Patrick Bateman wrote:Lyrics do not have to be especially profound in order to make great pop
True. No one is ever going to accuse Andy Bell of being profound, but you've pitched The Ronettes' classic Be My Baby against a weak, ineffectual lily-livered offering from a second-rate pop duo.
The former is one of the greatest and best-known singles of the Sixties, if not any decade. Even Brian Wilson has declared Be My Baby the greatest pop record ever made. It's regularly cited as the ultimate embodiment of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, although I'd personally go for a certain Ike & Tina number from later that decade. And let's not forget Spector produced
and co-wrote the music
and lyrics. The lyrics, while nothing spectacular, do form a part of an overall musical experience but at least they're memorable, evocative and draw you in.
Always, by comparison, looks like Bell-End dashed off the lyrics in five minutes, in between another boy butter session, handed the rushed, trite and deeply unmemorable results over to Clarke who, in turn, handed the music over to Martin Ware to produce. Indeed, the production is probably the best thing about the song, but it's hardly up there with Spector's legendary offerings such as River Deep Mountain High or You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, now is it?
Hand on heart, can you honestly say that it's a worthy contender for the "greatest song ever written"? Thought not...
