Red Rubber Ball
"Red Rubber Ball" is a pop song that became a hit (going to #2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and hitting #1 in Canadian RPM 100 national singles chart) in the 1966 version recorded by The Cyrkle.
The song is sung from the perspective of a man who has recently exited an unfulfilling relationship in which his significant other never gave him much attention or affection. He now looks forward to the future with a positive attitude.
It was co-written by Paul Simon (of Simon and Garfunkel) and Bruce Woodley (of The Seekers). According to Cyrkle guitarist Tom Dawes, Simon offered it to The Cyrkle when they were opening for Simon and Garfunkel on tour. The song's tracks were recorded in stereo, with the bass, lead guitar, and percussion on the right track, acoustic guitar and electric organ on left, and the vocals on both.
The Seekers also recorded "Red Rubber Ball" for their 1966 album Come the Day (US-title: Georgy Girl). It also appears on 'Disc Three – 1966 – 1967' of the CD box set The Seekers Complete.
At "Music Notes", the sheet music for "Red Rubber Ball", for the album Simon and Garfunkel – Old Friends, also credits the songwriters as Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley
In an interview on The Colbert Report, Paul Simon said he wrote "Red Rubber Ball" while living in England to get a £100 advance from The Seekers. This came in response to Colbert's request for a song that was "on the cusp" and barely made it into his songbook Lyrics 1964–2008.
Read more about Red Rubber Ball: Cover Versions
Famous quotes containing the words red, rubber and/or ball:
“Here thou art painted in the dress
Of an inhuman murderess;
Examining upon our hearts
Thy fertile shop of cruel arts:
Engines more keen than ever yet
Adorned tyrant’s cabinet,
Of which the most tormenting are
Black eyes, red lips, and curled hair.”
—Andrew Marvell (1621–1678)
“The idea that information can be stored in a changing world without an overwhelming depreciation of its value is false. It is scarcely less false than the more plausible claim that after a war we may take our existing weapons, fill their barrels with cylinder oil, and coat their outsides with sprayed rubber film, and let them statically await the next emergency.”
—Norbert Wiener (1894–1964)
“But the ball is lost and the mallet slipped long since from the hands
Under the running tap that are not the hands of a child.”
—Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)