Voices from the fringes: I love you madly

It’s kind of hard to remember a time when the Motown sound didn’t permeate American life, but of course it’s only been a few decades since African American music flowed into the mainstream of White culture. Smokey Robinson would be one of the pioneers, as a songwriter, singer and front man for The Miracles. He’s been a force in the industry since the 1950s. That’s what I call a successful career.

For today’s earworm, and Day 2 of National Poetry Month, I’m giving you “You Really Got a Hold on Me”. Robinson wrote it in 1962, and it became a Top 10 hit almost immediately. The Beatles famously covered it in the following year, staying true to the bluesy beat.

As poetry, perhaps not the most compelling of entries, but of course songs combine both words and music to convey the story. In this case, the story is one everyone has experienced, probably more than once: being so overcome by passion that, well, you know…

Listening to it—after a lot of years—I think of all the slow dances, in high school gymnasiums and darkened clubs around the world over the past nearly 60 years, and it still rings true.

This version was released in 2014, on the CD Smokey & Friends. On it, Smokey’s joined by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.