Song #48: Johnny Tillotson - "Poetry in Motion" (1961)
"Poetry in Motion" - Single
"I loved every movement, there's nothing I would change. She doesn't need improvement; she's much too nice to rearrange."
Johnny Tillotson's "Poetry in Motion" captures an era in music that was a lot simpler, kinder, and more genial, similar to Hank Williams or a country pioneer. However, Tillotson, in his biggest hit "Poetry in Motion," Tillotson didn't even insinuate to the kind of heartfelt emotion or deep sadness that Williams himself did in certain songs. "Poetry in Motion" was all love and energy all the time.
Despite being released in the early sixties, "Poetry in Motion" bears instrumentation and the style of vocals that were made popular in the fifties, as Tillotson makes use of vocalization and instrumentals that could easily be mistaken for fifties pop. The song, similar to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (number ninety-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), is just a passionate love song, describing a woman who's dancing and movement is like "poetry in motion" because of how drop-dead gorgeous she is. It's as if Tillotson is watching this woman on the dance floor from afar, commenting on her "gentle sway" while he stands there mesmerized by a girl's beauty and her unbelievable dancing abilities.
Tillotson's vocals owe a lot to the song success, being very easy to listen to and extremely clear, never slipping up or oversinging any part of the song. Furthermore, the only thing better than the chorus of the song is when Tillotson sings the "woah-oh-oh-oh-oh" lines of the song in an inanely catchy moment in the song. Again, I can only hope I save a spot for "Poetry in Motion" for my wedding, if I ever get married.
Give "Poetry in Motion" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_ArpznZUs
Despite being released in the early sixties, "Poetry in Motion" bears instrumentation and the style of vocals that were made popular in the fifties, as Tillotson makes use of vocalization and instrumentals that could easily be mistaken for fifties pop. The song, similar to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (number ninety-seven on "The One-Hundred Songs of Steve Pulaski"), is just a passionate love song, describing a woman who's dancing and movement is like "poetry in motion" because of how drop-dead gorgeous she is. It's as if Tillotson is watching this woman on the dance floor from afar, commenting on her "gentle sway" while he stands there mesmerized by a girl's beauty and her unbelievable dancing abilities.
Tillotson's vocals owe a lot to the song success, being very easy to listen to and extremely clear, never slipping up or oversinging any part of the song. Furthermore, the only thing better than the chorus of the song is when Tillotson sings the "woah-oh-oh-oh-oh" lines of the song in an inanely catchy moment in the song. Again, I can only hope I save a spot for "Poetry in Motion" for my wedding, if I ever get married.
Give "Poetry in Motion" a listen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_ArpznZUs
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