We hear and read ‘Old Sayings’ all the time. It occurred to me that many have been put into song, some verbatim and some just referred to. Here are a few more I thought of since Vol. 1 and I invite TIMES readers to add to the list as well:
Don’t judge a book by its cover – In the previous article I said that the Temptations used the saying “beauty is only skin deep” for the title of their 1966 hit. I failed to mention that there was a second where they sing, ‘So when you’re looking for a lover, Don’t judge a book by its cover.’
Two’s company, three’s a crowd – The Rolling Stones take this one step further in their 1965 #1 Hit “Get Off My Cloud” where they declare ‘Don’t hang around, two’s a crowd.’
Into each life a little rain must fall – In 1965 Glenn Yarbrough recorded the title song for the movie, “Baby the Rain Must Fall,” starring Lee Remick and Steve McQueen. He added an additional weather prediction by singing, ‘Baby, the rain must fall, Baby the wind must blow.’
Necessity is the mother of invention – A California band that formed in 1964 named themselves The Mothers of Invention. Frank Zappa was probably the best known member.
Learn to walk before you run – Walk Don’t Run was the title of the album and hit instrumental record in 1960 by The Ventures, a group from Seattle.
Boys will be boys – Bad Boy from Miami Sound Machine featuring Gloria Estefan repeated the line from their 1985 hit, ‘Bad Boy, Bad boy, Boys will be boys.’
Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth – In their huge hit, Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival gives us this take on a few rich folks: ‘Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don’t they help themselves, Lord? But when the taxman come to the door Lord, the house lookin’ like a rummage sale, yeah.’
Give the devil his due – Blue Oyster Cult released their hit, “Burnin’ For You” in 1981, where they concede: ‘I’m living for givin’ the devil his due And I’m burnin’, I’m burnin’, I’m burnin’ for you.’
Birds of a feather flock together – Not using this actual saying, but the sentiment is unmistakable from the 1957 Broadway musical, West Side Story, sung by Chita Rivera. ‘A boy like that who’d kill your brother, Forget that boy and find another, One of your own kind, Stick to your own kind!’
No man is an island – Well this is denied by Simon & Garfunkel in their 1975 recording “I Am a Rock ( I Am an Island),” ‘where a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.’
