New Track

"Every Scratch, Every Click, Every Heartbeat": The reference is to Elvis Costello's song "45" which, to oversimplify matters, conflates music and life. All the same, "Bass and treble heal every hurt" and though this series doesn't feature the dreaded soundtrack to my life, it might be said that each entry spotlights "a song to sing to do the measuring."

Here, I explore the sheer exuberance of Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)."

…I'm so wired-up
Don't need no coffee in my cup…

Ridiculous and sublime. What Jackie Wilson said was that what was, and shall ever be — at least about "the finest girl you ever wanna meet" — is reet petite. Amen. What author John Collis said was that "The exuberant scat phrase kicking off … 'Jackie Wilson Said', hotly pursued by a confident, big band R&B arrangement, promises well." Indeed.

The raucous jubilation reels from the pounding arrangement, and Van’s self-assured overtures to his “Honey chile” always causes him to feel like "I'm in heaven when you smile," making "my heart go boom-boom-boom" - punctuated here by a big bass drum.

In this 1972 fair-to-middlin' hit from Saint Dominic's Preview, inspired by R&B and Soul legend Jackie Wilson and his 1956 song “Reet Petite,” (co-written by Berry Gordy Jr., the title inspired by a Louis Jordan movie with an all-black cast called Reet, Petite, and Gone), Morrison tells it simple and true. And because he also knows about "the inarticulate speech of the heart" – I've seen him in concert in one of his trance-like states where he seems to be invoking the too-muted muses – you know these aren't empty words - or even empty “Ding-a-ling-a-ling / Ding-a-ling-a-ling-ding / Do-da-do-das.”

So when Van tells you, as he does in this song, to "let it all hang out," he means this in a, well, a spiritual sense. Accordingly — as he sings — “Watch this”:

Ding-a-ling-a-ling
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-ding
Ding-a-ling-a-ling
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-ding
Do-da-do-da
I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven
I'm in heaven, when you smile
When you smile, when you smile
When you smile.
And when you walk
Across the road
You make my heart go
Boom-boom-boom
Let it all hang out
Baby, let it all hang out
And ev'ry time
You look that way
Honey child, you make my day
Let it all hang out
Like the man said: let it all hang out.
Watch this:
Ding-a-ling-a-ling…

Then, as the rousing brass and Van’s celebratory declarations are brought to a concurrent and stirring standstill — your heart yet going boom-boom-boom — you’ll still be “in heaven, when you smile / When you smile, when you smile…”

In a mere matter of 2:57 comes and goes one of those joyous without being jejune songs that bear repeating over and over on your home stereo and that demand full volume on your car radio - thank god for the classic oldies’ format: as a single in ‘72, “Jackie Wilson Said” only peaked at #61, proving once again that there is no justice in the world.

And there’s no mistaking when the song comes on and takes you by surprise, first with Van, sans band, before the full-swingin’ kickapoo joy juice hits ya:

Da, da, da, da, da…
Jackie Wilson said
It was "reet-petite"
Kinda love you got
Knock me off my feet
Let it all hang out
Oh, let it all hang out…
And you know…

…I'm so wired-up
Don't need no coffee in my cup…