Shangri-Las - Past, Present And Future..w/ LYRICS

[FoxRunMan]

I think Betty, not Mary, was the lead on this one.

[linkheir3]

thiis is bethovens sorry moonlight sonata they sound the same to me

[linkheir3]

thiis is bethovens 9th symphony with lyrics okay now its

[icl151]

Mondscheinsonate, very strong.

[critchley3819]

This is amazing, it is a piece of musical magic, how do you describe how lovely this is, takes me back to my youth, and makes me cry.

[macky70s]

oohh what a beautiful mystical song. you don't hear songs like this anymore

[aiames]

I recall that Mary Weiss used to carry a gun in her purse while the Shangri-Las were touring. D**n straight it wasn't going to ever happen again.

[SteveElMonk86]

I just heard this. Mary Weiss has an awesome spoken word voice on this. It chilled me to the bone and it feels so relevant to this day, as if some single 27-year old woman sat contemplating in her apartment at night after work listening to it.

Good stuff here.

[bailinnumberguy]

Mary Weiss said this song isn't about rape, but about rejection. Really heavy stuff for a girl group in the 1960s

[Crisdosno]

I recognise Alicia Keys?... opening?

[AnthonyAmmo]

@Crisdosno It's Moonlight Sonata. Beethoven.

[iknowrosey]

Yeah the lyrics indicate something happened, she says don't touch me...it won't ever happen again.... Kind of sad. Mary had a lot of talent, sort of natural and real.This is great--fairly unusual--how it's a song, yet she's not singing.

[Nestor123057]

I heard somewhere that this song is about a date rape.

[arlyparlypooh]

cant believe i found this using the few words i could remember from childhood....love it!

[tchyx]

its totally camptastic!

[preciousjey]

wow it's been a year without the shangs

[rcriis]

Listen closely and you can hear the great session guitarist Vinnie Bell using the same rippling water effect he used most famously on the theme from "Midnight Cowboy."

[gatvolmel]

have searched for this song.....for 7 years! thanks! stunning xx

[HansTammes]

Beautiful sensetive song like most of the SrL's songs

[jjkoekemoer]

Gorgeous tune, thank's for sharing.

[iamanabba]

Wonderful.Agnetha.from.Abba.do­es.a.wonderful.version.too.x

[fosbury68]

Shadow Morton said in an interview that Mary's emotional intensity took this song light years beyond what he envisioned when he conceived the song.

[54nomore]

Priceless!

[Godzie1]

I was just a little kid in the 60s, But I remember when they wore clothes & hair like this. That teasing rat comb was the biggest thing (also a ton of hair spray, aqua-net?) I found it weard then & weard now? lol A forever greaser! :)

[raremark]

I wonder why Mary never pursued a career as an actor. She could really act in these Shangri-las mini-dramas.

[walnutdesk96]

what song is that playing in the background?

[danartbe]

@walnutdesk96 Moonlight Sonata - Ludwig Van Beethoven

[lifasal]

que hermosa versión!!!!!!!! dónde está la letra?

[600keith]

great song! a 60's classic, and it only got to #59? amazing!

[600keith]

truly great and unusual 60's classic....and it only reached #59 ? amazing! her vocal is solemn, to say the least.

[edvawa]

This version is so much better then the Agnetha version. I cant understand why people think this one is the emotion-less version. Agnetha is just saying the words without any form of emotion. This song is so full of emotion its almost depressing.

[phogroian]

It's a song about being so brokenhearted that she feels that she will never be in love again.

[MissWitchiepoo]

I have always loved this song. The lack of emotion in her voice is brilliant because when you have been in love with a guy and he tries or succeeds to rape you this is exactly how you feel. It's like emotions are drained from you. I have always believed it was about rape. A great song and a great voice;)

[joannapurutol]

@MissWitchiepoo wow really? i never thought this song's about rape. . .you may be right though. nevertheless, this song gives me chills! :)

[stenicmik]

mand another clssic the instrumental interlude is brilliant and a lot of the verses relate to us such a lovely reminder of the times we had

[rtee45s]

where is the lyrics?

[Brent441]

Click on (more info) for the lyrics

[rtee45s]

thanks Brent441

[rtee45s]

thanks

[FalconUploads]

@rtee45s lazy! lol!

[climaximus1]

thanks for posting man..iv been searching for this ´song´ for 10 or 11 years..and now iv found it, thanks to you..

[Optimusmanprime]

no in french is ...sonate aux clair de lune...great song ...i like this ...j aime ca...

[1973nitram]

A truely brilliant piece of recording history.Beethoven mixed with Shadow Morton and of course Shangri-Las.One of the late John Peel's top10 favs,praise indeed! Pax to all from Ian Smith.Xxx.

[thedevilevil]

amazinnnnnngggggggg

[TheMartens31]

I love this song.

Thanks for posting.

[balianmachiavelli]

This is hardcore

[iamanabba]

faltskogs version is better x

[Treblesa]

Beethoven!

[lightning494]

Moonlight Sonata!

[MN0151]

What a great song,as already said,,Thanks for posting,,

[faeryquene]

I love this. And I love the Shangri-Las. Thanks for posting-!

[td241]

i love the shangri-las and went to a faery camp yesterday for the first time.

[faeryquene]

You did?? Very cool! ♫

[td241]

yeah in vt. i never knew what a faerie camp was, or that there was one 25 miles from my house. 'twas cool!

[1952kid]

1966 it could have been on Dick Clark , it was on in the daytime, it was a video of pictures only with the song playing,someone has to have it. I remember a lot of bands just started showing videos with songs, an early form of mtv .

