You’d be surprised at just how much impact you can make with a nobody. By that, we mean the word “nobody”. And we’re talking about songs that used that word effectively in their titles.
We’ve unearthed four “nobody” songs released over the years that came from some of the biggest acts in the music business. And we’re here to guarantee that you won’t soon forget these nobodies.
“Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon
It’s doubtful that we’d still be talking about this Bond theme today if songwriters Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager had been forced to create something called “The Spy Who Loved Me”, the name of the film for which it was intended. (Bayer Sager deserves credit for working that unwieldy title pretty seamlessly into the lyrics.) Carly Simon was a perfect choice to sing the song. She’d already proven, with “You’re So Vain”, that she could work wonders with lyrics about a charming but destructive rake. The fellow she’s celebrating in this track seems a bit more beneficial to the narrator’s heart, even if he’s more dangerous to life and limb. One of the finest and most successful of the Bond themes.
“Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down And Out)” by John Lennon
John Lennon’s personal life had fallen into shambles during the making of his 1974 album Walls And Bridges. Yet to his credit, he pulled focus for the creation of the record, delivering one of the finest solo sets of his career. Believe it or not, Lennon wrote “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down And Out)” with the intent of Frank Sinatra singing it someday. While it never made it to Old Blue Eyes, the song offered Lennon an excellent showcase for his own vocal ability. Within the lyrics, Lennon discloses the depth of the despair he was enduring while separated from Yoko Ono. Jesse Ed Davis spruces up the track with a slide guitar that’s quite reminiscent of George Harrison’s style.
“Nobody Home” by Pink Floyd
The Wall takes us through the life and times of a fictional character named Pink. At times, the character’s actions resemble some of the catatonic detachment of original Pink Floyd singer Syd Barrett. But there are also beats that are taken straight from the life of Roger Waters, the architect of The Wall. “Nobody Home” finds our hero struggling to connect with his significant other while he’s out on the road playing rock shows. Waters goes through a litany of the character’s zonked-out characteristics in the verses. But the implied marital problems, which emanated from Waters’ own life, come to the fore in the emotional refrains of this lovely ballad.
“House Where Nobody Lives” by Tom Waits
Tom Waits changed his sound dramatically when he hit the 80s and started working with his wife Kathleen Brennan. Brennan encouraged him to embrace the avant-garde and the cacophonous in his songs. But Waits would always leave some room on even his most out-there albums for some of the desolate balladry that characterized his earliest work. Mule Variations, released in 1999, allowed him plenty of room (16 songs) to spread his stylistic wings. “House Where Nobody Lives”, with creaks in the recording that sound as if they’re coming straight from the titular bode, frames a divorce through the lens of the now-decrepit location where love once lived.
(Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
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