Not A Poor Boy...The Man With Money
Thursday, March 10, 2022
A few days ago, I purchased The Who’s BBC Sessions and discovered a remarkable song called Man With Money. Out of the blue, or the gloom of my inner thoughts, this song struck my brain and heart as if a sonic presence mugged me. It brought memories back when I couldn’t afford to take a particular girl out and the awful feeling when she went out with one, who was not only older but had an occupation that brought him finances. So, the disappointment has never left me, and I somehow swallowed that sadness, but it always stuck in my throat. Hearing Man With Money caused me to upchuck my feelings, and I had to pick up the needle to play the song over and over again.
As I listened to the song, it struck me that it was very un-Pete Townshend like or even John Entwistle. Rarely did they have a song that expressed regret or desire in such a primary everyday occurrence. There is nothing special in the main character’s desires except to have money to please the woman he is in love with. But she won’t go out with him because he’s a boy without cash. In other words, a poor boy. So he thinks of robbing a store to gain some money to buy her presents and take her out.
I became curious to hear if there was a studio recording by The Who, and there is one, although it was never released until the reissue of The Who’s A Quick One on CD and presented as a bonus cut on the disc. A song so powerful, yet never released as an official single or even as an album track, is a total mystery to me. Doing a bit of research, I found out that Don and Phil Everly wrote the song, and they recorded the music on the album Beat & Soul in 1965, around the same time the Who did their recording of Man With Money. I played both versions back-to-back, and the arrangements are different but subtly. For one, Keith Moon’s drumming on this record is pretty spot-on magnificent. It is almost as if the drums are the main instrument, and their version practically moves in a state of urgent motion. The Everly Brothers version is very energetic but precise, and one really feels the bridge where they sing Just down the street, I know a place/When they're asleep, I'll cover my face/I'll break the lock, open the door/I'll slip inside, I'll rob the store. The music slows down, and Phil or Don sings this, and then the other voice comes on, and it is orgasmic. Both The Who and The Everlys, when they sing Not a Poor Boy, it is heartbreakingly sad.
The power of a song opens a film narration or stage play in front of you. I ask myself, why do I feel so strongly for this specific song? My sense of disappointment in people comes bubbling up from my subconscious when I hear Man With Money. It reminds me of when I was a poor boy, and I didn’t want to be a poor boy, but alas, the heart knows when the brain is cloudy.
Down below are the links to YouTube. The first will be The Everly Brothers, then The Who’s version of Man With Money, and then The Eyes, A Wild Uncertainty, Fabulous Poodles, and the Barracudas.
Man With Money by The Everly Brothers
Man With Money by A Wild Uncertainty
Man With Money by Fabulous Poodles
Man With Money by The Barracudas
The lyrics:
She wants a man with lots of money, & I'm a poor boy
He buys her things, she calls him honey, she calls me poor boy
What good does it do to give her love good & true?
When any fool would understand
She thinks money makes a man
She wants a man with lots of money, & I'm a poor boy
She wants the things you buy with money & not a poor boy
Man with money
Man with money
Man with money
Just down the street, I know a place
When they're asleep, I'll cover my face
I'll break the lock, open the door
I'll slip inside, I'll rob the store
Then I'll be a man with lots of money & not a poor boy
I'll buy her things, she'll call me honey & not a poor boy
Man with money
Man with money
Man with money
Man with money
Man with money
Songwriters: D. Everly / P. Everly
Man With Money lyrics © Everly And Sons Music