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SONG TITLE: GOOD GIRLS DON'T
PERFORMER: THE KNACK
SONGWRITER: DOUG FIEGER
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1979
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SONG TITLE: I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
PERFORMER: THE BEATLES
SONGWRITER: JOHN LENNON/PAUL MCCARTNEY
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1964
COMMENTS:From the very first short puffs of harmonica and anxious strokes of rhythm guitar, this song is a perfect expression of the feelings of a high school boy about to actually, oh my god, GET SOME. Not just desire, but "a ringing in your brain." Our humble narrator is suffering from "a teenage madness that you know you can't erase, till she's sitting on your face." Are there any other six words that could bring such sweet deliverance to a boy as "Good girls don't, but I do."?
This song actually rates the ranking that their original marketing campaign begged; this song is as catchy, unique and personally expressive as the early Beatles classics such as "I Want to Hold Your Hand." It shows a clear Beatles influence, much as the early works of the Holy Quadrinity showed the influence of Buddy Holly and Motown. However, again like the Beatles, you would never mistake it for the work of their forebears; it kinda but doesn't really at all sound like them.
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is just flat one of the all time most insanely catchy pop songs. From the little pairs of Buddy Holly handclaps to the mounting vocal harmonic tension in successive "I can't hide's, to the payoff harmony on "HAAAAAAND," to the half time guitar chords that give it an actual ending (rather than a common fade out), this song does it all. It'll do brain salad surgery on you as it burns a permanent place in your skull. It slices, it dices, it sets the whole freaking world on its ear.
Both songs were, of course, about getting some. The Beatles faced stricter censorship criteria, granted, but it seems to me from my vantage point in a later genration as though they were taking the clean thing further than necessary as maybe a subtle joke. That was very clever of them if that was the case.
But then, of course, The Knack were just a little more to the point.
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