Eddie Hodges (born 5 March 1947 - Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA) is a forme… Read Full Bio ↴Eddie Hodges (born 5 March 1947 - Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA) is a former child actor and recording artist who left show business as an adult.

Eddie Hodges was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, U.S., on March 5, 1947. Hodges travelled to New York City with his family and on October 4, 1957, was a contestant on the TV game show Name That Tune. The story presented to the press at the time was that he was noticed by Rini Willson, the wife of playwright and composer Meredith Willson who was looking for a boy to cast in a new musical; however, the fact was that he had been auditioning for the part prior to being asked to appear on the game show, and that there was an agreement between the producers of the two productions that the boy chosen to play the role in the musical would be "discovered" on the television show.
Hodges' partner contestant on Name That Tune was Marine Corps test pilot Col. John Glenn, later an astronaut, United States Senator and presidential candidate.

Hodges made his professional acting debut on stage in Willson's 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man. He made his film debut in the 1959 film A Hole in the Head with Frank Sinatra and Edward G. Robinson, in which Hodges and Sinatra performed a song called High Hopes. Hodges did not perform on Sinatra's hit recording of the song.
Hodges made eight feature films and numerous TV guest appearances. He is probably best remembered for the title role in Michael Curtiz's 1960 film The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is considered one of the best of the many attempts to film Mark Twain's classic. Both Hodges and his co-star as Jim, Archie Moore, received generally positive reviews for their performances. He also appeared in the 1963 Disney film Summer Magic.
Guest appearances on network TV productions included Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Cimarron Strip and The Dick Van Dyke Show, among others. He was also a Mystery Guest on What's My Line?

At the age of 14, Hodges recorded for Cadence Records and his biggest hit was "I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door" in 1961. He also scored a minor hit with "(Girls, Girls, Girls) Made to Love," a song written by Phil Everly and originally recorded by The Everly Brothers. He recorded for several other record labels. Before he left Hollywood, he was a union musician, record producer, song writer and music publisher. He collaborated with Tandyn Almer ("Along Comes Mary") with whom he wrote and published several songs and owned his own music publishing business. Hodges continues to write songs today but is no longer involved in the music business. He also appeared in the 1963 Disney film Summer Magic and the 1967 film The Happiest Millionaire.

Hodges was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. After he was discharged, he returned to Hollywood and became disillusioned with show business. He decided to return to his native Mississippi and entered the The University of Southern Mississippi where he received his B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Counseling. He became and is still a mental health counselor. He is divorced and has two grown children and three grandchildren. He occasionally gets in touch with his old show business friends and still writes songs. Hodges rode out Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and informed his fans that he was fine after being missing for 19 days when the utilities were restored.

Bandit of My Dreams
Eddie Hodges Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)
(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)

Every night when I go to sleep
I just wait for you
Don't need to count sheep

Without a horse, without a gun
You rob my heart and away you run
For you're the bandit, the bandit
The bandit of my dreams

(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)

How I wish I could hold you near
But you steal a kiss then you disappear
I open my arms and close my eyes
You catch my poor lips by surprise
For you're the bandit, the bandit
The bandit of my dreams

(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)

One of these nights
I'll capture you and your charms
And sentence you to life imprisonment in my arms

Why don't you just surrender tonight
And give up your love to me without a fight
Why sneak around for goodness sake
Now don't you know I'm yours to take
For you bandit, my bandit
Sweet bandit of my dreams

(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)
(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)

So why don't you just surrender tonight
And give up your love to me without a fight
Why sneak around for goodness sake
Now don't you know I'm yours to take
For you bandit, my bandit
Sweet bandit of my dreams

(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)
(Da da da da dat boom boom
Bandit of my dreams)

(Repeat to fade)

Overall Meaning

In "Bandit of My Dreams," Eddie Hodges sings about a woman who he sees as a thief who has stolen his heart. He sings about wanting to hold her close, but she only appears to him sporadically, stealing kisses before disappearing again. He calls her the "bandit of his dreams," and fantasizes about "capturing her charms" and declaring his love for her. He attempts to persuade her to surrender to him, declaring that he is "hers to take."

The song paints a romantic picture of a man who is intensely infatuated with a woman who he sees as a bandit, always running off with his heart. The chorus featuring the repeating "Da da da da dat boom boom" creates a lighthearted and catchy rhythm that makes the song incredibly memorable.

Line by Line Meaning

Every night when I go to sleep I just wait for you
During the night, I eagerly anticipate your arrival in my dreams.

Don't need to count sheep
I don't have trouble falling asleep because I know I'll be with you in my dreams.

Without a horse, without a gun You rob my heart and away you run
You don't need weapons to capture my affection and then leave suddenly.

How I wish I could hold you near But you steal a kiss then you disappear
Although I long to embrace you, you only briefly appear to give me a kiss.

I open my arms and close my eyes You catch my poor lips by surprise
As I prepare to finally hold you close, you surprise me with a quick kiss.

One of these nights I'll capture you and your charms And sentence you to life imprisonment in my arms
Eventually, hopefully soon, I dream of keeping you in my embrace forever.

Why don't you just surrender tonight And give up your love to me without a fight
Instead of playing hard-to-get, why not just be with me lovingly and willingly?

Why sneak around for goodness sake Now don't you know I'm yours to take
There is no need to sneak around because my heart belongs to you and is available to you.

For you bandit, my bandit Sweet bandit of my dreams
You are the sly thief who captured my heart and made your home in my dreams.

Writer(s): Aaron Schroeder, Ann Orlowski

Contributed by Gabriel M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS