
Jim gives us the prompt "Apple/Banana/Cherry/Olive/Orange/Strawberry" to work with today, and I wanted to find something (as always) that I don’t think anyone else will come up with. I thought of orange marmalade, and remembered this.
"Toast and Marmalade for Tea" was written by Steve Groves of the band Tin Tin, an Australian-British band. He only had two verses for it, and intended to write more verses and a chorus for it. But before he could, Maurice Gibb, who was their producer, recorded it for their eponymous 1971 album. It was a minor hit, reaching #20 in the US, #11 in Canada and New Zealand, and #10 in Australia.
This is one of those songs that really gets to you. It’s basically two verses, sung over and over, changing keys a couple of times. I looked for the best recording I could find, and ultimately chose this, where the song was combined with scenes from the 2014 movie Paddington. After listening to the song so many times, I felt a little overwhelmed and emotional when I saw it. That’s how I knew I had found it…
The lyrics, from Genius:
Sailing ships upon the sea
Aren’t lovelier that you
Or the games I see you play
You more lovely than the day
When the sun is in your eyes
I see through your disguise
All the games I see you play
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for December 13, 2020.

Really enjoyed the videos with those bears
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That’s Paddington Bear. I had heard of him, but neither read the books nor saw the movies. Might be something to look up…
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Sweet little song! I’ve never heard it, or known anything about Paddington Bear, but the clip looks really good. π
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It was one of those songs that sneaked onto the charts and fell off before too many people found it. Paddington is a bigger thing in the UK than it is here, but I like the clips.
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Paddington looks like it is worth watching and this is a lovely song.
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I haven’t watched Paddington, but you have a point there. Glad you liked the song.
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Hi John – excellent … it’s exactly what I’d have done too … well done and so appropriate for us in these times. Love Paddington! All the best – Hilary
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You know, I’ve never read the book or seen the movie “Paddington.” I saw they were at Paddington station and figured it out, and I guess I was right. When I read how Paddington loves marmalade, it all fell into place.
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Such a sweet song and its use in the film was perfect!
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I don’t know if it was actually used in the movie, since I’ve never seen it. Whoever put the video together used scenes from the movie. If they didn’t use it, they missed a golden opportunity.
Apparently they had planned on adding more verses and a chorus, but you know? That would have ruined it.
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Oh John thanks for the lovely share. That was a favorite character for me and the movie was wonderful. It tugged on my heart strings and I didnβt care how many verses. The words were perfect π₯°
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More words would have made it a completely different song, and nowhere near as satisfying.
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I agree!
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I remember this, you can hear the BeeGees influence in the song! Love the video Paddington was a lovely film π
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I think that’s who I thought it was at first, but knowing Maurice produced the song explains the harmony. I think I need to see the movie…
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If you mean Paddington than yes I can recommend it π
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