One of my favorite oldies is “Bus Stop” by the Brtish rock band The Hollies. The single was released on June 17, 1966. It reached #5 on the UK and #1 on the US charts. It was the first single by the band to reach #1 in the States.
The Writer of “Bus Stop”: Graham Gouldman
Graham Gouldman wrote “Bus Stop”. He is well-known as a member of the art-rock band 10cc. He first started off in two bands: The Whirlwinds and the Mockingbirds. The latter band was more well-known as they appeared on the BBC’s Top of the Pops as a warm-up band. Funny thing is that Gouldman recalled a time where he was on the show with The Yardbirds: “There was one strange moment when the Yardbirds appeared on the show doing ‘For Your Love’, which was a song that I’d written. Everyone clamored around them – and there I was just part of an anonymous group. I felt strange that night, hearing them play my song.”[1]
But Gouldman wasn’t only a bandmate, he was also a songwriter. He wrote for his band 10cc, but also Herman’s Hermits, The Yardbirds, and The Hollies. Today’s song, “Bus Stop”, was even written by him.
The Hollies’ “Bus Stop”
An interesting fact is that “Bus Stop” is listed as a pop-rock tune but also a raga rock tune. Musicians define raga rock as a type of rock genre that has Indian musical influences. A lot of people credit The Beatles as the first musicians to incorporate raga rock into their music. But actually, it was The Yardbirds that created the genre with the 1965 song “Heart Full of Soul”. With “Bus Stop”, you can hear the Indian musical influence throughout the song, especially during the bridge where the guitar sounds like a sitar.
Gouldman got the idea about the song’s lyrics when he came home via the bus one day. He credited his father, playwright Hyme Gouldman, as the author for the opening lines:
“I had the title and I came home one day and he (Hyme) said ‘I’ve started something on that Bus Stop idea you had, and I’m going to play it for you. He’d written Bus stop, wet day, she’s there, I say please share my umbrella and it’s like when you get a really great part of a lyric or, I also had this nice riff as well, and when you have such a great start to a song its kind of like the rest is easy. It’s like finding your way onto a road and when you get onto the right route, you just follow it.”[2]
The Lyrics of “Bus Stop”
Bus stop, wet day
She’s there, I say
Please share my umbrella
Bus stops, bus goes
She stays, love grows
Under my umbrella
All that summer we enjoyed it
Wind and rain and shine
That umbrella we employed it
By August she was mine
Every morning I would see her
Waiting at the stop
Sometimes she’d shop
And she would show me what she’d bought
Other people stared
As if we were both quite insane
Someday my name and hers
Are going to be the same
That’s the way the whole thing started
Silly but it’s true
Thinking of our sweet romance
Beginning in a Queue
Came the sun
The ice was melting
No more sheltering now
Nice to think that that umbrella
Led me to avow
Every morning I would see her
Waiting at the stop
Sometimes she’d shop
And she would show me what she’d bought
Other people stared
As if we were both quite insane
Someday my name and hers
Are going to be the same
Came the sun
The ice was melting
No more sheltering now
Nice to think that that umbrella
Led me to a vow
The Covers of “Bus Stop”
I have been listening to the original version since I was a kid because my mom is into 60s rock. But I found cover versions of “Bus Stop” about eleven years ago. It was when I discovered a version done by Japanese singer Mikiko Noda on the 1988 album Taiyou no Higashi, Tsuki no Nishi (East of the Sun, West of the Moon). Then I found out about other clovers, including these:
Herman’s Hermits’ version (1966)
Brazilian band Golden Boy with their version (1967)
Candies’ version (1974)
The 80s’ dance-pop version by Japanese pop Yoko Oginome (1988
A really good English language cover by Jrock band PICASSO (2001)
American Country artist Sylvia’s version (200
Filipino artists Francis Magalona and Ely Buendia’s Cover (2010
A hard rock version by Höffmänn (2018The Rules
If you want to participate, here are the rules:
- Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not.
- Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
- Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
- Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
- Ping back to this post will eventually work, as long as you are being patient, but you can also place your link in the comments if you don’t like to wait.
- Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
- Feel free to suggest future prompts.
- Have fun and enjoy the music.Post comments:
