Remembering the Shangri-Las

The Shangri-Las were the brainchild of the shadowy Shadow Morton, who wrote many of their songs and produced their records, and was responsible for the strange, unorthodox way of recording, using bizarre sound effects, highly dramatic compositions, spoken-word narratives often about taboo themes of the day. This song here is no exception and I suspect may have been some sort of inspiration for the Bad Seeds song, GirI in Amber, especially the “don’t try to touch me” lines. Anyway I love it - the high-tragedy of it all. They were a wonderful band with great songs, sad and syrupy and completely glorious. We love them here at The Vampire’s Wife. Love Susie x

 

 

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

The past:
The past, well now let me tell you about the past
The past is filled with silent joys and broken toys
Laughing girls and teasing boys
Was I ever in love? I called it love- I mean, it felt like love
There were moments when, well, there were moments when

Present:
Go out with you? Why not
Do I like to dance? Of Course
Take a walk along the beach tonight? I'd love to
But don't try to touch me, don't try to touch me
'cause that will never happen again
Shall we dance

The future:
Tomorrow? Well, tomorrows a long way off
Maybe someday I'll have somebody's hand
Maybe somewhere someone will understand
You know I used to sing
A tisket a tasket, a green and yellow basket
I'm all packed up and I'm on my way
And I'm gonna fall in love
But at the moment it doesn't look good
At the moment it will never happen again
I don't think it will ever happen again