Heartaches By the Number - Connie Francis

Heartaches By the Number - Connie Francis

2:45

Country Music - Connie Style, 1962

Written by Harlan Howard

Connie Francis died yesterday.  I happened upon a great song of hers, "Pretty Little Baby," and put it on this blog in 2023 (before it, for whatever reason, became a TikTok trend).  This is a very typical country heartbreak song, pledging an undying yet unrequited love ("Yes, I've got heartaches by the number / A love that I can't win / But the day that I stop counting / That's the day my world will end").  Francis' voice conveys a lot of emotional depth into her version.  Maybe the lyric is an appropriate send-off for Francis, one of the great voices in modern music.  

Pretty Little Baby - Connie Francis

Pretty Little Baby - Connie Francis

2:22

Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love, 1962

Written by Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin, probably?

Wikipedia says this song is by Marvin Gaye, but it's clearly not; his song is totally different.  This song's lyrics are decidedly not Gaye's style: "Meet me at the car hop or at the pop shop / Meet me in the moonlight or in the daylight."  It's definitely a puppy love song of its time.  I find it quite charming, the spritely tempo, spritely organ, soft backing vocals, and Francis's cheery, bubbly voice urging carpe diem: "Now is just the time, while both of us are young."