Sunday, July 31, 2022

The Jaynetts: Sally, Go 'Round the Roses

With its layered sound and elusive lyrics, this was a no. 2 hit for the Bronx-based girl group the Jaynetts in September 1963.

They were famously due to take part in an edition of American Bandstand to be broadcast from Dallas, Texas, on the evening on 22 November that year.

But it never went out, because President Kennedy had been assassinated in the city earlier that day. Maybe that's one reason why the Jaynetts remained as one-hit wonders.

Wikipedia (with lots of references) says of Sally, Go 'Round the Roses:

Sally, Go 'Round the Roses was unlike other pop songs of the day, with a spooky, even ominous, musical ambiance heightened by the sometimes odd and opaque lyrics, which gave the song a mysterious feeling that probably accounted in part for its popularity, and which has led to speculation on the meaning of the song. 
Sally. Go 'Round the Roses could be interpreted as a conventional song of heartbreak over cheating, or it could be – and has been – seen as alluding to deeper matters, including drug use, illegitimate motherhood, madness, suicide, or, most especially, lesbianism.

The song can be about all those and all of them at once. That's why people sometimes choose to write poems and song lyrics rather than committee reports.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Pentangle (Jacquie McShee, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch et al) covered this song on their album Basket of Light in 1969.
DML