Peak
2
Weeks
27
Score
5,548
Chart Year
1966
Scores & Rankings
Chart Performance
Peak Position2
Peak DateJun 11, 1966
Weeks at Peak2
Weeks Charted27
Weeks in Top 4023
Weeks in Top 1011
Weeks at #22
Weeks at #10
Scoring
Summary Calc2,667
Weekly Calc2,881
Total Score5,548
Rankings
Year Ranking#10
Decade Ranking#17
Billboard Year#10
Top 5000#866
Details
- Label
- Kama Sutra Records
- Genre
- Folk rock
- Media Type
- 45s
- Duration
- 2:00
- Composer(s)
- John B. Sebastian
- Entered Chart
- May 7, 1966
- Peak Date
- Jun 11, 1966
- Released
- April 1966
- Recorded
- September 1965
- Catalog #
- Kama Sutra 209
- B-Side
- Didn't Want To Have To Do It
Music Video
Notes
In this song, John Sebastian asks if you've ever had to decide between two beautiful girls, in this case, one with beautiful blue eyes and lots of money, and the other kind of mousy but very appealing. In the last verse, we learn that they are sisters. The song was inspired by a pair of sisters he met at a summer camp where he was a counselor. The song's question was fantasy - neither sister was interested in Sebastian, even though he taught himself the autoharp (an unusual string instrument) in an attempt to impress them. Running just a shade under two minutes, this song appears on the first Lovin' Spoonful album, Do You Believe In Magic. Sebastian wrote it long before the band formed. It was the band's fourth single, and like all of their first seven issued in the United States, it went Top 10. The song stayed at #2 for two weeks in the summer of 1966, held off by the grim Rolling Stones song "Paint It Black.
Did you ever have to make up your mind Pick up on one and leave the other behind It's not often easy and not often kind Did you ever have to make up your mind Did you ever have to finally decide Say yes to one and let the other one ride There's so many changes and tears you must hide Did you ever have to finally decide Sometimes there's one with big blue eyes, cute as a bunny With hair down to here, and plenty of money And just when you think she's that one in the world You heart gets stolen by some mousey little girl And then you know you'd better make up your mind... Sometimes you really dig a girl the moment you kiss her And then you get distracted by her older sister When in walks her father and takes you a line And says, "You better go home, son, and make up your mind" And then you bet you'd better finally decide...
Chart History (27 weeks)
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 7, 1966 | 65 | 61 |
| 2 | May 14, 1966 | 25 | 101 |
| 3 | May 21, 1966 | 16 | 110 |
| 4 | May 28, 1966 | 7 | 119 |
| 5 | Jun 4, 1966 | 4 | 122 |
| 6 | Jun 11, 1966 | 2 | 124 |
| 7 | Jun 18, 1966 | 2 | 124 |
| 8 | Jun 25, 1966 | 4 | 122 |
| 9 | Jul 2, 1966 | 9 | 117 |
| 10 | Jul 9, 1966 | 27 | 99 |
| 11 | Jul 16, 1966 | 41 | 85 |
| 12 | Jul 23, 1966 | 6 | 120 |
| 13 | Jul 30, 1966 | 6 | 120 |
| 14 | Aug 6, 1966 | 7 | 119 |
| 15 | Aug 13, 1966 | 7 | 119 |
| 16 | Aug 20, 1966 | 9 | 117 |
| 17 | Aug 27, 1966 | 11 | 115 |
| 18 | Sep 3, 1966 | 12 | 114 |
| 19 | Sep 10, 1966 | 13 | 113 |
| 20 | Sep 17, 1966 | 17 | 109 |
Weeks 1–20 of 27
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