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Written by The Edge Editor
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
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Trust your Uncle Edge, kids, your Mums (mostprobably) will remember this (guy’s) song.
You talk like Marlene Dietrich
And you dance like Zizi Jeanmaire
Your clothes are all made by Balmain
And there's diamonds and pearls in your hair,
yes there are...
‘Where Do You Go To My Lovely’ broke into the UKpop charts 41 years ago
this month. You live in a fancy apartment Off the Boulevard Saint-Michel
Where you keep your Rolling Stones records
And a friend of Sacha Distel, yes you do...
I remember it like it was pigging yesterday, but my(or should that be look?) how we change.
But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do...
I heard/saw this fella singing it on some musical ‘reminiscing style’ TV programme recently and it cut
through me like a knife. It immediately took me back to a time of
perpetual lemonade and sunshine, or so it seemed through my rose-tinted
glasses, although I can’t imagine for one moment it was really like
that in February, in bloody Yorkshire.
I've seen all your qualifications
You got from the Sorbonne
And the painting you stole from Picasso
Your loveliness goes on and on, yes it does...
Sixteen weeks in the UK charts.
When you go on your summer vacation
You go to Juan-les-Pins
With your carefully designed topless swimsuit
You get an even suntan on your back and on your
legs...
OK, so that’s probably not the most memorable line of the lyrics, but...
And when the snow falls you're found in Saint Moritz
With the others of the jet-set
And you sip your Napoleon brandy
But you never get your lips wet, no you don't...
...four weeks at number one...
But where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Won't you tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do...
...as well as reaching ‘top slot’ in thirteen other countries (although it fared poorly in the USA).
Your name, it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a racehorse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, a-ha-ha-ha
It was awarded the 1969 Ivor Novello Award (along with Bowie’s epic ‘Space Oddity’).
They say that when you get married
It'll be to a millionaire
But they don't realise where you came from
And I wonder if they really care, or give a damn
It was just so unlike any other sound around.
Where do you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
Tell me the thoughts that surround you
I want to look inside your head, yes I do...
It wasn’t a particular favourite of mine way back then, but I dunno, there’s just something about it.
I remember the back streets of Naples
Two children begging in rags
Both touched with a burning ambition
To shake off their lowly-born tags, so they try...
When I checked Peter Sarstedt out on Wikipedia, I wanted him to look exactly the same. Exactly.
So look into my face Marie-Claire
And remember just who you are
Then go and forget me forever
But I know you still bear the scar, deep inside, yes
you do...
But time moves on. Time passes by. People change. We all change.
I know where you go to my lovely
When you're alone in your bed
I know the thoughts that surround you
'Cause I can look inside your head.
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