1. 5-4-3-2-1 (1:57) - This fast song features a harmonica. Because of the line, "Uh huh, it was the Manfreds," this is an autobiographical song. But other than that line and the title, the lyrics are hard to make out.
2. Pretty Flamingo (2:31) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, was the group's second #1 hit, reaching that position in 1966. However, I never hear it on the radio. Instruments include a flute. The narrator has fallen in love with a woman whose beauty he likens to a flamingo. He hopes to win her heart and become the envy of every other man.
3. Do Wah Diddy Diddy (Dum Diddy Do) (2:22) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, is my (and probably most other people's) favorite song by the Manfreds. It was their first #1, in 1964, and it's one of only two Manfreds songs I ever hear on the radio. One day the narrator sees a girl walking down the street and singing the title. Next thing he knows, they're walking side by side. They fall in love and plan to marry.
4. Sha La La (2:30) - The tempo is moderately fast. The Shirelles also sang a version of this song.
5. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (2:29) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, features a harmonica. The narrator loves the girl so much that he would like her to stay at his house overnight. But if she wants to leave, that's fine, as long as she goes now.
6. Oh No, Not My Baby (2:20) - That's what the narrator said whenever his friends and mother told him that his girlfriend had found someone new or otherwise was no good for him. The day before the setting, she took his ring gladly, so he's glad he stuck with her. The tempo is moderate. Instruments include a vibraphone and cymbal drums.
7. Come Tomorrow (2:44) - This song has a moderate tempo, with drums that sound similar to the ticking of a clock. On the night of the setting, the narrator is sad because his girlfriend left him some time before. If he could borrow the tune of any bird, he'd sing it to her on the night of the setting and she'd be his again the next day.
8. My Name Is Jack (2:48) - That sounds like a violin playing solo for the first 9 seconds. The tempo is moderately slow. Jack is a kid residing in a rear room of an orphanage named after movie star Greta Garbo.
9. The One In The Middle (2:38) - Here's another autobiographical song--with a moderate tempo, a harmonica, and the opening line "Let me tell you 'bout the Manfreds." The title is another phrase for "lead singer." Most people gathered around the band not for the rhythm but "to see the singer lookin' sweet."
10. I Put A Spell On You (3:34) - This slow, 12/8 song was first sung by Jay Hawkins and also covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The narrator, refusing to tolerate his girlfriend's infidelity, casts a sort of magic over her that will make her true to him. This version is OK, but I like Creedence's best.
11. Just Like A Woman (2:50) - This moderately slow, 12/8 song was a hit for its writer, Bob Dylan. Instruments include a tambourine. The subject does various things as a grown woman does, but "breaks just like a little girl." Most of the time, the narrator sings ABOUT her, but toward the end he sings TO her.
12. Poison Ivy (2:47) - This version has the same tempo as the original by the Coasters. I enjoy listening to both versions.
13. Mighty Quinn (The Eskimo) (2:50) - This moderately slow song features a flute and a tambourine. It's the other Manfreds song that gets radio play nowadays, and in 1968 it was the group's third and final #1 hit. In a little community of shipbuilders, everyone feels sad right now. But their sorrow will turn to joy once the title character arrives. Perhaps that power to make people happy is what makes Quinn the Eskimo mighty.
14. Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James (2:34) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. Now that the girl has left the narrator and become engaged to Mr. James, he wishes her well and hopes that she will stay happy with Mr. James forever.
15. Ha Ha! Said The Clown (2:26) - The tempo is moderately fast. The king in this allegory represents the narrator, who used to govern the girl's heart. The clown symbolizes the other man, who stole the girl's love, and thus the crown, from the narrator.
16. Ragamuffin Man (2:59) - This was the Manfreds' last single. The man to whom the narrator sings was born into wealth. But now that he's left his home and rich lifestyle, people taunt him, saying, "Hey, it's the ragamuffin man!"
17. Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble) (2:24) - This fast song, featuring a harmonica, gives a new twist to the line "Double, double, toil and trouble" from the Shakespeare play Macbeth. As a pretty girl hitches a ride from the narrator, he falls in love with her. After driving her home, he asks for for a date; she accepts, but warns him of dire consequences if he's late. The part that amuses me is where, between 1:30 and 1:40, Paul sings "I never saw a girl so who was so--" and then sinisterly whispers "hubbly bubbly!"
18. There's No Living Without Your Loving (2:38) - The tempo is moderate. The title says it all; the narrator loves the girl so much that without her love he would die.
19. You Gave Me Somebody To Love (3:01) - Like the previous song, this one has a moderate tempo and a narrator whose girlfriend has left him. However, the narrator here doesn't grieve as much; he accepts that the relationship is over, and is glad that the girl EVER gave herself for him to love. A tambourine enters just before the 1-minute mark.
20. Got My Mojo Working (3:09) - Here's another fast song with a harmonica. The word "mojo" isn't in the dictionary, but in this case it probably means the narrator's power to impress women. He even consults a Gypsy fortuneteller, but still his "mojo" won't work on the gal to whom he's singing.
21. With God On Our Side (4:23) - This song has a slow, 12/8 tempo. The narrator, an old and dying American, chronicles all the wars that happened during his lifetime--the wars with the Indians, the two World Wars--and the subsequent reconciliations. As he discusses the ominous possibility of nuclear war, he proclaims that America will use nuclear weapons, if it must, to fight a foe. Yet he closes with a belief that if God is on America's side, He will prevent another war.
22. Fox On The Run (2:42) - This moderately slow song features a tambourine. Just before the final singing of the chorus, the key changes from C to D. Now that the indigent narrator has been dumped by his blonde girlfriend, he searches for a place to hide from misery just as a fox runs from the hunting dogs that pursue it.