Dawn (Go Away)

Album

Dawn (Go Away) And 11 Other Great Songs

Label

Philips Records

Genre

-Pop

Media Type

45s

Composer(s)

Bob Gaudio;Sandy Linzer

Entered Chart

Feb 1, 1964

Peak Date

Feb 22, 1964

Released

January 1964

Recorded

November 1963

Catalog #

Philips 40166

B-Side

No Surfin' Today

This was written by Bob Gaudio and Sandy Linzer. Gaudio was a member of the group and also one of their primary songwriters, often teaming up with the producer Bob Crewe. Linzer is a lyricist known for writing hits with Denny Randell, including the Four Seasons classic "Working My Way Back to You." "Dawn" is a very self-deprecating song, with lead singer Frankie Valli constantly telling the girl that he's not good enough for her: "Think what the future would be with a poor boy like me." This marked a change in attitude for the group, going from the swagger of "Walk Like A Man" to the pity of songs like this and "Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye)." Said Valli: "We sang songs about men and their situations with women, and about how things don't always go the way you want them to." Was there really a Dawn? When we posed this question to Bob Gaudio, he explained that there is a new dawn each day, but the song was not about a specific girl. The group's first record on the Philips label, this song would have been a runaway US #1 if it wasn't for those pesky Beatles. "Dawn" entered the Top 40 on February 8, 1964 and climbed to #3 the week of February 22, behind "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You." It stayed at #3 for three weeks until March 14, when it was bumped to #4 by "Please Please Me." By March 28, it was at #5 as "Twist and Shout" entered the Top 5. On April 4, "Dawn" was out of the Top 10 and The Beatles held all five top positions. In February 1964, 60% of the singles sold in the US were by the Beatles. The second-biggest seller was The Four Seasons. Excluding the singles released under the guise of The Wonder Who? (see "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" for more details), this is the only Four Seasons record - single or LP - on Philips Records that did not have "featuring the Sound of Frankie Valli" on its label. The Four Seasons got a lot of help from some of the top New York session musicians who played on their songs. "Dawn" was part of the first session for Ralph Casale, a guitarist from Newark, New Jersey who became part of this elite group of studio pros. Charlie Calello was the arranger for this session, and he gave Ralph the call. Casale told us, "That date made me realize how different the current recording scene was compared to playing live. I had no idea what the other three guitarists were playing. This recording process was foreign to me. I was used to playing one guitar for years and these guitarists had many different guitars. The different guitars made it possible to create the sounds needed for the type of music they were playing. I noticed the engineer struggling trying to equalize the sound coming out of my guitar. Good thing everyone else knew what they were doing because I certainly didn't. I realized then that I had a lot to learn about the recording process." (See our full interview with Ralph Casale.)

Pretty as a midsummer's morn
They call her Dawn

[Chorus:]
Dawn,
Go away I'm no good for you
Oh Dawn
Stay with him, he'll be good to you
Hang on
Hang on to you

Think
What a big man he'll be
Think
Of the places you'll see
Now think what the future would be with a poor boy like me
Dawn go away
Please go away
Although I know
I want you to stay
Dawn go away
Please go away
Baby, don't cry
It's better this way
Ahh, ahh, ah
Ohh-ohh-oh

[Chorus:]

Dawn
Go away back where you belong
Girl we can't
Change the places where we were born
Before you say
That you want me
I want you to think
What your family would say
Think
What your throwing away
Now think what the future would be with a poor boy like me
Meee-ee

[Chorus:]

Dawn
Go away I'm no good for you
Dawn
Go away I'm no good for you