122. Somebody to Love &...

Lyrics 

Can anybody find me somebody to love

Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little
Can barely stand on my feet
(Take a look at yourself) Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry)
Lord what you're doing to me (yeah yeah)
I have spent all my years in believing you
But I just can't get no relief, Lord!
Somebody (somebody) ooh somebody (somebody)
Can anybody find me somebody to love?

I work hard (he works hard) every day of my life
I work till I ache in my bones
At the end (at the end of the day)
I take home my hard earned pay all on my own
I get down (down) on my knees (knees)
And I start to pray
Till the tears run down from my eyes
Lord somebody (somebody), ooh somebody
(Please) can anybody find me somebody to love?

Everyday (everyday) I try and I try and I try
But everybody wants to put me down
They say I'm going crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
Ah, got no common sense
I got nobody left to believe in
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Oh Lord
Ooh somebody, ooh somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love?
(Can anybody find me someone to love)

Got no feel, I got no rhythm
I just keep losing my beat (you just keep losing and losing)
I'm OK, I'm alright (he's alright, he's alright)
I ain't gonna face no defeat (yeah yeah)
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
One day (someday) I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love love love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Somebody somebody somebody somebody
Somebody find me
Somebody find me somebody to love
Can anybody find me somebody to love?
(Find me somebody to love)
Ooh
(Find me somebody to love)
Find me somebody, somebody (find me somebody to love) somebody, somebody to love
Find me, find me, find me, find me, find me
Ooh, somebody to love (Find me somebody to love)
Ooh (find me somebody to love)
Find me, find me, find me somebody to love (find me somebody to love)
Anybody, anywhere, anybody find me somebody to love love love!
Somebody find me, find me love

I read an article recently, talking about how benefit cuts and increasing education costs are making it much harder for people from the working class to pursue artistic careers. This means that working class themes in pop music are disappearing. Now Queen weren't working class. Both Freddie Mercury and Brian May went to rather prestigious schools. Yet I do think they were very influenced by working class themes. This song may be the best example of it. And it is indeed quite rare to hear a song these days dealing so directly with the toil of working. I chose a quite obvious film to link it to. 

The Movie: The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

"Shut up and deal" is a way better final line than "Nobody's perfect". That's how I feel about the films as well. I am no fan at all of Some Like It Hot, or of Sunset Boulevard. Witness for the Prosecution and The Seven Year Itch are both fine. You see, I am not really a fan of Billy Wilder films. There is no real reason for that, I just have never responded to them, certainly not to Some Like It Hot, which I find completely unfunny. The Apartment though is really very good. During the first half it reminded me a bit of The Wolf of Wall Street, and during its second half it is just a superior sweet romance.

Jack Lemmon's C.C. Baxter is a really interesting character. His neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen) calls him a 'nebbish' and is surprised Baxter has so many girls over in his apartment. Of course it are Baxter's colleagues from work who bring their mistresses to his apartment. Baxter lends them their key, and in return they talk him up to their superiors. Consequently Baxter gets promoted, yet remains a fairly lonely guy, looking for somebody to love.When Dr. Dreyfus chides him telling him to become a responsible 'mensch' and stop womanizing, it's supposed to be an obvious joke about how much the doctor is mistaken and clueless. Yet, part of what makes the film so good, is that the doctor is not completely wrong either. Throughout the film Wilder underlines that there is a meanness behind Baxter's niceness and that he has some sociopathic tendencies. 

I did not compare the film to The Wolf of Wall Street for nothing, but Baxter is no Jordan Belfort. Rather, he is played and written as a follower of the likes of Belfort, and as someone who believes in the hierarchy imposed by the Belforts of the world. Of course The Apartment is much more restrained and much more lighthearted and 'polite' than The Wolf of Wall Street, but it's all there. This is very much a film about entitlement. Look at the way the men talk to/about the women, and how they treat them. Baxter submits to the wishes of his colleagues because he believes they are right to act the way the do. They are after all the men in power, and power allows them to flaunt their confidence and their masculinity. It's interesting to see how Baxter's behavior changes once he gets promoted. At the beginning of the film he treats Fran (Shirley MacLaine) as his equal. After his promotion there is a brilliantly written and performed party scene, set during Christmas, where Baxter in the interactions with Fran makes very clear that he is now above her, that she should be honored to be in his company. 

Eventually of course Baxter learns and becomes a better person. Even then though the film does not shy away from his sometimes oblivious selfishness. When he takes care of Fran they play a game of cards. It's clear that Fran is not interested, and moreover does not know the rules of the game. Yet Baxter doesn't seem to care. He proceeds to basically play against himself, with Fran slowly falling asleep. What helps the film even more is that Fran is herself no angel. She is never glorified, she can't write, she is allowed to be both depressed and independent, a woman who can outjoke Baxter, using sarcasm and irony. MacLaine is fantastic in the role showing both Fran's vulnerability and her sheer chutzpah. I haven't seen enough films from that period to make this statement, but I think in the characterization of Fran The Apartment was far ahead of its time. Fran's character would not be out of place in any modern American indie.