You're sleeping son, I know
But, really, this can't wait
I wanted to explain
Before it gets too late
For your mother and me
Love has finally died
This is no happy home
But God knows how I've tried
Because you're all I have, my boy
You are my life, my pride, my joy
And if I stay, I stay because of you, my boy
I know it's hard to understand
Why did we ever start?
We're more like strangers now
Each acting out a part
I have laughed, I have cried
I have lost every game
Taken all I can take
But I'll stay just the same
Because you're all I have, my boy
You are my life, my pride, my joy
And if I stay, I stay because of you, my boy
Sleep on, you haven't heard a word
Perhaps it's just as well
Why spoil your little dreams
Why put you through the hell
Life is no fairytale
As one day you will know
But now you're just a child
I'll stay her and watch you grow
Because you're all I have, my boy
You are my life, my pride, my joy
And if I stay, I stay because of you, my boy
Recorded: 1973/12/13, first released on Good Times
The studio version of My Boy was one of his best recordings in the 70's.
My Boy got to No 5 in 1974 in the UK charts. Should have got to No 1.
It did not stay that long in the charts.
The studio recording is absolutely fabulous. Nobody could sing that song like Elvis. The live versions are also great. The one from May 6, 1975 may even be better than the ingenious studio master. A vocal master piece anyway you cut it.
The figurative use of schmaltz ('mawkishness, oversentimentality') and its derivative, schmaltzy, is not found in Yiddish but is rather an American English innovation on the Yiddish loanword. The parallel to this innovation is the word goo and its derivative gooey: both goo and schmaltz are thick, sticky, oily substances, and figuratively both mean 'maudlin or mawkish sentimentality'. Semantically, both words compare something (music, writings, etc.) dripping with thick sentimentality to the drippings of a fatty or greasy substance.
RonBaker2003 wrote:The following is from random house:
The figurative use of schmaltz ('mawkishness, oversentimentality') and its derivative, schmaltzy, is not found in Yiddish but is rather an American English innovation on the Yiddish loanword. The parallel to this innovation is the word goo and its derivative gooey: both goo and schmaltz are thick, sticky, oily substances, and figuratively both mean 'maudlin or mawkish sentimentality'. Semantically, both words compare something (music, writings, etc.) dripping with thick sentimentality to the drippings of a fatty or greasy substance.
Thinking about it, the word doesn't really apply here, does it ?
A father, caught up in an unhappy marriage, explains to his sleeping son why he won't leave, but will stay & 'watch him grow'.
It doesn't come across as 'dripping with thick sentimentality' to these ears.
More like an apt description applying to many trapped in a disfunctional marriage.................
Colin B Judge a man not by his answers, but by his questions - Voltaire
