Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by

Talk about a politically incorrect song! I cannot believe it! In 1956 they got away with murder. No kidding…

Can you imagine this scene unfolding before you? Three of my friends and I went downtown Peterborough… then stood on the corner of a busy intersection and stared at the women walking by… or “watching all the girls go by…” as the lyrics go.

The song is very honest in that it states that…. “you can’t got to jail for what you’re thinking…” so we thought we would give it a try…

Now there we were… four of us Old Guys, Murray Lincoln, Terry Manley, Jack Anderson and Winston Van Lier(on his motorized scooter) standing on the corner of George Street and Hunter… “giving all the girls the eye…” CAN YOU IMAGINE what happened next?

It wasn’t long before someone called the police. The Peterborough Lakefield City Police cars showed up… and two officers got out… one was a woman and the other a man…

As the cops watched from the side of their cars to get a reading on what was taking place… the three old geezers would stoop over slightly as they looked by each other and the fourth, Winston, leaned from his scooter to see past the three… just to get a glimpse of the gal that was just walking by… then they looked at each other and give the “thumbs up” sign indicating… that was a good one! Other times they looked at each other and did a “thumbs down”.

Earlier… after about the sixth girl walked by… Murray and Jack had fetched Terry an office chair to sit on. They got one that had an ability to turn for him… his neck was acting up again – too much pain – so now he could keep his neck in one place and turn his whole body.

By this time the cops had adjusted their hats, shifted their gun belts and walked up to the four of us that had been leering at the girls that had walked by over the last hour.

The crowd of anxious shoppers on George Street had gathered to see what was happening…. They actually had been there for about twenty minutes watching the Old Geezers as they turned their heads slowly as a girl passed them.

The dude from the Peterborough Examiner Newspaper was there shooting pictures for the Newspaper. There had to be a story here – too many people… cops showing up… the DBIA was involved… there just has to be a story here!

YES! The call had actually come from the powerful “Downtown Business Improvement Association” – The DBIA – whoa… what they say goes in our city – and they did not think that four Old Geezers, standing on the corner, giving all the girls the eye… or what they seemed to be thinking – was good for business.

FLASH BACK…
In 1956 when this song appeared in a musical it was Post World War II. The soldiers had come back to find jobs and themselves. In some communities all the girls had been “taken” before the soldiers came home. And in some communities dating a soldier with roving eyes was not allowed. A good church gal wouldn’t be allowed to date one of those guys… they were far too worldly… far too… well you know how soldiers were when they hadn’t seen a girl for years and had been busy fighting in a far away land…

It was not politically incorrect to stand and watch girls walk by in 1956. Girls were watching too – and liked to be watched!

In fact if you watch the depiction in the YouTube Videos listed below… it is very funny… how the musicals… and the first Black and White TV Shows demonstrated how it took place.

Now add to that… in 1956 – 1966 and so on – women dressed different than they do today… they looked different. For one thing their upper undergarments were very different. With tight fitting shirts and blouses… they kind of over accentuated their busts… that resembled the coned head lights on some cars of the day.

I was 12 years old in 1956 and I noticed everything! In 1966 I was 22 and I still was really noticing what was being presented as a norm – even in church. I had come into my virility and knew it.

The song made sense. And when a group of us guys walked down the street, the bolder ones of the group would whistle at a pretty girl… and the rest of us would laugh out loud. What a hoot! The “Standing on the corner..” song was still on the radios that we listened to.

FLASH FORWARD to 2009…
Yep the boys of 1956 and 1966 are now senior citizens, Old Geezers to put it bluntly.

We have aches and pains of all kinds. We are not able to move without some careful planning and some consideration as to what we do and why we do it. Sometimes we forget what we planned to do in the first place.

The very idea of getting downtown together takes days of planning so as to not conflict with our family doctor’s appointments, blood tests, collected samples being taken to labs – etc. And when we get downtown – two of our foursome have to have wheel chair parking spaces available – and on George Street that just doesn’t happen.

To have four of us together at the corner of George Street and Hunter Street is a cotton pickin miracle – I don’t care what the DBIA says or thinks.

