songs and poetry

premierludwig

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You know how I found that poem for the Harella write up that mentioned a few vintage clothing makes? Well I've been sat listening to 60s music this afternoon (quelle surprise!) and "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt came on. I've always loved that line

Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair

and
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back and on your legs


I wondered how many other fab songs/poems there were out there that mentioned famous fashion as I particularly love that one.

love, moons and starrs,
Senti.*
 
hought of another fashion/retail-related mention in Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend as sung by another idol of mine - Marilyn Monroe

.. Tiffany's! Cartier! Black Star, Frost, Gorham
Talk to me Harry Winston, tell me all about it!

...Time rolls on and youth is gone
And you can't straighten up when you bend
But stiff back or stiff knees
You stand straight at Tiffany's
Diamonds!! Diamonds!! - I don't mean rhinestones
But Diamonds, Are A Girl's Best, Best Friend
 
If your life is dull and dreary
And you're feeling rather weary
Of the mundane things that clutter up one's life
Drive your roller up to Bond Street
Where royalty and Sheiks meet
Make your day
Here's the thing to do
Spend a grand or two at Cartier
 
Pierre Balmain.

Very important Chris. I'll bet he's in the label resource but any of your books on vintage designers would have him!! Check him out girlie...

~M
 
<i>"Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" </i>

A particularly seminal tune amongst my familiars of college days. I remember one hangover-ridden weekend spent with two college friends in a vast Edwardian house on a hill in Brighouse, switching between desperately dramatic sing-alongs to Peter Sarstedt ('reMEMber the BACK Strrreeeets of NaaaaaPLES!!!!') and 'Texas Funeral' by Jon Wayne (ever seen 'From Dusk Til Dawn'?) depending on how raddled we were feeling.

Such a great song ('where do you go to my lovely' not 'texas funeral', well not so great).

Here's Betjeman's Metroland poem:


Gaily into Ruislip Gardens
Runs the red electric train,
With a thousand Ta's and Pardon's
Daintily alights Elaine;
Hurries down the concrete station
With a frown of concentration,
Out into the outskirt's edges
Where a few surviving hedges
Keep alive our lost Elysium - rural Middlesex again

Well cut <b>Windsmoor</b> flapping lightly,
<b>Jacqmar</b> scarf of mauve and green
Hiding hair which, Friday nightly,
Delicately drowns in Dreen;
Fair Elaine the bobby-soxer,
Fresh-complexioned with Innoxa,
Gains the garden - father's hobby -
Hangs her Windsmoor in the lobby,
Settles down to sandwich supper and the television screen.

Gentle Brent, I used to know you
Wandering Wembley-wards at will,
Now what change your waters show you
In the meadowlands you fill!
Recollect the elm-trees misty
And the footpaths climbing twisty
Under cedar-shaded palings,
Low laburnum-leaned-on railings
Out of Northolt on and upward to the heights of Harrow hill.

Parish of enormous hayfields
Perivale stood all alone,
And from Greenford scent of mayfields
Most enticingly was blown
Over market gardens tidy,
Taverns for the bona fide,
Cockney singers, cockney shooters,
Murray Poshes, Lupin Pooters,
Long in Kelsal Green and Highgate silent under soot and stone. )
 
My contributions are:

He's the greatest dancer - Sister Sledge

Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow
That I've ever seen
Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow

One night in a disco
On the outskirts of Frisco
I was cruisin' with my favourite gang
The place was so boring
Filled with out-of-towners touring
I knew that it wasn't my thing
I really wasn't caring
But I felt my eyes staring
At a guy who stood out in the crowd
He had the kind of body
That would shame Adonis
And a face that would make any man cry

Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow
That I've ever seen
Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow

The champion of dance
His moves would put you in a trance
And he never leaves the disco alone
Arrongance but not conceit
As a man he's complete
My crme de la crme
Please take me (don't go) home
He wears the finest clothes
The best designers, heaven knows
Ooh, from his head down to his toes
Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci
He looks like a still
That man is dressed to kill

Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow
That I've ever seen
Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow
That I've ever seen



Billy Joel's Big Shot

You went uptown riding in your limousine
In your fine Park Avenue clothes
You had the Dom Perignon in your hand
And the spoon up your nose
And when you wake up in the morning
With your head on fire
And your eyes too bloody to see
Go on and cry in your coffee
But don't come bitchin' to me

Because you had to be a big shot, didn't you
You had to open up your mouth
You had to be a big shot, didn't you
All your friends were so knocked out
You had to have the last word, last night
You know what everything's about
You and to have a white hot spotlight
You had to be a big shot last night

They were all impressed with your Halston dress
And the people you knew at Elaine's
And the story of your latest success
Kept 'em so entertained
But now you jsut can't remember
All the things you said
And you're not sure you want to know
I'll give you one hint, honey
You sure did put on a show

Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn't you
You had to prove it to the crowd
You had to be a big shot, didn't you
All your friends were so knocked out
You hand to the last word, last night
You're so much fun to be around
You had to have the front page, bold type
You had to be a big shot last night

Well, it's no big sin to stick your two cents in
If you know when to leave it alone
But you went over the line
You couldn't see it was time to go home
No, no, no, no, no, no, you had to be a big shot, didn't you
You had to open up your mouth
You had to be a big shot, didn't you
All your friends were so knocked out
You had to have the last word, last night
So much fun to be around
You had to have a white hot spotlight
You had to be a big shot last night


And of course The Kinks - Dedicated Follower of Fashion - no designer names but seems jolly appropriate

They seek him here, they seek him there,
His clothes are loud, but never square.
It will make or break him so he’s got to buy the best,
’cause he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

And when he does his little rounds,
’round the boutiques of london town,
Eagerly pursuing all the latest fads and trends,
’cause he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He thinks he is a flower to be looked at,
And when he pulls his frilly nylon panties right up tight,
He feels a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
There’s one thing that he loves and that is flattery.
One week he’s in polka-dots, the next week he is in stripes.
’cause he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

They seek him here, they seek him there,
In regent street and leicester square.
Everywhere the carnabetian army marches on,
Each one an dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
His world is built ’round discoteques and parties.
This pleasure-seeking individual always looks his best
’cause he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

Oh yes he is (oh yes he is), oh yes he is (oh yes he is).
He flits from shop to shop just like a butterfly.
In matters of the cloth he is as fickle as can be,
’cause he’s a dedicated follower of fashion.
He’s a dedicated follower of fashion.
He’s a dedicated follower of fashion.

and Manic Street Preachers - Stay Beautiful


Find your faith in your security
All broken up at seventeen
Jam your brain with broken heroes
Love your masks and adore your failure

We're a mess of eyeliner and spraypaint
D.I.Y. destruction on chanel chic
Deny your culture of consumption
This is a culture of destruction

Don't wanna see your face
Don't wannt hear your words
Why don't you just

Babes on the run with poisoned lips
Wrap your arms round this everlasting kiss
Clinging to your own sense of waste
All we love is lonely wreckage

Your school your dole and your chequebook dreams
Your clothes your suits and your pension schemes
Now you say you know how we feel
But don't fall in love cos we hate you still

Don't wanna see your face
Don't wannt hear your words
Why don't you just

Destroyed by madness
Destroyed by madness
Destroyed by madness
Destroyed by madness
Anxiety is freedom

And Fashion Victim by Green Day


He's a victim of his own time
In his "vintage suit" and tie
He's casualty dressed to the teeth
In the latest genocide
The new seasons come and go
At the dog and pony show
Gonna sit and beg and fetch the names
And follow the dress codes
WHAT'S IN A NAME?...HEY!

