As Long As I've Got You

Trust me #27

Music doesn't really get much better than this incredible song by The Charmels. In particular, when the chorus comes in, the first time after only 34 seconds, lifting everything; things just take off, the lead vocals soar, the backing vocals sooth, the music is simply sublime.

I feel free as a bird

Flyin' around in the blue

As long as, baby

As long as I've got you

Written by David Porter and Isaac Hayes, The Charmels recorded a mere 4 singles for Volt, a subsiduary of the legendary Stax Records label. There isn't really a great deal of information about them online at all,so I'll concentrate on the song.

The intro is so beautiful and dreamy that it has been sampled numerous times, including by the Wu Tang Clan and Snoop. 

The opening verse is short, delivering the incredible line; youth will never leave me, I'll never grow old and then we're into the first chorus.

The song comes in at only 2-minutes 37-seconds, so there is no time to waste, straight into the second verse, just listen to the backing vocals singing (die, die, die, die) after the line if loneliness was a flower, it would wither and die. Incredible!

And then in the middle-eight the lyrics reminisce about being so hurt that she didn't want love, then comes the beautiful stark contrast of being so in love that the singer feels as free as a bird flying around in the sky, so blue.

The Charmels - As Long As I've Got You (YouTube)

You can listen to all the songs I've featured in my Trust Me series in a playlist by searching for Everything Flows Trust Me on Spotify or by CLICKING HERE

You can also read about the previous songs I've written about by clicking on the links below, underneath the lyrics.

No fire is too hot, no snow is too cold

Youth will never leave me, I'll never grow old

I feel free as a bird

Flyin' around in the blue

As long as, baby

As long as I've got you (As long as I've got you)

If happiness was water, I'd never run dry

If loneliness was a flower, it would wither and die (die, die, die, die)

The whole world is our private is our private playground

To do what we wanna do

As long as, baby

As long as I've got you 

Something to think about, I remember when

So tired of being hurt, that I didn't want a boyfriend

I feel free as a bird, flying around in the blue

As long as, as long as I've got you

As long as I've got you

As long as I've got you

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by The Love Affair