"Why" by Carly Simon

Song#:  1103
Date:  07/17/1982
Debut:  89
Peak:  74
Weeks:  6
Genre:  Pop, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  The 80s started off well for Simon with her single "Jesse" hitting #11 and going gold. Unfortunately, it would be her peak moment of the decade. Her next effort, the 1981 standards LP "Torch," stalled at #50 and contained no chart singles. Before releasing her final album for Warner Bros., Simon did this one-off single that appeared on the soundtrack to the film "Soup for One." Written and produced by Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, the song pushed Simon into the 80s with a more modern sound. It was enough to get her back on the pop chart, but only for a brief few weeks.

ReduxReview:  The video for this song is like a train wreck. It is so horrible, but you can't stop watching. It inspires so many questions just based on the title alone. Why didn't she fix her teeth? Why is she "dancing" like that on the street? Why is she bothering those people? Why are all these random folks singing "la-di-da di-da?" Why did they make a "fun" video for a song with sad lyrics? Why? We may never know. Ignoring the video, the song itself is nothing that exciting. It takes a few listens before the song sticks in your head, but it adheres more like a Post-It that says "hey, this is a weird Carly Simon song." I just know if I'm at home and I hear this, I'll probably start doing that little shuffle dance she does on the sidewalk. And folks will just wonder...why? I'll just smile and say "la-di-da di-da."

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  While the song was not a hit in the US, it was a different story in the UK. Listeners there loved the track and sent the song to #10. It's reggae-influenced funk sound continued to be popular and later in the 80s the song experienced a resurgence when it got played at the Ibiza-style UK club "The Hacienda," a place famous for popularizing acid house music. The song proved so popular that it was reissued in an extended version in 1989. It reached #56 on the chart.

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