Johnny Tillotson (born 20 April 1938 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA) is an A… Read Full Bio ↴Johnny Tillotson (born 20 April 1938 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA) is an American singer and songwriter. He enjoyed his greatest success in the early 1960s, when he scored 9 top-ten hits on the pop, country and adult contemporary billboard charts including "Poetry In Motion" and the self-penned "It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'".

In 1957 while still in high school, Tillotson was making records and performing on stage; as a student at the University of Florida, he had his own musical variety show on regional television. Following graduation in 1959 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Communications, he signed with Cadence Records and moved to New York City to pursue his music career. In 1960, he recorded his first hit, a composition entitled "Poetry in Motion" (written by Anthony/Kaufman), that went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and #1 on the UK Singles Chart.

A "crossover" artist, several of Tillotson's songs were successful on both the country music charts and pop charts. He earned a Grammy Award nomination for another of his own compositions, "It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin," and also for the song "Heartaches by the Number," nominated for Best Vocal Performance of 1965. He also appeared in the 1963 film "Just for Fun" and sang the theme song for the 1965 Sally Field television comedy "Gidget".

In a career spanning more than 40 years, Tillotson has recorded 26 singles that made it onto Billboard's charts, and performed at venues across the United States and other places around the globe.

He was featured in the 1966 camp comedy The Fat Spy starring Jayne Mansfield, Jack E. Leonard, Phyllis Diller, Brian Donlevy and Jordan Christopher & the Wild Ones. This film was featured in the 2004 documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (#46).

Venus
Johnny Tillotson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hey Venus oh Venus
Venus if you will
Please send a little girl for me to thrill
A girl who wants my kisses and my arms
A girl with all the charms of you
Venus make her fair
A lovely girl with sunlight in her hair
And take the brightest stars up in the sky

And place them in her eyes for me
Venus, goddess of love that you are
Surely the things I ask
Can't be too great a task
Venus, if you do
I promise that I always will be true
I'll give her all the love I have to give
As long as we both shall live.
Venus, goddess of love that you are
Surely the things I ask
Can't be too great a task
Venus, if you do
I promise that I always will be true
I'll give her all the love I have to give
As long as we both shall live.

Hey Venus oh Venus
Make my wish come true

Overall Meaning

In Johnny Tillotson's classic love song, "Venus," the lyrics depict the persona as filled with longing and desire for a girl whom he will charm with his kisses and hold in his arms. He implores the goddess of love, Venus, to help him find a suitable love interest, someone who possesses all the charms of Venus herself. The persona imagines a beautiful girl with sunlight in her hair, and eyes like bright stars of the night sky, begging Venus to create this girl for him. He promises to be true to the girl that Venus sends to him and to give her all the love he has for as long as they shall live. By using the metaphor of the goddess Venus, the persona expresses the greatness of his yearning for his dream girl, and the ways in which he'd like her to embody the quintessence of beauty and charm.

Line by Line Meaning

Hey Venus oh Venus
Johnny is calling out to the goddess of love, Venus

Venus if you will
Johnny is politely asking Venus if she could help him out

Please send a little girl for me to thrill
Johnny is asking for Venus to send him a girl who will be exciting and fun to be around

A girl who wants my kisses and my arms
Johnny wants to find a girl who desires his affections and wants to be close to him

A girl with all the charms of you
Johnny wants this girl to have all the attractive qualities that Venus has

Venus make her fair
Johnny is asking Venus to make this girl beautiful

A lovely girl with sunlight in her hair
Johnny wants this girl to have radiant hair, just like the sun

And take the brightest stars up in the sky
Johnny wants Venus to pick out the most brilliant stars in the sky

And place them in her eyes for me
Johnny wants this girl to have starry eyes that capture his attention

Venus, goddess of love that you are
Johnny is reminding Venus of her divine status as the goddess of love

Surely the things I ask
Johnny is confident that the things he is asking for are within Venus's power

Can't be too great a task
Johnny doesn't think his requests are too difficult

Venus, if you do
Johnny is hopeful that Venus will grant his request

I promise that I always will be true
Johnny vows to be loyal to this girl

I'll give her all the love I have to give
Johnny wants to show this girl all of his affection and care

As long as we both shall live.
Johnny plans to love her for the rest of both of their lives

Hey Venus oh Venus
The chorus reiterates Johnny calling out to Venus

Make my wish come true
Johnny is asking Venus to fulfill his desire for this girl

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Edward Marshall

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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