The Birds and the Bees
The Birds and the Bees ( English for 'The Birds and the Bees') is a song written by the American Herb Newman . In the version by Jewel Akens , the song became an international success in 1965. In Germany, the composition gained greater fame thanks to the German-language cover version Today I paint your picture, Cindy Lou .
Publication and sales success
In the United States, The Birds and the Bees was released by the Era Records label , owned by Herb Newman, in January 1965 under catalog number 3141. On January 23, 1965, the single first appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 100. Its highest position was listed on March 20, 1965 with third place. In total, The Birds and the Bees stayed in the Hot 100 for 14 weeks. In Great Britain it was ranked 29th and in Germany 32nd.
content
The expression "The birds and the bees" is an English expression and relates to courtship behavior and sexual intercourse and was used in sex education to introduce younger children to the topic of sex and pregnancy and corresponds in German to the expression of flowers and bees and the Rattle stork. There is no mention of this in Newman's text. Rather, it is about "love" as well as the moon and the stars. We should talk about how kisses come about in the night; and at the very end it is suggested that it is time to learn something about how life begins ("... that it's time you learned about the facts of life starting from A to Z").
Cover versions
Drafi Deutscher and His Magics - Today I paint your picture, Cindy Lou
With the text written by Georg Buschor and the interpretation by Drafi Deutscher, the German music label Decca Records brought out today I paint your picture, Cindy Lou on the single No. 19672 (back: Did you forget everything ) in April 1965. Christian Bruhn was the producer . Today I paint your picture, Cindy Lou became Deutscher's sixth chart success in the German single charts. The single was able to stay in the charts for four and a half months and reached its highest rating at position three. It was the fifth top 10 success for Germans in Germany. While the original text arouses associations with the enlightenment phrase about the "birds and bees", Drafi Deutscher is completely different about the colors for a picture of the "beautiful" Cindy Lou.
More cover versions
English cover versions have been recorded by various singers. A single recording was released in 1966 with Rufus and Carla Thomas (Stax 184). Both Brenda Lee , Gary Lewis & the Playboys , Dean Martin and Billy Preston had released the song on a vinyl LP in 1965 . The title recently appeared with the Dutch singer Jan Keizer on his CD album Going Back in Time (2001, Mercury).
literature
- Günter Ehnert. Hit balance sheet, German Chart Singles 1956–1980 , Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ January 23, 1965 The Hot 100. Retrieved May 30, 2013 .
- ↑ The Birds And The Bees by Jewel Akens. Retrieved May 30, 2013 .
- ↑ hitparade.ch , accessed on May 30, 2013.
- ↑ Today I paint your picture, Cindy Lou from Drafi Deutscher and His Magics. chartsurfer.de, accessed on January 24, 2019 .
- ^ Dean Martin, The Birds And The Bees. Retrieved May 30, 2013 .
- ^ Billy Preston - The Birds and the Bees. Retrieved May 30, 2013 .