Asha Elijah ~ Bring it on home to me (unplugged)

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This song was written by Sam Cooke in 1962, and made famous by The Animals. Sam Cooke was a beautiful-looking guy with a beautiful voice, who died tragically in 1964 aged only 33. A fateful age.

He was a soul singer, but more than that... a balladeer, and a major influence on pop & rock! Many of his greatest hits were in the 1950's, and he set a template for a pop ballad that embraced gospel music, soul and romance!

So many of his famous songs have been covered by so many artists... 'Cupid'; 'She was only 16'; 'Twistin' the night away', for example. He cites Bob Dylan as an influence,. but equally Bob Dylan cited Sam Cooke as an influence!

Aretha Franklin said his songs were: "Perfectly chiselled jewels." Another big fan was Ray Charles. His great early anthem in 1955 was a gospel rendition of "Jesus, wash away my troubles."

Clearly R.B. Kelly was also majorly inspired by Sam Cooke, for songs like 'Turn back the hands of time.' Being the 1950's & 60's, many of Sam Cooke's melodies were simple major-to-minor 'be-bop' tunes, like Buddy Holly or Rick Nelson produced, but his angelic, plaintive voice soared above this innocent format.

His life was also deeply troubled. He was accused of abduction & assault at one point, and his end came due to a culpable homicide; he was shot by a motel owner who thought he was stealing.

'Bring it on home to me' has been covered by many artists, famously by The Animals, but also by Van Morrison & Rod Stewart, for example. As a kid, I really liked the melody, especially the descending & resolving chorus! I copied it a bit in my early piano & guitar playing.

But lyrically, 'Bring it on home to me' is far from politically correct!! It is completely of its time... misogynistic, patronising & demeaning to women, though many of the guys of that time thought it passed muster as a declaration of undying love.

It's also psychologically unsound (I'm a therapist in my day-job!!)

I sometimes think I could dream up a vintage comedy sketch about some the very dubious lyrics we heard in the 1950's & 60's! For instance, two famous songs by the wonderful Mr. Tom Jones, 'Delilah' and 'It's not unusual'.

But first I'd like to deconstruct the lyrics of 'Bring it on home to me'!

The 'hero' of the song is clearly besotted with a woman sexually; addicted even! It doesn't seem to go deeper than that, although the melody indicates depth & poignancy.

And he 'laughed when she left'! Well, more fool him, because he realises he was 'only hurting himself'. He then tempts her with money & bling, which kind of relegates her to whore status (though she's clearly having none of it!)

Then he confesses that he's co-dependent, and maybe even a little bit S&M too, because he'll 'always be her slave', but he really digs a grave for himself with the final verse, where he'll forgive her for 'staying out all night' if only she'll have sex with him again.

Here we have the makings of a narcissistic personality who coercively controls. Not good! She's probably relishing her freedom finally, now that she realises he's mad, bad & sad.

The sentiment is flawed, though of its time, but the music elevates it, confusingly.

If I just switch over to Tom Jones for a moment, let me run some more psychological analysis by you, if I may, to further emphasise my point about how far the conservative patriarchy has come in respecting the feminine, but how far it still has to go!

In 'It's not unusual', Tom sings:

"It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
But when I see you hanging about with anyone
It's not unusual to see me cry
I wanna die"

Well, the 'hero' of this song seems over-possessive, very highly strung and controlling, and also hysterical and victim-y! If he really wants to be able to find a good relationship, I suggest some intensive therapy. He clearly needs to work on himself!

In 'Delilah' it only gets worse:

"She was my woman
As she deceived me
I watched, and went out of my mind"

So he still needs to work on acceptance, loving-kindness & forgiveness, and to finally knock this hysteria and psychosis on the head.

"I could see, that girl was no good for me
But I was lost like a slave that no man could free"

Again, he demonises the feminine and is full of blame, but co-dependent & addictive (still with hints of S&M). He really needs to look at his own shadow here!

And it ends badly, too!

"I crossed the street to her house
And she opened the door
She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand
And she laughed no more"

So, sadly, we have culpable homicide on our hands again, synchronously, as with Sam Cooke.

However, the answer to it all is contained in the very gospels both Sam & Tom sing so emotively. The very last commandment given by Jesus to the disciples at the last supper:

"Love one another".