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There Ain't Nothing Like a Song

Rating:
3.2 / 5

Words & Music: Joy Byers Bob Johnston

When you say that's it boy
I'm finally beat
You're goin' ninety miles an hour
Down a dead end street

You don't want to fight no more
You think that you can't win
Come on boy take a real deep breath
Jump right in and

Hold your head up high
Oh you gotta be strong
Come on and sing, sing, sing
There ain't nothing like a song

Now they may take away your job
Take your fancy car
They may repossess your clothes, take that fine guitar
They may take everything you own
Well that's just for today
As long as you've got a song in your heart
Tomorrow's gonna be O.K.

Hold your head up high
Oh you gotta be strong
Come on and sing, sing, sing
There ain't nothing like a song
All right

There ain't nothing gonna stop you
Once you've set your mind
The only people gonna knock you
Are jealous of what they find
Just keep a smile right on your face
Don't let 'em get you down
When you wake up tomorrow
The world is spinnin' round

Hold your head up high, hey, hey, hey
You gotta be strong, all right
Come on and sing, sing, sing
There ain't nothing like a song

Well lovin's all that I can give you
(Baby that's enough)
You ain't easy to satisfy
(Baby I ain't that tough)
Now hey little girl you're about the wildest
Thing I've ever seen
(When I'm with you baby I'm a lovin' machine)
Come on and kiss me honey
Oh you gotta be strong
Come on and sing, sing
There ain't nothing like a song
Come on and sing, (sing) sing
(sing) sing, (sing) sing
There ain't nothing like a song

Recordingdate: 1967/06/20, first released on: Speedway (album)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of There Ain't Nothing Like a Song:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(steel guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(sax)
(trumpet)

Availability

Find available albums with There Ain't Nothing Like a Song.

dgirl wrote on June 22, 2009
Awful, one of the worst produced sounding songs from any film. Was Nancy singing in another room? For a pivtoal year like 1968, an embarassment.
JLpResLey wrote on August 02, 2009
I think that the music from Speedway is quite good. I have always liked the title song, Let yourself go is above average, Your time hasn´t come yet baby is nice too. I like this one as well, a good way to close the movie, for sure. Of course, it´s not hit material, and Elvis could never compete with Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan with tunes like this.
Steve V wrote on August 02, 2009
Dont care for it. The formula had worn way too thin by now as evidenced with his worst chart showing for an LP ever up to that time. Although the songs were better than Clambake, it was time for a change.
derekd wrote on August 02, 2009
Elvis singing to the mass audences', but really, no one was listing to this rubbish. Roll on the comeback special Guitar Mam, Bid Boss Man, If I can Dream, etc then the masses would listen again.
bajo wrote on August 02, 2009
This is a song I haven't listen to for ages! And that pattern will continue. It's in the leauge with Old McDonald!
Sparky wrote on August 02, 2009
I quite like the soundtrack, and this song is better than other stuff he was doing, but the dubbing on this track is strange, to say the least. With hindsight we can all be thankful that Steve Binder was waiting round the corner. Interesting point: I did read that Oasis, of all people, play this song to the audience before they go on stage....
Deano1 wrote on February 21, 2010
Poor production values hurt this decent tune from the movie and soundtrack "Speedway". The song itself is decent enough and Elvis seems to make the most of it. Nancy Sinatra does sound odd on the end of the song and I doubt she was at the recording session and probably added her voice at a later time. She did not have a good voice and that is refected in her solo "Your Groovy Self" as well. Despite the production values and Nancy Sinatra, "There Ain't Nothin' Like A Song" is a pleasant enough song. As far as competing against Bob Dylan in 1968, it would have been hard not to do better than him on the Hot 100. He did not chart in 1968. His one album was a hit that year, "John Wesley Harding", it peaked at #2.
TBG wrote on December 13, 2010
I dont' understand why people don't like this song, it's really good!! Far above average for a movie song. The poor production hurt this song - just like most songs on f.ex Frankie and Johnny and Double Trouble. Sound is bad, and Nancy sounds like she's singing thru a telephone or a tube.. Elvis however sings the hell out of the song and is really into it. Too bad RCA/Colonel Parker insisted on using sound stages instead of a professional studio. It ruined a lot for Elvis and the soundtracks. Several of the songs are good, but poor production and sound below par ruins the songs. However, apart from the sound, this song of the day is very very good :-)
old shep wrote on December 13, 2010
Dire song and production, written by the guy who produced the early Dylan albums and his wife Joy Byers. No joy here
Monster wrote on March 31, 2011
I think the movie studios pushed Elvis into recording on the sound stages rather than in the studio because it saved them a lot of money. And by the late sixties Elvis just didn't care enough about what he was recording (for the movies I mean) that he didn't put up a fight. But it shows just how little value anybody put on Elvis' studio recordings by this point. They didn't care about the sound or what was being sung as long as it hit the very low minimum requirements they were happy. But the sound suffers on this one which is a shame because Elvis does give a very good perfromance on an OK soundtrack effort. Nancy doesn't sound great though, I could have lived without her input. It grates almost as much as the duet vocal on Who Needs Money - and that was one of the Jordanaires! EEK!
GEORGE (GK) wrote on January 16, 2012
A song full of energy and performed well. And as pointed out, should have been recorded in a studio with better sound.
Gorse wrote on February 24, 2013
There are a few songs on this album that I really enjoy, but this is not one of them. Plenty of energy yes but not a lot of charm and Nancy's voice did not add much to the proceedings.
ElvisSacramento wrote on February 25, 2013
This is such a spectacular, inspiring, fun, catchy and underrated song and I've never skipped it. It's such a feel good song too. I rate this song 5 Stars.
sugartummy wrote on May 22, 2013
I really dig this one, although the song was a reject from Spinout. Elvis sings it with gusto. A winner in my book.
ElvisSacramento wrote on February 12, 2016
I've always really loved the song "There Ain't Nothing Like A Song" and this was Elvis' only duet with Nancy Sinatra. The other fifteen songs that Elvis recorded that were written or co-written by Joe Byers were "Baby, If You'll Give Me All Of Your Love", "C'mon Everybody", "Goin' Home", "Hard Knocks", "Hey, Hey, Hey", "Hey Little Girl", "It Hurts Me", "I've Got To Find My Baby", "Let Yourself Go", "Please Don't Stop Loving Me", "She's A Machine", "So Close, Yet So Far (From Paradise)", "Stop, Look And Listen", "The Meanest Girl In Town" and "There's A Brand New Day On The Horizon". I'm so very glad that Nancy Sinatra was cast as Elvis' leading lady in "Speedway" and I'm also so very glad that Bill Bixby, Carl Ballantine, Gale Gordon, Richard Petty and William Schallert were all in "Speedway" too.
DerekH wrote on July 11, 2022
Listened to it once,,,, enough said.
Milky White Way wrote on July 12, 2022
I skip it purely because I can’t stand Nancy’s voice. It’s probably a good song otherwise. I really like the soundtrack, especially the new FTD masters.
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