It’s great fun to see where and how this subject appears in the lyrics of so many different songs. I also discovered lots of great new songs. The songs are not listed in any particular order, and I have split the list into two parts. Let’s start with part one: ten fun songs about clay!
1. Gene McDaniels – A hundred pounds of clay
This wonderful 1961 song instantly brings a smile to your face. At the time, the BBC banned the song from English radio because the lyrics were said to suggest that women were created solely to please men, which was considered blasphemous. Dalida and Johnny Hallyday later covered the song in French.
2. Stan Kenton & June Christy – Tampico
This jazzy song is even older: it dates back to 1946 and features the wonderfully husky voice of June Christy. It’s only mentioned once – Tampico, Tampico, down in Mexico, You buy some pottery there to beat the luxury tax – but the song is so catchy that I decided it deserves a spot on this list.
3. Matt Monro – The Apple Tree
Another classic is this Matt Monro song about forbidden fruit, which mentions “new techniques for glazing pottery” with which Eve is seduced in the Garden of Eden.
4. Grace Vanderwaal – Clay
Grace VanderWaal was just 12 years old when she won the 11th series of the TV show America’s Got Talent with this and other self-written songs. It’s a stunning achievement to write such beautiful melodies and strong lyrics at such a young age.
5. Marvin Gaye – Piece of Clay
In this captivating ballad, Marvin Gaye employs the metaphor of clay to convey a profound message.
6. Van Morrison & the Chieftains – Raglan Road
This is an emotional rendition of the traditional Irish folk song ‘On Raglan Road’, in which the singer refers to their lover as ‘a creature made of clay’. Actually, there’s a Dutch cover of this song by a band from Limburg called Rowwen Heze. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you if they still mention clay in that version because I can’t make sense of the lyrics.
7. Michael Franti & Spearhead – Everybody Ona Move
This song truly embodies reggae. “I take mud and turn it into pottery,” sings Michael Franti. Later in the song we also hear the phrase ‘We’re all beginners’, and I quite like that thought.
8. Gordon Bok, Ann Mayo Muir, Ed Trickett – Fashioned in the Clay
The lyrics of this folk song are a great read.
“Look, now, at the potter whose wheel is spinning ’round,
Shaping with her hands the past and future from the ground:
Cups that will be filled and drunk, so warm in wintertime,
Plates and bowls for dinner served with candlelight and wine.
She believes, she believes, by her work it’s so easy to see
That the future is more than the following day,
It’s fashioned securely in the clay.”
9. John Denver – The Potter’s Wheel
This song by John Denver brings comfort.
“What do you tell forever’s children when it’s their turn to hurt and heal?
Whatever spins a grim tornado can also turn a potter’s wheel.
Take a little clay, put it on a wheel, get a little hint how God must feel.
Give a little turn, listen to it spin, make it into the shape you want it in.”
It’s a soothing thought, no?
10. Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite (The Finest Girl You Ever Want to Meet)
We’ll finish this list with a song from 1957 that is not about pottery or clay, but when you watch the music video you’ll understand immediately why it’s the last entry in the list.
Gunther Neefs and Helmut Lotti covered the song, and The Strangers also made their own version. The song was so succesful that the earnings of this record funded the creation of the famous Motown Records label. And it is the background for a very interesting claymation video, in other words: animation with clay.
And don’t forget, this animation is over sixty years old …
And that marks the end of part 1. Enjoy the clay, the music, and this clay music!
