Reputed to have the most talented and highly-paid musicians of the day, Spike Jones and his musicians were considerably more than simply novelty performers. Much of their performances even included theatrics and musical athletics. Spike Jones was subtley avant-garde in that he deftly combined elements and master performers of pop, dance, early jazz, blues, country and folk music with genes as distant as opera and classical.
My Old Flame
Spike Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can't even think of her name
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame
I've met so many who had fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eyes
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of
My old flame
I can't even think of her name
But I'll never be the same
Until I discover what became
Of my old flame
My old flame
I can't even think of her name
I'll have to look through my collection of human heads
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame
My old flame
My new lovers all seem so tame
They won't even let me strangle them!
For I haven't met a girl
So magnificent or elegant
As my old flame
I've met so many who had fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eye
I saw this eye! So I remove the other eye,
that eye that kept winking and blinking at other men!
Some who took me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of
My old flame
I can't even think of her name
What was her name?
Doris, Laura, Chloe, Mannie, Moe, Jack?
No, it couldn't have been Moe...
I can't stand it, I tell you! This is driving me sane!
She would always treat me mean
So I poured a can of gasoline
And struck a match to...
My old flame
Spike Jones's song My Old Flame is a melancholic reflection on lost love. The song communicates the singer's nostalgia and longing for his ex-lover. The lyrics reveal the singer's inability to forget his old flame, evidenced by his inability to recall her name. The singer admits that though he has met several fascinating people with alluring gazes in their eyes, none of them compare to his old flame. The singer likens his new lovers' passion to mere imitations of his former flame's love.
The singer's desperation to recall his old flame's name is evident in the lyrics, "I'll have to look through my collection of human heads," which is one of the many comedic elements of the song. The singer's yearning for his old lover makes him resort to outrageous statements such as "For I haven't met a girl so magnificent or elegant as my old flame." Towards the end of the song, the singer's emotions reach a tipping point, when he exclaims, "I can't stand it, I tell you! This is driving me sane!" This line highlights the absurdity of his feelings as he is more agitated about not being able to remember his lover's name than his previous admission of being unable to forget her.
Line by Line Meaning
My old flame
The person I used to have feelings for
I can't even think of her name
I can't remember her name, but I still remember the feelings I had for her
But it's funny now and then
How my thoughts go flashing back again
To my old flame
Sometimes, memories of my old flame come to mind unexpectedly and it amuses me
I've met so many who had fascinating ways
A fascinating gaze in their eyes
Some who took me up to the skies
But their attempts at love
Were only imitations of
My old flame
I have met many people with interesting qualities, but none of them were like my old flame. None of them could live up to her
But I'll never be the same
Until I discover what became
Of my old flame
I will always wonder what happened to my old flame and until I find out, I will never be satisfied
I'll have to look through my collection of human heads
I am so obsessed with my old flame that I keep human heads as a collection to help remember people's names
My new lovers all seem so tame
They won't even let me strangle them!
Compared to my old flame, my new lovers seem boring and unadventurous. They won't even let me do the things I want to do with them
For I haven't met a girl
So magnificent or elegant
As my old flame
Out of everyone I've met, no one has been as amazing or graceful as my old flame
I saw this eye! So I remove the other eye,
that eye that kept winking and blinking at other men!
I am so jealous and possessive that I will even harm someone who reminds me of my old flame or who flirts with others
What was her name?
Doris, Laura, Chloe, Mannie, Moe, Jack?
No, it couldn't have been Moe...
I can't stand it, I tell you! This is driving me sane!
I am so crazy about my old flame that I can't remember her name and the frustration of it is making me insane
She would always treat me mean
So I poured a can of gasoline
And struck a match to...
My old flame
My old flame was cruel to me so I set fire to her with gasoline and a match, causing her to become my literal old flame
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: SAM COSLOW, ARTHUR JOHNSTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bps3013
Part of the awesome genius of Spike's arrangements is how the songs start out legit and suddenly explode into total chaos! Sixty years on and they're as amazing as they were when first released... true classics, and truly timeless!
@allanegleston4931
this is why i like spike .
@MarkSiefert
The Peter Lorre impression always cracks me up. Spike saw the dark side of humor years before it was socially acceptable to allow it.
@thefourhorsemen91
Especially the dark humor on Hawaiian War Chant where he says "and as our boats sink slowly in the west.." Right after Pearl Harbor, that was ballsy!
@SpartanZ3K3
Knocking on 25, you just can't beat the classics that defined this genre. My ma is over fifty, and my dad pushing sixty. Thanks to them I learn to love things like Spike Jones.
@VisionaryCompanion
My parents had what eventually became a miserable marriage, but it warms my heart that, in the early, possibly hopeful period of their married life, they saw Spike Jones at Fort Hays College in my hometown of Hays, Kansas in the early fifties, and, from what I have been told, laughed themselves silly. I always think of my father and his sense of humor when I hear Spike Jones.
@robjones2408
Spike was a massive influence on The Goons, Bonzo Dog Doo Da Band, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band, Stan Freiburg, and many others.
This brilliant take with the menacing Peter Lorre imitation is spot on. I'm sure Alfie Hitchcock paid attention to it. Fantastic stuff.
@lizab.stough9396
This is one of those standards that I can't hear by the "real" artists without hearing the Spike Jones' versions.
@gdg747
My dad loved these songs and subequently introduced them to me. This and Dance of the Hours were among my favorites. The arrangements were so brilliant that most people probably didn't realize the song was"Spiked" until the sirens started.
@fnorgen
I was born in 1994, and I had an old cassette tape of Spike Jones recorded from radio, and I would listen to it all the time, and I mean ALL the time.