One Hit Wonder
Stories
Contents
“One Hit Wonder” by Frank Ramirez
“Letting Go is Hard to Do” by John Sumwalt
One Hit Wonder
by Frank Ramirea
John 21:1-19
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (v. 16)
The term “one hit wonder” refers to individuals and groups who have one song that becomes a hit, often with a lasting impact, and then, for the most part, they simply disappear from the charts. Many of these talented folks have long, successful careers making music both before and after the hit, but their one moment of glory is how they’re known by the general public.
A good example is the song, “Do You Love Me?” written and produced by legendary Motown owner Barry Gordon, Jr., and released the summer of 1962. It was recorded by a group called The Contours.
Love is the subject of many a pop song. True love, one-sided love, failed love, hopeful love, lost love. It was the poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) who asked the question, “Whoever loved who loved not at first sight?” suggesting that love at first sight was the rule rather than the exception, but some of the best love stories involve struggle before true love is recognized by both parties. That’s certainly the case with “Do You Love Me?”
The song begins with a plaintive memory.
You broke my heart, ‘cause I couldn’t dance.
You didn’t even want me around.
The theme of someone whose dream of love is thwarted because of their inability to perform a certain task is classic. In this case the singer must have worked to correct this lack because he continues:
And now I’m back, to let you know
I can really shake ‘em down.
The rest of the song is simple enough, but compelling. The chorus and lead singer alternately sing “Do you love me?” three times before finishing the sentence: “Now that I can dance?” The singer triumphantly asserts that that he can dance the Mash Potato and the Twist, evidently sure that the loved one addressed will now have to love him back.
When it comes to the song there are competing origin stories. According to one version, Barry Gordon had written the song for The Temptations, who hadn’t had a hit yet, but they’d gone off to a gospel festival without telling him. Instead, he ran into the Contours in the hallway of his studio. They’d made two records for Gordon but neither one got off the ground. He offered the song to them, they recorded it immediately, and the irresistible hit followed.
Years later one of the group’s members said that actually Gordon had offered them the song first, but they’d had trouble recording it, so he said he’d give it to The Temptations instead, but they’d talked Gordon into giving them one more chance.
Regardless, it turned into the one true hit for a group that went on to record other singles. As was often the case with hit songs recorded by African Americans, it wasn’t long before several white groups covered the song and had hits of their own, including the British group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, as well as the American group The David Clark Five.
The song was resurrected after its inclusion in the movie “Dirty Dancing” in 1987, and some of the original members of the group The Contours got back together for a tour.
It was William Shakespeare who once wrote, in his comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” that “the course of true love never did run true.” There are twists and turns to every love story. In the case of the song “Do You Love Me?” it’s up to us to imagine if the woman addressed in this song warmed up to the young man because now he could dance, or if that was just the excuse she used to get rid of him. It’s fun to wonder if the ship of their love fell apart on the rocks, or if decades later two senior citizens leaned heavily on each other, with slow moving feet, as they danced together on their fiftieth anniversary.
What is certain is that the love forged by hard times together between Jesus and his disciples had certainly hit the rocks. One betrayed him. One denied him. Most of the rest deserted him when he was arrested, tried, and crucified. In this last chapter of John, believed by many to be an epilogue added many years later, Jesus asks Peter, the denier, a very serious question – “Do you love me?” The question is asked three times, not unlike in the chorus of the song, but the real dancing is in the language John uses in the verbal do-si-dobetween the two, as Jesus twice asks Peter if he loves him with agape love, the divine love that seeks nothing in return, and Peter replies each time that he loves Jesus with the philos brotherly love. Only on the third time around does Jesus also use philos, accepting the love of Peter at the level he is capable of.
* * *
Letting Go is Hard to Do
by John Sumwalt
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
“He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (vv. 4-6)
It is not easy to let go. Hanging on is a reflex. My wife, Jo, will tell you that she wishes she had let go the day she almost broke her nose. She describes the incident like this: “Big bird dog — old lady with leash — crow!”
Jo was on the way home after walking our grandson to kindergarten, accompanied by our grand doggie, a big, lovable and well-trained chocolate lab. Brawley is a gentle soul who lets little boys climb all over her without complaint. But that day, startled by a crow, she bolted after it. Jo hung onto the leash and fell flat on her face on the sidewalk. Blood gushed from her nose and lips. Our son rushed her to urgent care. X-rays showed no broken bones, and the damage was repaired with seven stitches. But after several weeks of recovery, and only a few faint scars, she can still be heard mumbling, “Why didn’t I just let go?”
Letting go is hard to do. Jo wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “IT IS NOT HOARDING IF IT’S YARN!” But it is not just material things that we hang onto. Stereotypes and prejudices are even harder to let go.