But leering… no way… drooling over what we see in 2009… NOT happening here…!!!

The girls are way too funny the way they dress now. Many on George Street are tattooed with the weirdest tattoo ever. One gal last week looked like she had a snake curling up her leg from the ankle to her knee.

In 1956 and 1966 – and all during the WW2 – it was the men that were tattooed – NOT WOMEN!

Many of the “girls” are so over weight that it is ridiculous. Wait till they are our age – their doctors will be checking their cholesterol all the time. You wouldn’t know that they are overweight – except that they wear super tight clothing and skimpy at that. They are a walking billboard for Weight Watchers – and everything bounces like an inner tube on a runner heading for the beach.

And the clothes that they wear is just plain nuts… a low riding blue jean where the hinder most parts show her hinder most parts… and for some reason she keeps pulling down her skimpy top that is not long enough to cover the hinder most part… and when she pulled it down… the top was too low….

As I explained to the two cops… “If they don’t want us to look… why do they wear such weird clothes?”

We moved on and the DBIA was satisfied. Winston’s electric scooter needed charging. Terry’s neck was killing him. Jack and his wife Vivian had to get to a granddaughter’s party. Alida was done shopping and stopped the car just behind the Police cars waiting for me.

We all agreed to meet at Tim Horton’s Coffee Shop later and get our favourite seats near the window.

Last week I was at Royal Gardens senior’s home. The girls of 1956 and 1966 and 1946 and 1936 were all there.

One thing I can testify of is… they have all changed – whoa!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
www.murraylincoln.com

Source:
http://peterboroughbia.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVdDK5psRwo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OJPBFz6QzE&feature=related

Words:
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/s/standingonthecorner.shtml
Standing On The Corner
Well, I'm standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by
I'm always standin' on the corner, underneath the springtime sky
Well, you can't go to jail for what you're thinkin'
Or for the "wooo" look in your eye
You been standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by

And it's Saturday and I'm so broke
And I couldn't buy a girl a nickel Coke
I'm goin', so what, I'm feelin' just like a millionaire
Now just take me down to Main Street
And I'll survey the harem waitin' for me there
I'm gonna be standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by

Oh baby, what you do now?
Standin' on the corner, givin' all the girls the eye
Well this ain't much of an occupation
Give it a whirl, give it a try
And you'll be standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by

You know that I'm the cat that's got the cream
And I ain't got me a girl, but I can dream
I ain't got me a girl, but I can wish
Now just take me down to Main Street
And I'll select my own imaginary dish
I'm standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls go by

I'm gonna be standin' on the corner, underneath the springtime sky
You know you can't get arrested for what you're thinkin'
Or for the "wooo" look in your eye

You been standin' on the corner, watchin' all the girls
Watchin' all the girls, watchin' all the girls, they go by
I'm gonna watch 'em go by
Oh, hubba hubba(1), man
Go by, yeah
I'm gonna watch 'em go by

Written by: Frank Loesser
Published by: [?] © 1956
Official release: Originally performed by Shorty Long, Alan Gilbert, John Henson, and Roy Lazarus,
in the musical 'The Most Happy Fella' in 1956 (2)
Recorded by the King Brothers in 1960 and by the Four Lads, also in 1960
Tom Waits version: Agora Ballroom, Cleveland/ Ohio. August 25, 1976


Second Versionhttp://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/s/standingonthecorner.shtml STANDING ON THE CORNER
From the show "The Most Happy Fella" (1956)(Frank Loesser)
The Four Lads - 1956
Dean Martin - 1956
The King Brothers - 1960

Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Brother you don't know a nicer occupation
Matter of fact, neither do I
Than standing on a corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by

I'm the cat that got the cream
Haven't got a girl but I can dream
Haven't got a girl but I can wish
So I'll take me down to Main street
And that's where I select my imaginary dish

Standing on a corner watching all the girls go by
Standing on a corner giving all the girls the eye
Brother if you've got a rich imagination
Give it a whirl, give it a try
Try standing on a corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by

Brother you can't go to jail for what you're thinking
Or for that woo look in your eye
Standing on the corner watching all the girls
Watching all the girls, watching all the girls go by