can shake
I follow my heart
And leave my mind to wonder
Is this love worth
The sacrifices I make
 
Two weeks in a Virginia jail
For my lover, for my lover
Twenty thousand dollar bail
For my lover, for my lover
 
Everyday, I'm psychoanalyzed
For my lover, for my lover
They dope me up and I tell them lies
For my lover, for my lover
 
And everybody thinks
That I'm the fool
But they don't get
Any love from you
 
The things we won't do for love
I'd climb a mountain if I had to
Risk my life so I could have you
You, you, you...

SOMETHIN’ STUPID

ROBBIE WILLIAMS
SONGWRITER: C. CARSON PARKS
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: SWING WHEN YOU’RE WINNING
LABEL: CHRYSALIS
GENRE: SWING
YEAR: 2001
 
         Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer-songwriter and entertainer. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, but achieved greater commercial success with his solo career, beginning in 1996. Williams has released seven UK number one singles and eleven out of his twelve studio albums have reached number one in the UK. Six of his albums are among the top 100 biggest-selling albums in the United Kingdom–four albums in the top 60–and in 2006 he entered the Guinness Book of World Records for selling 1.6 million tickets of his Close Encounters Tour in a single day.
       Williams has received a record eighteen Brit Awards—winning Best British Male Artist four times, two awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the 2017 Brits Icon for his "lasting impact on British culture", eight German ECHO Awards, and three MTV European Music Awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame after being voted the "Greatest Artist of the 1990s". According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Williams has been certified for 19.9 million albums and 7.8 million singles in the UK as a solo artist. Five of his albums have topped the Australian albums chart. He is also one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold 75 million records worldwide. Williams also topped the 2000–2010 UK airplay chart. His three concerts at Knebworth in 2003 drew over 375,000 people, the UK's biggest music event to that point. In 2014, he was awarded the freedom of his home town of Stoke-on-Trent, as well as having a tourist trail created and streets named in his honour.
        Swing When You're Winning is a swing cover album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his fourth studio album overall. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2001 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
          The album's title is a play on Williams' previous album Sing When You're Winning. In 2013, Williams returned to swing for his tenth studio album Swings Both Ways. Unlike Swing When You're Winning, however, the sequel is nearly evenly divided between covers and original songs penned by Williams and Guy Chambers.
I know I'll stand in line,
until you think you have the time
to spend an evening with me
 
And if we go some place to dance
I know that there's a chance
you won't be leaving with me
 
And afterwards we drop into a quiet little place
and have a drink or two
And then I go and spoil it all
by saying something stupid
like :"I love you"
 
I can see it in your eyes
you still dispise the same old lies
you heard the night before
 
And though it's just a line to you
for me it's true
it never seemed so right before
 
I practice everyday
to find some clever lines to say
to make the meaning come true
 
But then I think I'll wait
until the evening gets late
and I'm alone with you
 
The time is right
your perfume fills my head
the stars get red
and oh, the night's so blue
 
And then I go and spoil it all
by saying something stupid
like: "I love you"
 
The time is right
Your perfume fills my head
The stars get red
and oh, the night's so blue
 
And then I go and spoil it all
by saying something stupid
like: "I love you"
"I love you" (3x)

MORNING HAS BROKEN

DANA WINNER
SONGWRITERS: CAT STEVENS & ELEANOR FARJEON
COUNTRY: BELGIQUE
ALBUM: UNFORGETTABLE
LABEL: PARLOPHONE BELGIUM
GENRE: POP
YEAR: 2001
 
      Dana Winner is the stage name of Chantal Vanlee(born 10 February 1965 in Hasselt). She is a Belgian singer who is famous especially in Flanders, South Africa and the Netherlands.
            In 1990 she released her first single Op het dak van de wereld, (Dutch: "On the roof of the world"), a cover of The Carpenters' Top of the World from 1973. In 1993 she became really popular with Woordenloos(Dutch: "Without words"). However, it was only in 1995 that she released her Only hit single so far to reach the Dutch Top 40, Westenwind. This was a cover of the former hit One Way Wind by the Volendam group The Cats.
       After her first success, Dana Winner also became well known in Germany and South Africa. At the end of the 1990s, she began singing in other languages and did not release an album in Dutch between 2000 and 2006. It was also in 2006 that she got a permanent memento in Bornem, along the SIM-route.
               "Morning Has Broken" is a Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and was inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, then set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune, "Bunessan". It is often sung in children's services and in funeral services.
          English pop musician and folk singer Cat Stevens included a version on his album Teaser and the Firecat(1971). The song became identified with Stevens due to the popularity of this recording. It reached number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number one on the U.S. easy listening chart in 1972, and number four on the Canadian RPM magazine charts.
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
 
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
 
Mine is the sunlight
Mine is the morning
Born of the one light Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise ev'ry morning
God's recreation of the new day
 
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world.