dChan
Anonymous ID: b65b72 March 18, 2021, 4:46 p.m. No.13252069   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>13252050

I'm not the kind of girl who gives up just like that

…

Lead singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein wrote most of Blondie's songs, but not this one. "The Tide Is High" is a cover song, originally recorded by a Jamaican vocal group called The Paragons in 1967. Harry and Stein heard the song on a compilation tape they picked up in London; they thought it was too good not to record. Their version was a huge hit, going to #1 in both the US and UK.

The song was written by John Holt, who sang tenor in The Paragons. Holt wrote a lot of love songs; in this one, he's willing to wait out the high tide to get his girl back. When Blondie recorded the song, they switched the gender so it from:

 

I'm not the kind of man who gives up just like that

 

to:

 

I'm not the kind of girl who gives up just like that

Blondie experimented with many different sounds. They were a punk/new wave band in their early years, making a name playing clubs like CBGB's in New York. This song was their foray into reggae, but they played around with rap on "Rapture" and with disco on "Heart Of Glass."

Eric Clapton became the first white artist to transform a reggae song into a #1 hit when he covered Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" in 1974. The first reggae song to top the chart was "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash in 1972.

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein were both fans of the British ska revival band The Specials. Stein revealed to Mojo magazine May 2008 that they asked The Specials to back Debbie Harry on "The Tide Is High," but they didn't want to do it.

In 2002 Atomic Kitten returned the song to the UK #1 spot with a more pop-oriented cover. They combined "The Tide Is High" with the freshly composed "Get The Feeling," which was added at the suggestion of Hugh Goldsmith of Innocent Records. This made "The Tide Is High" one of two songs to top the UK chart twice with versions by two different female vocal acts. The other song is "Eternal Flame," which was a hit for Atomic Kitten again as well as the Bangles.