In his celebrated book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know Adam Grant tells of an African American jazz musician named Daryl Davis who convinced a Ku Klux Klan leader to turn in his robe. The two were conversing one day when the KKK leader, whose official title was exalted Cyclops, began “…sharing his stereotypes of black people. They were an inferior species, he said — they had smaller brains, which made them unintelligent, and a genetic predisposition toward violence. When Daryl pointed out that he was black but had never shot anyone or stolen a car, the Cyclops told him his criminal gene must be latent. It hadn’t come out yet.”
Grant said, “Daryl decided to beat the Cyclops at his own game. He challenged him to name three black serial killers. When the Cyclops couldn’t name any, Daryl rattled off a long list of well-known white serial killers and told the Cyclops that he must be one. When the Cyclops protested that he’d never killed anybody, Daryl turned his own argument against him and said that his serial gene must be latent.”
Grant added that the flustered Klan leader replied, “Well, that’s stupid,” and that Daryl said, “Well, duh! You are right. What I said about you was stupid, but no more stupid than what you said about me.” Then “the Cyclops got very quiet and changed the subject. Several months later he told Daryl that he was still thinking about that conversation. Daryl had planted a seed of doubt and made him curious about his own beliefs. The Cyclops ended up quitting the KKK and giving his hood and robe to Daryl.”
Letting go of that which is unhealthy for us is not easy, but it is possible. The author of Hebrews encourages us to model ourselves after Jesus by throwing off “…everything that hinders and …fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
It sometimes requires a tragic consequence to convince us to let go of a cherished but false belief. In Fort Atkinson last year, the school board approved a mask requirement after the death of a student from Covid-19 and the pleadings of worried parents. Do or die circumstances can teach us to let go.
There was once a mother who loved to cook over the open fire with a huge cast-iron frying pan. She'd had that fry pan as far back as anyone could remember, and it worked particularly well over an open flame.
One day, when the family was camping, Mom was cooking with her favorite skillet over a lovely crackling fire. She was standing on a rock ledge that jutted out high over the lake. With the pan in her hand, she stepped back without thinking and toppled right over the ledge into the deep water. Although a pretty good swimmer, she struggled and struggled and couldn't keep her head above water. She was going down for the third time when her husband yelled out, "Let go of the pan!" She did and it sank to the depths below, but she survived.
What do you need to let go of to survive in this world?
*****************************************
StoryShare, May 1, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
“One Hit Wonder” by Frank Ramirez
“Letting Go is Hard to Do” by John Sumwalt
One Hit Wonder
by Frank Ramirea
John 21:1-19
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (v. 16)
The term “one hit wonder” refers to individuals and groups who have one song that becomes a hit, often with a lasting impact, and then, for the most part, they simply disappear from the charts. Many of these talented folks have long, successful careers making music both before and after the hit, but their one moment of glory is how they’re known by the general public.
A good example is the song, “Do You Love Me?” written and produced by legendary Motown owner Barry Gordon, Jr., and released the summer of 1962. It was recorded by a group called The Contours.
Love is the subject of many a pop song. True love, one-sided love, failed love, hopeful love, lost love. It was the poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) who asked the question, “Whoever loved who loved not at first sight?” suggesting that love at first sight was the rule rather than the exception, but some of the best love stories involve struggle before true love is recognized by both parties. That’s certainly the case with “Do You Love Me?”
The song begins with a plaintive memory.
You broke my heart, ‘cause I couldn’t dance.
You didn’t even want me around.
The theme of someone whose dream of love is thwarted because of their inability to perform a certain task is classic. In this case the singer must have worked to correct this lack because he continues:
And now I’m back, to let you know
I can really shake ‘em down.
The rest of the song is simple enough, but compelling. The chorus and lead singer alternately sing “Do you love me?” three times before finishing the sentence: “Now that I can dance?” The singer triumphantly asserts that that he can dance the Mash Potato and the Twist, evidently sure that the loved one addressed will now have to love him back.
When it comes to the song there are competing origin stories. According to one version, Barry Gordon had written the song for The Temptations, who hadn’t had a hit yet, but they’d gone off to a gospel festival without telling him. Instead, he ran into the Contours in the hallway of his studio. They’d made two records for Gordon but neither one got off the ground. He offered the song to them, they recorded it immediately, and the irresistible hit followed.
Years later one of the group’s members said that actually Gordon had offered them the song first, but they’d had trouble recording it, so he said he’d give it to The Temptations instead, but they’d talked Gordon into giving them one more chance.
Regardless, it turned into the one true hit for a group that went on to record other singles. As was often the case with hit songs recorded by African Americans, it wasn’t long before several white groups covered the song and had hits of their own, including the British group Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, as well as the American group The David Clark Five.
