Tuesday, September 11, 2012

We're the Music Makers

Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Michael and Fred
The first song included on Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls is something of an enigma. There's not much info about it in the booklet, not even a date for the recording, and the song itself is only one minute long.The lyrics introduce the brothers individually twice, which makes me think this may have been written for a television show, perhaps as an alternative to the intro used in their 1972 TV pilot, which was sung to the tune of "I Want You Back"

Let us tell you who we are in case you just forgot
Beatles, Osmonds, Rolling Stones, Temptations we are not.
If five is not your number, there's something you can do
Just roll the dice and you'll get Jackson 7 minus 2.

"We're the Music Makers" is a bit more of a song but not by much. It could perhaps be seen as a precursor to "We're Here to Entertain You," but really isn't much more than a jingle.

We like to make music
It's fun to make music, music
We like to make music
It's fun to make music, music

Let us introduce ourselves to you:
Hi, I'm Jackie! Tito! Jermaine! I'm Marlon! And I'm Mike!

Hey, hey! We're the music makers.
Hey! Everybody! It's fun to make music
Come on! Sing along! It's fun to make music, music
Do what the feeling tells you.
We're the music makers

Tito swings, while I can sing, and Jackie scores right through
Marlon dances,  Jermaine fancies he'll play the bass for you
We're the music makers

And that's it.  Catchy but ultimately forgettable.

As a historical relic, it's of interest, but it's by far the weakest song on the entire album, if for no other reason than it feels incomplete and underdeveloped. I will say one thing: I am really, really grateful they didn't call this album We're the Music Makers.

2 comments:

  1. thanks for deciphering the lyrics J5C!

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  2. I figured it was either for their cartoon or a TV show. No producer is listed either.

    ReplyDelete