Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Alice Cooper co-founder and Hall Of Fame inductee Dennis Dunaway answers your questions!

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steven_crayn
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Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Post by steven_crayn » Tue May 04, 2021 6:17 am

Hi Dennis,

The subject of lyrics made me think of Sing Low Sweet Cheerio my favourite song on Pretties for You.

I think this is a masterpiece, i love how Michael shares lead vocals with Alice. Listening to their voices, Michael sings the first 2 verses before they join together on the first chorus (But this story starring me etc...) then Alice sings the next 2 verses (Help me, help please, help me please, The screaming starts again etc...) and back together for the second chorus.

How did they and you, Neal and Glen come up with this song, and how highly do you rate it?

It inspired another video from me
https://youtu.be/cYMN16fOgyw

I also noticed on iTunes they spell it Swing Low, Sweet Cheerio!
Lead guitar on Social Debris. Album on iTunes, Amazon & Spotify, title track featured on TV

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Dreary
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Re: Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Post by Dreary » Tue May 04, 2021 3:48 pm

steven_crayn wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 6:17 am
Hi Dennis,

The subject of lyrics made me think of Sing Low Sweet Cheerio my favourite song on Pretties for You.

I think this is a masterpiece, i love how Michael shares lead vocals with Alice. Listening to their voices, Michael sings the first 2 verses before they join together on the first chorus (But this story starring me etc...) then Alice sings the next 2 verses (Help me, help please, help me please, The screaming starts again etc...) and back together for the second chorus.

How did they and you, Neal and Glen come up with this song, and how highly do you rate it?

It inspired another video from me
https://youtu.be/cYMN16fOgyw

I also noticed on iTunes they spell it Swing Low, Sweet Cheerio!
I would have to look through my lyric books from that era to sort who did what. Off the top of my head, I'd say mostly Michael. Many of the songs had someone's first draft of the lyrics, then someone else would take a stab at them, and then perhaps even a third attempt before we would comp together the cream of the crop. Looking through my lyric books, you'd see that this process would happen on 3 or 4 consecutive pages, although sometimes you find revisions several pages later. The detective work is in determining whose handwriting it is. Musically, the song includes lots of jam segments and you can tell that the band worked over the arrangement.
As for the title. It was a play on the classic gospel song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" so somewhere along the line, it was registered as "Swing" with BMI. I spent about a year trying to get BMI to correct it but it would require written letters from every song writer and every publisher, and since each song's royalties are collected and distributed by that song's specific serial number, I let it slide.

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Re: Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Post by padre_sliprat » Tue May 04, 2021 6:37 pm

Incredible song. It never gets old.
"He's old, the snake's got gray hair..."

Ted Sallis
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Re: Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Post by Ted Sallis » Tue May 04, 2021 8:52 pm

padre_sliprat wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 6:37 pm
Incredible song. It never gets old.
True. It's also my favourite PFY track.

Ted

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Re: Sing Low, Sweet Cheerio

Post by steven_crayn » Sun May 09, 2021 2:16 pm

Dreary wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 3:48 pm
steven_crayn wrote:
Tue May 04, 2021 6:17 am
Hi Dennis,

The subject of lyrics made me think of Sing Low Sweet Cheerio my favourite song on Pretties for You.

I think this is a masterpiece, i love how Michael shares lead vocals with Alice. Listening to their voices, Michael sings the first 2 verses before they join together on the first chorus (But this story starring me etc...) then Alice sings the next 2 verses (Help me, help please, help me please, The screaming starts again etc...) and back together for the second chorus.

How did they and you, Neal and Glen come up with this song, and how highly do you rate it?

It inspired another video from me
https://youtu.be/cYMN16fOgyw

I also noticed on iTunes they spell it Swing Low, Sweet Cheerio!
I would have to look through my lyric books from that era to sort who did what. Off the top of my head, I'd say mostly Michael. Many of the songs had someone's first draft of the lyrics, then someone else would take a stab at them, and then perhaps even a third attempt before we would comp together the cream of the crop. Looking through my lyric books, you'd see that this process would happen on 3 or 4 consecutive pages, although sometimes you find revisions several pages later. The detective work is in determining whose handwriting it is. Musically, the song includes lots of jam segments and you can tell that the band worked over the arrangement.
As for the title. It was a play on the classic gospel song "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" so somewhere along the line, it was registered as "Swing" with BMI. I spent about a year trying to get BMI to correct it but it would require written letters from every song writer and every publisher, and since each song's royalties are collected and distributed by that song's specific serial number, I let it slide.
When i first saw that title i wondered if it was a play on the African spiritual that is a massive hymn in England, even more so since the connection to the sport of the England Rugby team.

I had to listen carefully to to work out who did what, as Michael and Alice’s voices though I can tell the difference, blend so well on this, it almost sounds like one person.

I love the mystery of the lyric.

Would be great if the Snakes museum ever reaches Britain, to see those lyric books.
I did the pudding show in 2010 when you guys played, maybe the next time the Snakes museum is in America i’ll get the bread for my next trip, will need to get a new passport first, not been on a plane since Florida 2018 or 2BC (2 years before Covid!)

Cheers Dennis, the audio book is the business a whole new take on Snakes and i loved reading it, but hearing you tell the story is the best bedtime story ever!
Lead guitar on Social Debris. Album on iTunes, Amazon & Spotify, title track featured on TV

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