Stuck in my Head
After a day spent finalizing the stuff in an author information questionnaire (apparently I am a complete stranger to me when the word "bio" enters the equation) I have one thing first and foremost on my mind: what the sam hill is the song in my head?
I first encountered mystery song while a friend had CMT on. I haven't listened to the radio for years, so while I know darned well the song must have a real title and the gent who sings it, a proper name, I am drawing a blank.
What I remember for sure:
Video is in black and white, blondish guy in tuxedo wanders beaches and bars while looking utterly miserable, singing about his beloved who has apparently either died or split (personally, I like to think that she's passed on and he's gone round the bend, but you know me) Searching scenes interspersed with smoochy From Here to Eternity type (memory?) scenes of narrator and aforementioned beloved.
Lyrics list several places in California, where the thing is apparently set.
Chorus has a refrain of "I been looking for you baby/I been looking for you baby/all night long."
What I'm fuzzy on but think I remember:
I *think* the title is "El Cerrito Bay" but could be wrong.
My instinct is to say that the singer's first name is Jimmy, but I'm ninety five percent sure it isn't.
Big help, huh? Thanks in advance for any light you can shed.
4 comments:
The song is called El Cerrito Place by Charlie Robison. This song plagued me for a while too before I found out what it was called.
El Cerrito Place
by Charlie Robison
album:
I been hangin' round this place, I been lookin' through your space
I been waitin' for you, I've been waitin' for you
All the places you would go, all the people that you know
I've been lookin' for you, I've been lookin' for you
And all them pretty people up on El Cerrito Place
They all got somethin' in their pockets, all got somethin' on their face
They roll down to La Brea where it meets the boulevard
Singin' hallelujah while they dance over the stars
They all think they're goin' far
Chorus:
Me I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
All night long, all night long, all night long
Somebody said they might have seen you where the ocean meets the land
So I've been out here all night lookin' for your footprints in the sand
Did you hear the ocean singing, baby did you sing along
As you danced over the water to some ol' forgotten song,
Were you even here at all?
Me I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
All night long, all night long, all night long
Somehow I wound up in the desert just after daylight
There's a Joshua Tree grows that little place you always liked
These pioneer town people they ain't got too much to say
and if they might have seen you they ain't givin' you away
Now it's been two days
Me I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
I've been lookin' for you baby, I've been lookin' for you baby
All night long, all night long, all night long
I think I'll go back to the city, back to El Cerrito Place
That's the last time I saw that pretty smile upon your face
I've been lookin' for you baby
Yes! Thank you! That's the one! Definetly a story in there somewhere.
It is a GREAT song! Charlie and Natalie did a fabulous job covering it, but the song was written by a guy named Keith Gattis.
Thanks, Shayne. I absolutely believe in giving the writer credit for his work, so I'm glad to find out the songwriter's name. Excellent job, Mr Gattis!
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