Song Lyric Sunday: A Couple of “Treats”

Definitely, waiting until I’ve seen what songs everyone else have chosen saves me a lot of (self-inflicted) stress…

Jim’s prompt for today is "Ghost/Pumpkin/Trick/Treat/Witch," a definitely Halloween-y prompt. I’m not much of a Halloween kind of guy. I hated putting on a costume and roaming the neighborhood in search of candy. The candy part was okay, just not the putting on a costume and roaming the neighborhood. I was glad when I had finally outgrown it.

Anyway, got two songs for you today that both have the word "treat" in the title. First is "Treat Her Like A Lady" by the family soul group from Dania Beach, Florida, Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose. It’s from their eponymous first album from 1971 and was released in late spring of that year, working its way up to #20 on the R&B chart, #3 on the Hot 100, and #10 in Canada.

The lyrics, by Eddie Cornelius, are from Genius:

All my friends had to ask me
Something they didn’t understand
How I get all the women
In the palms of my hand

And I told them
Treat her like a lady (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
Do the best you can do (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
You got to treat her like a lady and she’ll give in to you
Lord, look and see
You know what I mean

I know you’ve heard that a woman (treat her like, you got to treat her like)
Will soon take advantage of you (treat her like, you got to treat her like)
Let me tell you, my friend (treat her like, you got to treat her like)
There just ain’t no substitute (treat her like, you got to treat her like)

So you ought to
Treat her like a lady (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
Do the best you can do (treat her like, got to, got to treat her like)
You got to treat her like a lady and she’ll give in to you
Lord, look and see
You know what I mean

Oh, you got to love her (love her), tease her (tease her)
But most of all you got to please her (please her)
You got to hold her (hold her) and want her (want her)
And make her feel you’ll always need her (need her)
You know a woman (woman) is sentimental (woman)
And so easy (woman) to upset (woman)
So make her feel (feel) that she’s for real, yeah (real)
And she’ll give you happiness, whoa

Strange as it seems (treat her like, you got to treat her like)
You know you can’t treat a woman mean (treat her like, you got to treat her like)

So my friends, there you have it
I said it’s the easy, simple way
If you fail to do this
Don’t blame her if she looks my way

‘Cause I’m gonna
Treat her like a lady (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
So affectionately (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
I’m gonna treat her like a lady and she’ll give in to me
Lord, look and see
You know what I mean

Oh, you gotta
Treat her like a lady (treat her like, you got to, got to treat her like)
Do the best you can do (treat her like, got to, got to treat her like)
You got to treat her like a lady

Our second song is "Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady" by the recently-departed Helen Reddy. It was written and originally performed by singer-songwriter Harriet Schock. Helen Reddy heard it and made it the lead single on her 1975 album No Way To Treat A Lady. It reached #8 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Easy Listening chart in the US and #2 on the RPM Hot Singles and Adult Contemporary charts in Canada.

The lyrics for this one are also from Genius:

I guess it was yourself you were involved with
I would have sworn it was me
I might have found out sooner
If you’d only let me close enough to see

That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
To treat your baby, your woman, your friend
That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
But maybe it’s a way for us to end

I was only being a picture
With all the colors I know
While you were busy looking
Into wide blue mirrors and loving the show

That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
To treat your baby, your woman, your friend
That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
But maybe it’s a way for us to end

There’s a funny kind of consolation keeping me sane
And I’d really like to share it, crawl on deep in my brain
You see the time you never felt me loving you or needing you
So leaving you now, you still won’t know how to feel the pain

I was looking out for my happiness
While you were looking within
And before you know your own reflection
Always starts to tire you and it’s happened again

That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
To treat your baby, your woman, your friend
That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
But maybe it’s a way for us to end

That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
To treat your baby, your woman, your friend
That ain’t no way to treat a lady, no way
But maybe it’s a way for us to end

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday for October 25, 2020.