June 2008 - Music Zone

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Throw Your Arms Around Me: An Australian Classic

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Music Zone - June 2008

'I Love It When You Call Me Names': Says A Short Short Man To His Big Big Dominatrix

June 24th 2008 02:32

The lyrics to this song are pretty self-explanatory. It also has a very catchy repetitive chorus. For this reason I never really paid much attention to the the rest of the song until I heard it again a couple of years ago and nearly fell over when I realised what Joan was actually singing about. The actual video is not available on youtube so I apologise for this shonky compilation of still images. 'Twas the best I could find:

I just wanna see you at night
Don't come round my house in the day
I love it when we start up a fight
And I love it when the fight ends your way

I love it when you call me names
I love it when you call me names
I love it when you call me names

I can't wait to see you again
I know you're gonna slap my face
You beat me up then beat me again
And over and over and over and over
And over and over

I love it when you call me names

Big woman
And a short short man
And he loves it
When she beats his brains out
He's pecked to death
But he loves the pain
And he loves it
When she calls him names

She's wearing heavy leather with lace
He dresses up in cowboy taste
They punish then they think up a crime

It's their way of loving not mine

I love it when you call me names

Big woman
And a short short man
And he loves it
When she beats his brains out
He's pecked to death
But he loves the pain
And he loves it
When she calls him names

I Love It When You Call Me Names, was released in 1983 and featured on British artist Joan Armatrading's hit album The Key, (which also featured the much more popular single Drop the Pilot). The song failed to chart in the top hundred in either Britain or America, although the album went Gold and reached #10 and #32 in those countries respectively. Despite its failure to chart, I Love It When You Call Me Names received more airplay in the Los Angeles area than any other Joan Armatrading song. I guess LA was one of the few cities willing to explore and celebrate the S&M subculture in the ultra-conservative Reagan era. Whilst much is known of today's S&M and other fetish subculture, such portrayals would have been extremely rare at the time. indeed, if anyone knows of any other songs that dared tackle this issue I would love to hear them.

In just three verses Joan expertly conveys the world of a submissive and his dominatrix. "I just want to see you at night", reflects the shadowy, secret nature of the clandestine meetings. "Short, short man", perhaps highlights the inadequacies or at least the insecurities of the man and gives an insight into why he chooses this particular form of sexual expression. The violent, yet entirely consensual relationship is explored, "He's pecked to death, but he loves the pain".

The only aspect of the song that disappoints me is the line "It's their way of loving not mine". It seems here that Joan is too eager to distance herself from the protagonists and their lifestyle, and whilst it isn't exactly judgemental, it does hit me as somewhat of a disclaimer. Kinda like "hey I'm not gay...not that there's anything wrong with that...some of my best friends...."well, you get the idea.

Still, full kudo's to Joan for daring to tackle such an issue years before it even came close to hitting anything even closely resembling the mainstream.

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Throw Your Arms Around Me: An Australian Classic

June 11th 2008 11:22

Hunters and Collectors' most enduring song needs no introduction.

I will come for you at nighttime
I will raise you from your sleep
I will kiss you in four places
I'll go running along your street
I will squeeze the life out of you
You will make me laugh and make me cry
We will never forget it
You will make me call your name
And I'll shout it to the blue summer sky
We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me

I dreamed of you at nighttime
And I watched you in your sleep
I met you in high places
I touched your head and touched your feet
So if you disappear out of view
You know, I will never say goodbye
Though I try to forget it
You will make me call your name
And I'll shout it to the blue summer sky

We may never meet again
So shed your skin and lets get started
And you will throw your arms around me
Yeah you will throw you arms around me…

Written by the band’s front man, Mark Seymour and originally released in 1985 and on the Human Frailty album, this loveliest of love songs failed to make a splash on the charts and Aussie pub band Hunters and Collectors re-recorded the song as a slower more acoustic version in 1990 for their Collected Works best-of album. Although it was never a top seller for the band that created it, it is nonetheless impossible to overestimate the influence this song has had on Australian (and world) music. It has been covered by everyone from Crowed House to The Doug Anthony All Stars to Kate Ceberano to Pearl Jam. Before performing a live acoustic version on Rollingstone.com, Neil Finn introduced it as “a song that became a classic without ever having been a hit”.

A friend of mine who was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam in concert in 1995 at the Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney said the highlight for him was watching and listening to Eddie Vedder sing an a Capella version of this song. Vedder came on stage with no introduction and no other musicians just sang the haunting lyrics in his unmistakable voice. A personal highlight of mine was seeing Crowed House perform this song at their farewell concert at the Opera House steps. In 1998 it came in at Number 2 on triple JJJ’s all-time Hottest 100. No prizes for guessing Number 1 (hello, hello, hello, hell-o).

This was my favourite song when I was a teenager. My best friend and I used to sit for hours deciphering the lyrics. Was he about to break up with his long-term girl friend? Was it an illustrious affair that was coming to an end? Was his partner dying?

I have since found out that the underlying theme of the song is a one-night stand. Not as romantic as our childhood imaginings, that’s for sure. And I kinda wish I didn’t know that…but then, why do I have to accept the songwriter’s meaning for this particular piece of art? When Raymond Carver, the legendary American short story writer was asked to explain the meaning of his stories, he refused to and simply stated, “There is no interpretation”.

Well, in this instance I will subscribe to that point of view. Throw Arms Around Me needs no interpretation, no hard and fast meaning attached to its lyrics. It is what it means to you. Kate Ceberano sang this song to her unborn child on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. Crowded House chose it to say goodbye and thank you to their millions of fans on a golden summer’s day in 1996.

And I still remember been an innocent fifteen year old girl scribbling, in chalk, the entire lyrics of this song on the pavement in Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, dreaming that one day I too will know what the delicious heart break of a love affair gone wrong would feel like. And that then, and only then will I truly be able to understand the emotion that goes into creating a song like this.

Here are some comments that appear on the youtube page for this song:

Not my all-time favorite band, but my all-time favorite song. The tune and lyrics are beautiful. Makes me long for…a hot summer night at Mean Mr. Mustard's on High Street in Columbus. Simply an incredible song.

This is the song that I "lost it" to with my girlfriend in high school. We were so in love man that was like 20 something years back, we…have since split up but we still hold each other fondly in our memories. Thanks for the fond memories!!!!

this song was played at my uncle garys funeral. he died in a dirt bike accident 8 years ago. to this day at every important moment of my life this song comes on to the radio right when i need him. kinda sppokey (sic). loves this song.

I think that sometimes, the hallmark of a truly great song is one that can transcend literal interpretation and mean something different to nearly everyone who loves it. In achieving exactly that, Throw Your Arms Around Me remains a true classic.

Here is the Doug Anthony All Stars Version. Besides the 1985 original, this mid-nineties cover by the comedy trio is my favourite:

Neil Finn performing live and acoustic on Rollingstone.com in 2002. In all the live versions I have seen of Neil playing this song, he always gives props to the songwriter. What a great guy (*lovesick sigh*):