[John283T]

Hey 1952kid,

Don't you think it was probably Shindig? That's the show they were usually on. Or what about Ed Sullivan? I'm also a 52 kid, and I can't really remember them being on Ed's show. But they probably were. So, just a few suggestions.

[1952kid]

Does anyone remember a video of this on tv ? I know i did see it,cant remember what show or year though.

[John283T]

This is 1 of the few songs here that I don't remember from when I was young. Although even if I had heard it, I probably wouldn't have liked it back then. But I like it now. I didn't read rape or pregnancy into this song. I just saw it as she suffered a failed love, and a broken heart. You don't need to get raped nor pregnant to lose your faith in love. Especially for the time being. And this song ends with a question mark, in my mind. She's looking for Love again. She's just not optimistic.

[ivaro3]

This is a great song-a mini opera about a rape I would guess or maybe a pregnancy. It is way over the top dramatically, but it works, especially with the Beethoven Moonlight Sonata inserted before the last verse. Classic stuff, and wonderfully acted and sung!

[cbak12sg]

Moonlight Sonata plays throughout the song.

[MCasinoW]

Be My Baby is from The Ronettes...

[snowphoenixpink]

really so the song has a meaning to it..teenage pregnancy?.or rape?.either way its very sad..

[td241]

haha. "this song has a lot of meaning. i don't know what the meaning is... but it's there!"

[faeryquene]

I have read it is about date rape-and also interestingly Pete Townsend of The Who was quoted as saying this is one of the greatest singles ever. I agree with him. It's stunning in it' simplicity with Beethoven's 'Sonata' as a backdrop.

[muzicrox9]

thats a viscious rumor. mary said its just about a broken heart that can never be repaired or replaced about a boy that broke her heart and she doesnt/cant have another relationship

[hustoni]

Nope, despite Mary's comment, writer and producers ALL stated it was about rape. She was 16, she didn't know.

[billsmoker]

This song is like a Rorsach test. Anyone can (and will) project profound and complex meaning into it. And it will mean very different things to different people. Leonard Cohen excels at writing songs with this quality. It's a neat trick, I wish I could do it.

If you want to hear some more obscure stuff from the golden age, check out rockabillyDJ,com

[vertxxgg]

In South Africa there's a Van Rooyen version in 60s...so oh..

[93SS]

I was shocked when I heard this as I thought it would be so different from Agnetha Faltskogs version. This version is lacking in feeling though.

[Rachael1918]

I get the impression there is suupposed to be a coldness to this song, although I do know what you mean about Agnetha's version having more feeling.

[MountAthos]

I forgot to say that the other two composers, Lieber and Morton, were the owners of the record company for the Shangri-Las, and also a song writing duo for the label.

[Cemicool]

actually this song is a part of the play I'm studying for my IGCSEs and I listened to it for that but it's such a sweet song. And sort of sad. Actually the play is about girls who naively got pregnant(it will never happen again..--they thought they were in love) and have to stay at a place where they're taken care of until their baby is given up for adoption

[SonoranScot]

I somewhere in my lifetime was told that this was actually about her being raped. Anyone else hear this?

[MountAthos]

This song may have been used by a play later on, but it was originally composed for the Shangri Las. You can look up the composers, the lyrics are by written by Jerry Lieber (of Lieber and Stoller fame), George Morton (the Shangri La group's manager), and Artie Butler.

[Smudgeamber]

Be My Baby?

[yobonab]

Anyone know who wrote this song?

[nathandavid]

great song.great band.did you know that mary weiss.the blond one.made a new album.I checked it on myspace.Last week i orderd it on vinyl even.

[lurch321]

My mom played this 45 for me when I was only about 6 years old (on my little record player).........it frightened and disturbed me at the time. Now, as a grownup, it sounds beautiful, haunting, and stunning. Mary rules!

[kapwal999]

that opening...

then:

"I called it love..."

"take a walk along the beach tonight?...I'd love to..."?"

"shall we dance?..."

"a tisket a tasket...a green and yellow basket"

This ain't a song...it's conceptual art!

[hbotis]

IT IS! I heard this first time via Agnetha's album. It's sad and creepy at the same time. The line "Don't try to touch me" takes on idea of sexual abuse-- waiting for Tori Amos to cover this (maybe she did it aleady...)! Marvelous and disturbing -- amazing this was a single; breathtaking & stirring!

[kapwal999]

Agnetha version—blech. Completely misses the point of all popular culture. blech.

Shangri-Las forever!

[pumamber05]

sounds like a nervous breakdown

[xtryd]

Perhaps it is? Great "song" anyways. Only the Shangri-Las could make this sad miniopera. So sad, so sad. Mary Weiss was not only a great singer, but an even better actress.

[entity3sf]

Mary was so cool and trippy. No wonder she inspired Amy.

[lurch321]

........Winehouse?

[entity3sf]

Yes.

[j1o2h3n4n5y]

When she says don't touch me she sounds like a goddam phsycho!

[WBA1965]

This is such a haunting song. I loved it ever since I first heard it. It's just.....so, well both sad and full of promise.

[j1o2h3n4n5y]

I don't know who invented computers but whoever it was should have his gonads stroked by everyone! Oh yer,good song.

[Jibbie49]

Love the background.

[dikketepels]

for the original, listen to the moonlight sonate by Ludwig von Beethoven!

Both versions are great!

[Ronnie7311]

Love the lyrics to this. This is my first time hearing it, thank you :)

[Brent441]

NOTE; Click on (more info) to see the LYRICS to this great song...Please let me know of any omissions or errors...Thank You...

[JSG1951]

It was probably one of the last singles before Red Bird folded.

[ruuncut]

This song came out during my teen years, and to this day is one of my very favorites-just love the Shangri-Las forever!!!

[cuauhtemoc329]

This actually came out in late '66.