Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
“Save the Last Dance For Me”
Artist: The Drifters
Music / Lyrics by Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman
Label: Atlantic, 1960
The group called “The Drifters” has gone through multiple personnel changes and incarnations. The original Drifters, featuring lead singer Clyde McPhatter, were an entirely different group from the Drifters who recorded “Save the Last Dance For Me.” Manager George Treadwell had replaced the original group with an already-existing vocal harmony group called the Five Crowns. The Five Crown’s lead singer was Benjamin Earl Nelson, more commonly known as Ben E. King. King’s voice can be heard on some of the greatest of the Drifters’ hits, including “There Goes My Baby” and “This Magic Moment.” “Save the Last Dance for Me” was their biggest hit, and King’s last single with the Drifters before embarking on a solo career.
The Ben E. King version of the Drifters was produced by the renowned rhythm and blues songwriting and production team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, famous for their work with the Coasters and other Atlantic artists. The slick, orchestra-laden production style Lieber and Stoller used with the Drifters was referred to as “uptown R&B,” which proved to be a strong influence on some later styles such as Motown and Philly Soul.
Musical style notes
A combination of doo-wop, orchestral textures, and an underlying Brazilian rhythmic “feel” gave this version of the Drifters their signature sound. The Latin influence can be heard in the percussion, in the rhythm guitar, and in the syncopated rhythms of the song itself.
The orchestra is a primary force in Lieber and Stoller’s productions with the Drifters. Rather than provide background texture, the orchestra actually “takes the solo” during the instrumental break (although the orchestra’s part is definitely pre-composed and not improvised!).
The structure of the song is a standard pop-song form: Verse-Refrain, Verse-Refrain, Bridge, Verse-Refrain. According to some sources, the lyrics of “Save the Last Dance for Me” are autobiographical: Lyricist Doc Pomus, married to an actress and dancer, had suffered from polio and could not dance.
Musical “Road Map”
|Timings |Comments |Lyrics |
|0:00-0:20 |Verse 1 |You can dance every dance with the guy |
| | |Who gives you the eye… |
| |Acoustic guitar; | |
| |Acoustic bass; P | |
| |percussion. | |
|0:20-0:33 |Refrain |But don’ t forget who’s taking you home |
| | |And in whose arms you’re gonna be; |
| |Orchestra enters. |So darling – save the last dance for me. |
|0:33-0:49 |Verse 2 |Oh I know that the music’s fine, |
| | |like sparkling wine… |
| |Background singers enter with response to | |
| |lead singer. | |
|0:49-1:02 |Refrain |But don’ t forget who’s taking you home |
| | |And in whose arms you’re gonna be; |
| | |So darling – save the last dance for me. |
|1:02-1:17 |Bridge |Baby don’t you know I love you so; |
| | |Can’t you feel it when we touch… |
|1:17-1:33 |Verse 3 |You can dance…go and carry on |
| | |Til the night is gone… |
|1:33-1:46 |Refrain |“Cause don’ t forget who’s taking you home |
| | |And in whose arms you’re gonna be; |
| | |So darling – save the last dance for me. |
|1:46-2:00 |Instrumental, over the chords | |
| |of the bridge | |
| | | |
| |Note prominent | |
| |use of orchestra. | |
|2:00-2:12 |Refrain |Cause don’ t forget who’s taking you home |
| | |And in whose arms you’re gonna be; |
| | |So darling – save the last dance for me. |
|2:12-2:32 |Last line repeats and fades |Save the last dance for me… |
| | |Save the last dance for me… |
| | |Save the last dance for me |
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