Greatest love songs ever: #32 “My Girl”

The intro of “My Girl” immediately grabs, as the bass guitar plays, “bap boom boom, bap boom boom, bap boom boom …”

Then a clean electric guitar riff pipes in, “twoink … twoink twoink twoink twoink twoink twoink … as the singers snap their fingers.

Totally cool, and the singing hasn’t even started! But the intro has you on the edge of your seat for what comes next.

The song was written by one of Motown Records’ greatest artists, Smokey Robinson, and his collaborator, Ronnie White. But it wasn’t Robinson and his group, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, that made it a big hit. It was the Temptations, another group in the Motown family.

The R & B sound of the sixties

This vocal quintet defined that cool R&B sound of the sixties and seventies with their sartorial splendor, crisp choreography, and luxurious harmonies. But it was the group’s lead tenor, David Ruffin, who took the song over the top with his compelling, soulful vocals.

Smokey said he wrote the song with Ruffin’s vocal prowess in mind:

“I knew David Ruffin was in that group. See, David Ruffin had one of those demanding baritone, tenor voices. I said, if I can get David to sing something sweet, the girls are going to love it.”

He was right. And the guys loved it, too. Ruffin’s self-assured vocal stylings were smoothed over to refine his usual raspiness and produce one of the sweetest songs of the decade.

“My Girl” was The Temptations first #1 hit (in 1965) and Motown’s first #1 on the Hot 100 list.

Everything works with this song, beginning with the lyrics that appeal to young love, a delightful feeling one never shakes. The song’s classic intro sets the stage for verse one’s wonderful feel-good lyrics:

“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day,

When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May.

I guess you’d say,

What can make me feel this way?”

And you know the answer: “My girl!”

Great intro. Great lyrics. Great melody. Great vocals and arrangement. Everything works.

A creative era

The 1920s and the 1960s were the two most creative decades of the twentieth century musically. Economic prosperity created demand for ‘product,’ and  sheet music publishers (in the 1920s) and record labels (in the 1960s) gave songwriters more creative license than they have today.

Immigration from Europe in the 1920s ushered in a creative potpourri of music styles into America, very much defined by Jewish talent. At the same time, Harlem spawned the ‘jazz age.’ America was awash in creativity.

Four decades later, the Baby Boom generation began to come of age in the 1960s, and youth are the drivers of so much innovation. Elton John said artists in the 1960s were driven by love of music more than monetary gain. Unsurprisingly, love songs from the 60s are disproportionately represented on this list. The decade produced not only a lot of good music, but a lot of varied music.

“My Girl” is a direct descendant the rich musical heritage born in 1920s Harlem (New York), blossoming in Detroit, Michigan under the Motown Records label in the 1960s. The sound was a fusion of soul, R&B, gospel, and vocal jazz.

The Temptations, in collaboration with Smokey Robinson and Ronnie White, created an iconic love song with a sound unlike any other on this list. Interestingly, Smokey Robinson had another #1 hit a year earlier, “My Guy,” a song that was the perfect bookend to “My Girl.”

“My Guy”

Although it didn’t make my list of top 52 love songs, “My Guy” deserves honorable mention by making the case for commitment in a relationship with this memorable first verse:

“Nothing you could say could tear me away from my guy,

Nothing you could do, ’cause I’m stuck like glue to my guy,

I’m sticking to my guy like a stamp to a letter,

Like birds of the feather, we stick together,

I’m tellin’ you from the start, I can’t be torn apart from my guy.”

Listen to Motown’s Mary Wells sing it:

This blogger could do an entire series on just the love songs released by Motown in the 1960s, songs like these:

“You Can’t Hurry Love” by the Supremes

“Take This Heart of Mine” by Marvin Gaye

“I Was Made to Love You” by Stevie Wonder

“Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Some of the best love songs of the century

The Sixties were a crazy time with Vietnam war protests, the Second Vatican Council, LSD, hippies, rock and roll, and The Pill. Out of it flowed some of the best love songs of the century. As I’ve said before, love songs are really God songs, because God IS love. God was certainly in the midst of that chaotic era, and musicians came through with a bevy of timeless tunes.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Is there any way they can top this week’s love song?” The answer is yes. Just check back with an even better love song, also written in the 1960s.

Why in the world is Pulse creating this series of the “52 Greatest Love Songs Ever?” Because love is the antidote to abortion. Spread the love. Subscribe to our blog and spread the word to your friends.

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