The song was resurrected after its inclusion in the movie “Dirty Dancing” in 1987, and some of the original members of the group The Contours got back together for a tour.
It was William Shakespeare who once wrote, in his comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” that “the course of true love never did run true.” There are twists and turns to every love story. In the case of the song “Do You Love Me?” it’s up to us to imagine if the woman addressed in this song warmed up to the young man because now he could dance, or if that was just the excuse she used to get rid of him. It’s fun to wonder if the ship of their love fell apart on the rocks, or if decades later two senior citizens leaned heavily on each other, with slow moving feet, as they danced together on their fiftieth anniversary.
What is certain is that the love forged by hard times together between Jesus and his disciples had certainly hit the rocks. One betrayed him. One denied him. Most of the rest deserted him when he was arrested, tried, and crucified. In this last chapter of John, believed by many to be an epilogue added many years later, Jesus asks Peter, the denier, a very serious question – “Do you love me?” The question is asked three times, not unlike in the chorus of the song, but the real dancing is in the language John uses in the verbal do-si-dobetween the two, as Jesus twice asks Peter if he loves him with agape love, the divine love that seeks nothing in return, and Peter replies each time that he loves Jesus with the philos brotherly love. Only on the third time around does Jesus also use philos, accepting the love of Peter at the level he is capable of.
* * *
Letting Go is Hard to Do
by John Sumwalt
Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
“He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” (vv. 4-6)
It is not easy to let go. Hanging on is a reflex. My wife, Jo, will tell you that she wishes she had let go the day she almost broke her nose. She describes the incident like this: “Big bird dog — old lady with leash — crow!”
Jo was on the way home after walking our grandson to kindergarten, accompanied by our grand doggie, a big, lovable and well-trained chocolate lab. Brawley is a gentle soul who lets little boys climb all over her without complaint. But that day, startled by a crow, she bolted after it. Jo hung onto the leash and fell flat on her face on the sidewalk. Blood gushed from her nose and lips. Our son rushed her to urgent care. X-rays showed no broken bones, and the damage was repaired with seven stitches. But after several weeks of recovery, and only a few faint scars, she can still be heard mumbling, “Why didn’t I just let go?”
Letting go is hard to do. Jo wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “IT IS NOT HOARDING IF IT’S YARN!” But it is not just material things that we hang onto. Stereotypes and prejudices are even harder to let go.
In his celebrated book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know Adam Grant tells of an African American jazz musician named Daryl Davis who convinced a Ku Klux Klan leader to turn in his robe. The two were conversing one day when the KKK leader, whose official title was exalted Cyclops, began “…sharing his stereotypes of black people. They were an inferior species, he said — they had smaller brains, which made them unintelligent, and a genetic predisposition toward violence. When Daryl pointed out that he was black but had never shot anyone or stolen a car, the Cyclops told him his criminal gene must be latent. It hadn’t come out yet.”
Grant said, “Daryl decided to beat the Cyclops at his own game. He challenged him to name three black serial killers. When the Cyclops couldn’t name any, Daryl rattled off a long list of well-known white serial killers and told the Cyclops that he must be one. When the Cyclops protested that he’d never killed anybody, Daryl turned his own argument against him and said that his serial gene must be latent.”
Grant added that the flustered Klan leader replied, “Well, that’s stupid,” and that Daryl said, “Well, duh! You are right. What I said about you was stupid, but no more stupid than what you said about me.” Then “the Cyclops got very quiet and changed the subject. Several months later he told Daryl that he was still thinking about that conversation. Daryl had planted a seed of doubt and made him curious about his own beliefs. The Cyclops ended up quitting the KKK and giving his hood and robe to Daryl.”
Letting go of that which is unhealthy for us is not easy, but it is possible. The author of Hebrews encourages us to model ourselves after Jesus by throwing off “…everything that hinders and …fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
It sometimes requires a tragic consequence to convince us to let go of a cherished but false belief. In Fort Atkinson last year, the school board approved a mask requirement after the death of a student from Covid-19 and the pleadings of worried parents. Do or die circumstances can teach us to let go.
There was once a mother who loved to cook over the open fire with a huge cast-iron frying pan. She'd had that fry pan as far back as anyone could remember, and it worked particularly well over an open flame.
One day, when the family was camping, Mom was cooking with her favorite skillet over a lovely crackling fire. She was standing on a rock ledge that jutted out high over the lake. With the pan in her hand, she stepped back without thinking and toppled right over the ledge into the deep water. Although a pretty good swimmer, she struggled and struggled and couldn't keep her head above water. She was going down for the third time when her husband yelled out, "Let go of the pan!" She did and it sank to the depths below, but she survived.
What do you need to let go of to survive in this world?
*****************************************
StoryShare, May 1, 2022 issue.
Copyright 2022 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
