Peak
6
Weeks
11
Score
2,016
Chart Year
1967
In the lyrics to this song, there are several references to the various events that took place during the time of this song's release, including miniskirts, the Vietnam War, and electric baseball scores. Making the beat go on in this song was Carol Kaye, who played bass at the session. One of the top Los Angeles studio musicians, Carol played on hundreds of records, including tracks for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. She had recently switched from guitar to bass - Sonny Bono would often use her for electric 12-string fills. This song had a very sparse bass part written, which Carol elaborated into the key part of the instrumentation. She told Songfacts it was one of her biggest creative contributions to a hit record. "It was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that," said Carol. She added that it was only one chord, but its impact made her realize how important a bass line could be and inspired her to play more of the instrument. This song was sung at Sonny Bono's funeral and the song's title was carved on his tombstone. This song has a certain similarity to most of the hits of the R&B duo Shirley & Lee: Sonny and Cher never sing in unison in the entire song. Britney Spears covered this song for her debut album ...Baby One More Time. Other artists who have covered this song include Buddy Rich, Patricia Barber, and Mina. >> This song was used as background music for parts of the 1987 documentary Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. >>
The beat goes on, the beat goes on Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain La de da de de, la de da de da Charleston was once the rage, uh huh History has turned the page, uh huh The mini skirts, the current thing, uh huh Teenybopper is our newborn king, uh huh And the beat goes on, the beat goes on Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain La de da de de, la de da de da The grocery store's the super mart, uh huh Little girls still break their hearts, uh huh And men still keep on marching off to war Electrically they keep a baseball score And the beat goes on, the beat goes on Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain La de da de de, la de da de da Grandmas sit in chairs and reminisce Boys keep chasing girls to get a kiss The cars keep going faster all the time Bums still cry, "Hey buddy, have you got a dime?" And the beat goes on, the beat goes on Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain La de da de de, la de da de da And the beat goes on, yes, the beat goes on And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on The beat goes on, and the beat goes on
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 14, 1967 | 72 | 54 |
| 2 | Jan 21, 1967 | 58 | 68 |
| 3 | Jan 28, 1967 | 34 | 92 |
| 4 | Feb 4, 1967 | 16 | 110 |
| 5 | Feb 11, 1967 | 10 | 116 |
| 6 | Feb 18, 1967 | 9 | 117 |
| 7 | Feb 25, 1967 | 6 | 120 |
| 8 | Mar 4, 1967 | 6 | 120 |
| 9 | Mar 11, 1967 | 18 | 108 |
| 10 | Mar 18, 1967 | 34 | 92 |
| 11 | Mar 25, 1967 | 42 | 84 |