George Michael’s Faith is one of those great 80s albums that contains so many hits it’s hard to believe they all originated on the same record. And it holds up very well 25 years later.
‘Faith,’ ‘Father Figure,’ ‘One More Try,’ ‘I Want Your Sex,’ ‘Monkey,’ ‘Look at Your Hands’ and ‘Kissing a Fool.’ If you were listening to music with any regularity in the late 80s, I bet you can sing a few bars from every one of those songs off the top of your head. I know I can.
But today’s SOTD, Track Six on Faith, is completely foreign to me. How can I know 90% of this album so well and have never heard this song (or at least have no recollection of having done so)?
Am I alone in this? Is this song as familiar as the ones I listed above to you fellow Gen-X’ers?
Anyway, it’s a pretty good song, if a bit preachy. It’s a shame George Michael took such a nosedive — his was a very promising career.
With a gun that he polished for a rainy day
A smile and a quote from a vigilante movie
Our boy Jimmy just blew them all away
He said it made him crazy
Twenty five years living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth
Sweet little baby on a big white doorstep
She needs her mother but her mother is dead
Just another hooker that the lucky can forget
Just another hooker
It happens everyday
She loved her little baby
But she couldn’t bear to see her living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth
I believe in the gods of America
I believe in the land of the free
But no one told me
(No one told me)
That the gods believe in nothing
So with empty hands I pray
And from day to hopeless day
They still don’t see me
(See me)
Everybody talks about the new generation
Jump on the wagon or they’ll leave you behind
But no one gave a thought to the rest of the nation
“Like to help you buddy, but I haven’t got the time”
Somebody shouted save me
But everybody started living hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth
There’s a big white lady
On a big white doorstep
She asked her daddy and her daddy said “yes”
Has to give a little for the dollars that we get
Has to give a little –
They say it’s for the best
Somebody shouted
Maybe
But they kept on living from hand to mouth
Hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth
So she ran to the arms of America
And she kissed the powers that be
And someone told me
(Someone told me)
That the gods believe in nothing
So with empty hands I pray
And I tell myself
One day
They just might see me…
Meet Me In Montauk 
Lyrics didn’t spark anything; opening notes are leaving me blank. Yeah, I’m with you. It’s as if I’ve never heard this song before. Maybe the chorus will be familiar? Nope. Nothing.
This is really very strange. Is it possible the song was added on some later, “director’s cut” version of the album? That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it. This song was not on the album I owned. Couldn’t possibly be!!
Well, I’m familiar with the song, but only because I’ve owned the album for decades and heard it all the way through a number of times. It is, however, one of the few songs from this album that wasn’t a hit or particularly memorable. I think it’s because there is no reference to a monkey.😄 Good song though from a great album. I so wish he had not gone off the rails in later years. The guy was a talent with a great voice.
Oh, and Amy would know the song too if she didn’t do what she always did back then…play the title track hit 400 times in a row while skipping the rest of the album.😄
You guys are so cute.