She's a scented magazine
Looking sharp and living clean
Living well and dressed to kill
But she looks like hell to me

So when you're dancing through your wardrope
Do the anorex - a go-go
Cloaked with style
For paedophiles as the credit card explodes

You auctioned off your life
For the "most" expensive price
Going once...
Going twice...
Now it's gone

(You the Crew)


And um

50 Cent - I Know What You Like

i know what you like
i know what i need
you like...
and i need you with me
now we could roll the windows and blow these trees
get jewels in the city in my brand new V's
shorty i know what you like

[chorus]
shorty like gucci,
i know you like fendi, sho you like prada, and imma treat you
right,
buy you moschino, christian dior, chanel as well,
shorty i know what you like,
i wanna see you in your best,
shoes from nine west, no mo pay less,
shorty i know what you like

dolce gabanna, louis vuitton, tight sergio valentes, turn me on

im thugged out shorty, im not trynna be rude,
but i prefer you be in the nude when im the mood
from high school i dunno much about the french couture
but i know i like the way you look, question
ever had sex in the car? sex with a star?
bigger the boobs, the more buckles on the bra,
imma take you out the hood girl i have you lookin propa
turn you into a sex fifth ave shoppa
my white gold come fresh out the projects
she'll appreciate me more thats my logic,
i put no price on happiness, money is no object,
im headed straight to the top, and this is my mind set
im not a rocket scientist but im bright
i can predict a lotta shit,
shorty i know what you like

[chorus]
shorty like gucci,
i know you like fendi, sho you like prada, and imma treat you
right,
buy you moschino christian dior, chanel as well,
shorty i know what you like,
i wanna see you in your best,
shoes from nine west, no mo pay less,
shorty i know what u like
you could shop at express but no mo gap and no mo guess,
let me show you what i like

designer shit, ambecrombie and fitch to fit, i found my nitch
everything i spits a hit, my flow sick
i aint been on a trick but shorty treat me right,
then i buy you what you like, c'm here
let me touch on you, i let you touch on me,
put my tounge on you, you put ur tounge on me
let me ride on you, and you can ride on me
you do it all night and we can have a balla night
im legit now used to break laws,
now you could read the benifits of world tours,
big house, big benz, girl its yours,
mink, coupes, italian shoes, stones with no flaws,
you aint got to look like a model for me to adore you,
all you gotta do is love me and be loyal,
don't indulge in my past,
f**k what happened before you,
cuz i need some hunnies gon hate you, that never saw you,
i know what you like

[chorus]
shorty like gucci,
i know you like fendi, sho you like prada, and imma treat you
right,
buy you moschino christian dior, chanel as well,
shorty i know what you like,
i wanna see you in your best,
shoes from nine west, no mo pay less,
shorty i know what you like
you could shop at express but no mo gap and no mo guess,
let me show you what i like

escada, sean john, bottles of don,
imma spit till i get 20 mil a flick like martin lawrence,
i sweet talk you if you like,
cuz all you really want is a nigga to treat you right, right?
you can hit the (??)
i could play with that ass, take a hot bubble bath,
in the champagne glass, was a mystery to me,
i'll be real clear soon,
i bet the sex warm and wet like the beach in can cun
you know what f**k me up more? watchin her lick her lips,
im watchin her walk, she hypnotize me with her hips,
shorty aint fat, fat, i seen her she was a star
titties stood up straight without a pushup bra
and her hate game was awesome, she aint never say no,
skin look like cinamon, booty like j.lo,
she got me wishin i could bone her,
smellin like chanel mixed with a weed aroma,

[chorus]
shorty like gucci,
i know you like fendi, sho u like prada, and imma treat you
right,
buy you moschino christian dior, chanel as well,
shorty i know what you like,
i wanna see you in your best,
shoes from nine west, no mo pay less,
shorty i know what you like
u could shop at express but no mo gap and no mo guess,
let me show you what i like

You auctioned off your life
For the "most" expensive price
Going once...
Going twice...
Now it's gone

What's in a name, hey?
What's in a name, hey?
What's in a name?
 
Billy Joel Again....

How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
"You could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance.
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers,
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers."
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
 
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