the Caravelles  

"Don’t Sing Love Songs" (mp3)—here sung by the Caravelles—is a traditional American song called "Silver Dagger" dating back to at least 1907. The reverb-heavy production on the Caravelles’ version is creepy enough without the lines "you’ll wake my mother / She’s sleeping here, right by my side / And in her right hand, a silver dagger". This was to be on my Halloween mixCD that I never got around to making…

The Caravelles also sing one of my favorite pop songs of all time: The Other Side of Love (.wma clip at Amazon.com). It appears on Volume 8 of the terrific "Here Comes the Girls" compilation series. I just ordered volumes 8 and 10 from Amazon.co.uk since the girl group comps seem hard to come by in the US. "The Girls’ Scene" has another one I’ve been looking for: Lulu’s "Try to Understand," so I couldn’t pass it up.

Don’t sing love songs, you’ll wake my mother
She’s sleeping here, right by my side
And in her right hand, a silver dagger
She says that I can’t be your bride
All men are false, so says my mother
They’ll tell you wicked, and sinful lies
And the very next day, they’ll court another
Leave you alone to pine inside
Go court another fair, young maiden
And hope that she will be your wife
For I’ve been warned and I desire
To sleep alone all my life
All my life