Ray Edward Cochran was born in Albert Lea, Minnesota; however, as his parents were from Oklahoma, he considered himself an Oklahoman, and introduced himself as such in interviews. He took music lessons in school, but eventually quit the band to play drums. Rather than take piano lessons, Cochran began learning guitar, playing the country music he heard on the radio. As time went on, Cochran moved to Los Angeles, California in 1953. Together with Hank Cochran, Eddie formed The Cochran Brothers, though the two shared no relation.
Around the same time, Cochran worked as a session musician, but aspired to be a songwriter and artist in his own right, and recorded a demo with songwriting partner and future manager, Jerry Capeheart. Cochran's first notable foray into the public eye was as one of the many performing artists featured in the musical comedy film The Girl Can't Help It starring Jayne Mansfield, eventually resulting in a recording contract with Liberty. He would follow up on this appearance by appearing in several films of the same genre. He also performed as a support act for such stars as Gene Vincent and Little Richard, who were among Cochran's co-stars in the aforementioned film.
For his recordings, Cochran often used experimental techniques that would later become part and parcel for other recording artists, notably recording numerous overdubs in order to create the rich, distinctive guitar sound for "Summertime Blues" and "C'mon Everybody". "Twenty Flight Rock", the song Cochran performed in The Girl Can't Help It, was the very first song a young Paul McCartney played for John Lennon as his audition for Lennon's group, The Quarrymen, which would later metamorphose into The Beatles.
Cochran was killed in an automobile accident in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England during a tour of Britain with Gene Vincent. Vincent and Cochran's fiancee, who were both in the car, survived the crash. Scholars have noted that, somewhat eerily, Cochran's last single release in his lifetime was "Three Steps to Heaven", although the song's lyrical context has nothing to do with death. Cochran's death occurred little over a year after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, to whom he paid tribute in his recording of the song "Three Stars", which remained unreleased until 1966.
A majority of Cochran's recorded legacy would be released posthumously; in his lifetime, only one album, Singin' to My Baby (1957), was ever released. Perhaps owing to the brevity of his career, Cochran never attained the same star status as other rockers of the era; however, his lyrical themes of teenage desires and rebellion, being somewhat more morose and raucous than his contemporaries, had a profound influence on many of the greatest artists of the '60s and '70s, such as The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones.
Hide And Go Seek
Eddie Cochran Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Seen an alligator go jumpin' in the river
Singin' a song about five, ten, fifteen, twenty
Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, fourty, fourty-five
Fifty, fifty-five, sixty, sixty-five, seventy, seventy-five
Eighty, eighty-five, ninety, ninety-five, a hundred
I ain't gonna count but one more time
And that's gonna be when the sun goes down
Twenty—four hours knock in' on the door
I ran upstairs to get my gun
And when I got back the robbers had run
Didn't go east, didn't go west
They must have run back to the robbers' nest
Oh, I'm gonna catch you this time honey
I ain't gonna count but one more time
I'm gonna get you sweetie pie
I'm gonna catch you, yes I'll do
Please don't let me search for you
I say last night and the night before
Twenty-four hours knockin' on the door
I ran upstairs to get my gun
And when I got back the robbers had run
Didn't go east, didn't go west
They must have run back to the robbers' nest
The song "Hide and Go Seek" by Eddie Cochran is a playful tune about a romantic game of hide and seek. The lyrics suggest that the singer and his lover are playing the game and having fun, as he counts to one hundred before trying to find her. He compares the game to an alligator jumping in the river, sets a rhythm for counting by singing the numbers from five to one hundred, and ends the game when the sun goes down. The singer is determined to catch his lover this time, and pleads with her not to make him search for her, suggesting that they have played this game before.
The second part of the song describes a different scenario, where the singer is looking for robbers who have run away. He returns home to get his gun, but when he comes back the robbers have already fled. They didn't go east or west, so he concludes that they must have gone back to their hideout. This section seems to have little to do with the rest of the song, except to provide a contrast between danger and playfulness. It also gives the impression that the singer is brave and resourceful, which could be appealing to his lover.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh baby let's play some hide and go seek
Let's play the game where one person hides and the other person tries to find them
Seen an alligator go jumpin' in the river
I saw an alligator jumping into the river
Singin' a song about five, ten, fifteen, twenty
The alligator was singing a song about counting by fives up to twenty
Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, fourty, fourty-five
Continuing to count by fives up to forty-five
Fifty, fifty-five, sixty, sixty-five, seventy, seventy-five
Continuing to count by fives up to seventy-five
Eighty, eighty-five, ninety, ninety-five, a hundred
Counting by fives up to one hundred
I ain't gonna count but one more time
I'm only going to count one more time
And that's gonna be when the sun goes down
I'll stop counting when the sun sets
I say last night and the night before
I mean the night that just passed and the one before
Twenty—four hours knock in' on the door
I've waited for the last twenty-four hours
I ran upstairs to get my gun
I went upstairs to get my gun
And when I got back the robbers had run
The thieves were gone when I returned
Didn't go east, didn't go west
They didn't go east or west
They must have run back to the robbers' nest
They most likely went back to their base
I'm gonna get you sweetie pie
I'm going to find you, my dear
I'm gonna catch you, yes I'll do
I'm going to catch you, I'm determined
Please don't let me search for you
Please don't make me look too hard for you
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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