I have a deep and abiding affection for Dusty Springfield that is based on just one album (her most famous — Dusty in Memphis) and a handful of singles.
Springfield did her best work in the mid- to late-60s but for some reason her music transports me mentally to the 50s, with visions of poodle skirts and bobby socks and slow dances in a high school gym. There is an innocence in the grandiosity of these songs, a sense that music really can heal the world (or your broken heart).
This song is the final track on Dusty in Memphis, an album that is on my short list of the finest records ever made. Like so many incredible songs from this time period, it was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It’s a song about regret, about wishing you hadn’t said goodbye to somebody you love more than you ever realized.
And what I’m gonna tell you now won’t be easy to say
Before I left your side, oh, I was so happy then
But I’ve been so lonely since I’ve been away
I’ve tried and I know I can’t make it alone
It’s such a hard way to go, I just can’t make it alone
There’s something in my soul that will always lead me back to you
What can I say now? Sorry is just not good enough
I couldn’t blame you if you hurt me now the way I hurt you then
But who else can I turn to? Oh, baby, I’m begging you
Won’t you reach out for my dying soul and make me live again?
(Chorus)
Oh, help me, you know I need you
I’m saying that I need you
I just can’t make it by myself
Meet Me In Montauk 
I would love to hear Carole King sing this song. I must admit that listening to this version of this song, I’m surprised to hear that it is on your “short list for the best records ever made.” That’s some mighty fine praise. Of course, I’m only hearing it for the first time, so maybe it grows more powerful with repeated listens. I get the sense that a simpler arrangement would make the song more effective. But perhaps that’s simply because I keep imagining how Carole King would sing it (which probably goes back to t he comment you made about Randy Newman and Bob Dylan on my blog – it’s difficult to deliver a song more earnestly than the songwriter can).
Still, I must say that I appreciate all the love you’re giving female artists in your featured songs of the day.
To clarify, I’m saying Dusty in Memphis is among my favorite records ever, not this song in particular (though this is one of my favorites on that album).
I’m all for simple arrangements, but I feel music like this cries out for the lush Phil Spector-esque treatment. Would you want to hear an acoustic version of ‘Be My Baby’? (That would be kind of cool, actually, but I wouldn’t want it to replace the original)
Definitely captures a distinct 60’s song, but not the one to which i gravitate. Big fan of Son of Preacher Man–but this reminds me of a Supremes=esque number that goes in one ear and out the other for me.