It’s gonna take money (a whole lotta spending money) and time (a whole lotta precious time), but Music Monday’s got its mind set on you!
But it still prefers donations. Money and time, people. Music Monday doesn’t work for free.
Actually, it does. Who am I kidding?
Anyway, Monday is upon us, and with that, another song. When I plan out the songs I want to use for Mondays, I take into consideration several things – something bouncy and fun that will start of your week on a high note, if there’s a holiday coming up, or if something is coming up that warrants a specific song (for example, if I’m going to a concert). I try not to use anything depressing (though I did for Valentine’s Day last year, so I make exceptions every now and then).
Since next month has a holiday within it (Valentine’s Day), I’ll be devoting that to the month of love, but for today, we’re going to have a little bit of fun.
Still need donations to make that happen. Money and time.
Today’s song is a personal favorite of mine, from a time when I was a cute little five-year-old in the backseat of the station wagon, yelling out songs of which I knew the words. I loved music even then, and it isn’t surprising that alot of the songs I’ve featured here are ones directly from my childhood that have sentimental value. This one is one of those songs.
It was only cute when I looked like this. There is nothing cute about 37-year-old me trying to hit high notes.
Call it pre-Valentine’s Day Music Monday, where we move toward sentimental value on the way to true love. And of course, this is sung by someone who was the object of affection for many a teenage girl in the 1960s, proving that in the 1980s, he still had a little something to offer. I wonder if those teenage girls were still in love with him in 1987.
“Got My Mind Set On You” (alternatively written as “(Got My Mind) Set On You”) is a single by former Beatle George Harrison, from his 1987 album Cloud Nine. The song actually dates back to 1962, when Rudy Clark wrote it, and James Ray recorded it in 1962. Until a few years ago, I didn’t know that version existed, but it was the Harrison version that always stole my young heart in the 1980s.
I didn’t know until the 1990s that it was sung by a former Beatle, but then again, I didn’t know who they were until the 1990s. Maybe you knew before I did?
Of course, I didn’t know that there were two music videos for this song until about 10 years ago. Perhaps because this was the one MTV and VH1 always played…
But there was also this one…
The video where George Harrison channels his inner Christopher Walken is actually the second version of the video. Fun fact about the “storyline” of the music video – it was inspired by Evil Dead II. It received significantly more airplay, and was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1988. The first music video, which tells the story of a determined teenager trying to win a girl’s heart, by trying to win her a toy Ballerina from a crane machine (all while she watches George Harrison in a movie viewer. This video features actor Alexis Denisof as the determined teenager trying to win the girl’s heart. Both were directed by Gary Weis, a creator of short films for Saturday Night Live.
Of Harrison’s three number one singles in the United States, this was the only not written by him, and also didn’t have religious overtones. It was his final #1 single, and as of 2019, it broke a three-way tie between Harrison, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr for having two #1 singles. The song charted at #1 the week following The Beatles’ induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. For year-ending 1988, the song charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. While the single reached the top of the charts in the United States, it was kept out of the top spot in the United Kingdom by T’Pau’s “China In Your Hand.”
“(Got My Mind) Set On You” was parodied by singer Weird Al Yankovic as “(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long,” and was featured on his 1988 album Even Worse, the title itself a parody of Michael Jackson’s then-current album Bad.
Sometimes all you really do need is a little money and time to make a great parody work.
As for Harrison, he passed away on November 29, 2001, two years after surviving a knife attack in his home. His final album, Brainwashed, was completed by his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne. A few weeks before his death, he came together with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney one final time in New York City. Which is proof that you only need time, but not necessarily money to reunite with good friends.
The weekend after Harrison’s passing, the music video featuring Harrison in the study was featured in a tribute weekend to the singer and his legacy, which, like the rest of his bandmates, proves there was a successful career after The Beatles.
He knew if he could put his mind to it, he knew that he really could do it.
Yeah, yeah. Let me have my fun, I still know all the words to this song!
Have a great Monday, and enjoy the music!