But I really don't want to know

September 21, 2011 7:05 AM

How many arms have held you, and hated to let you go, how many, how many, I wonder, but I really don't want to know.
posted by flapjax at midnite (10 comments total)

How many trifectas are complete?
posted by The otter lady at 7:19 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, and Loretta Lynn's interpretation oughtta be here too, I reckon.

And it's not just a stunt post, folks! It really is a swell tune, and all these artists turn in fine renditions, don't you think?

I left off the Connie Francis and the Ronnie Dove versions, though. (Connie'n'Ronnie!) Just can't get with those.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:22 AM on September 21, 2011

Don't forget Jason and the Scorchers!
posted by shecky57 at 7:27 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

When you'd get a few Manhattans or Old Fashioneds in him, this used to be the favorite song for our family priest to sing. He sang it at all of our weddings and at every one of our holiday parties. The diocese didn't allow us to play it at his funeral, so my dad and I sang it at his graveside after everyone left.
posted by ColdChef at 7:31 AM on September 21, 2011 [10 favorites]

I'm gonna link to the Perry Como version here, though, just for the oddity of the arrangement... the weird, sprightly piano skipping through the curiously inappropriate waltz time treatment. Just very odd. Como's voice is as full-bodied, relaxed and pleasant as ever, of course.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:41 AM on September 21, 2011

Favouriting for sheer creativity
posted by infini at 8:22 AM on September 21, 2011

Not many people know that the original working title of the Beatles' film "Help" was "Eight Arms to Hold You". Fewer people know that this title was chosen as a sly reference to the well-concealed fact that Ringo was supernumerary. Ordinarily, supernumeracy is confined to the extremal digits, involving an extra finger or toe, but in Ringo's case this extended to the appearance of multiple extra arms. Ringo Starr, whose real name was Richard Starfish, had multiple appendages in a form that we would call "arms", and this was part of the success of the Beatles. Ringo would usually only deploy these extra arms during studio sessions, but these extra limbs gave the Beatles their distinctive beat. The song "Octopuses Garden", sung by Ringo, was an attempt to come clean, to wash his many hands, of the matter, but the song seldom gets airplay.

Even less well-known is the fact that Paul McCartney and John Lennon were conjoined twins (poignantly described in a song called The Two Of Us, recorded shortly around the time of their surgical separation)... but that is a topic for another comment.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:24 AM on September 21, 2011 [4 favorites]

Ringo Starr, whose real name was Richard Starfish

I believe the Residents exposed this fact as early as 1974.
posted by mykescipark at 9:47 AM on September 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ringo Starr, whose real name was Richard Starfish, had multiple appendages in a form that we would call "arms"

Good, maybe he could lend a hand with. . .

The Bad Finger Boogie Band
Lead Guitar: Jerry Garcia, Phil Keaggy, Tony Iommi
Rhythm Guitar: Tony Melendez, Billy Joe Shaver, Lari White
Clarinet: Acker Bilk
Banjo: Barry Abernathy
Keyboards: Russ Conway, Paul Wittgenstein
Drums: Victor Moulton, Rick Allen

Lead by Hound-Dog Taylor
Musical Advisors: Les Paul, Django Reinhardt

Their new album will of course be recorded digitally.
 
posted by Herodios at 10:41 AM on September 21, 2011

Ringo Starr, whose real name was Richard Starfish, had multiple appendages in a form that we would call "arms"

They didn't have him singing vocals on Octopus's Garden for no reason.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:07 AM on September 21, 2011