The Knack: My Sharona

SONG My Sharona

WRITTEN BY Doug Fieger and Berton Averre

PERFORMED BY The Knack

APPEARS ON Get The Knack (1979)

This is "The Song That Killed Disco", and for that reason alone I love, worship, and adore it (yes, if you haven't guessed yet, I hate disco). The Knack came at just the right time, with music that gave what people wanted. After about 5 years of disco domination of the commercial airwaves, The Knack provided straight-ahead Rock & Roll - no glitz, no stack heels, no over-production, no metronome beat. The music hearkened back to the Beatles, the Stones, The Kinks, and other early British groups of the 1960s. And as the song's principle composer and Knack frontman Doug Fieger died yesterday after a long battle with cancer, I thought this would be the ideal time to feature "My Sharona".

"My Sharona" was on their debut album, Get The Knack, released in 1979. Fieger claims that the song was based on his infatuation with girlfriend Sharona Alperin (that's her on the record sleeve photo). Like most Knack songs, the lyrics are pretty much all about teenage male hormonal lust. The content of the lyrics is the least important thing about them; what's more important is that they form, along with that great bass line, a vital part of the rhythmic drive of the song. Doug Fieger's quirky delivery of the lyrics adds to the stop-start quality of the song, which comes across as an almost tribal ritual performance. No wonder it hit #1 on the charts for 6 weeks in 1979!

Lyrics

Oo my little pretty one, pretty one
When you gonna give me some time, Sharona?
Oo you make my motor run, my motor run
Gun it coming off of the line, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
I always get it up with a touch of the younger kind
My-ee my-ee my-ee ahee ah woo!
Ma ma ma my Sharona

Come a little closer, over here
Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona
Keep a little mystery, kissin' me
Runnin' down the length of my thigh, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
I always get it up from a touch of the younger kind
My-ee my-ee my-ee ahee ah woo!
Ma ma ma my Sharona
Ma ma ma my Sharona

(1st guitar solo)

When ya gonna get to me, get to me
Is it just a matter of time, Sharona
Is it a destiny, a destiny
Or is it just a game in my mind, Sharona
Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind
I always get it up from a touch of the younger kind
My-ee my-ee my-ee ahee ah woo!
Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma
Myee my-ee my-ee ahee ah woo!
Ma ma ma my Sharona
Ma ma ma my Sharona
Ma ma ma my Sharona
Ma ma ma my Sharona

(2nd guitar solo)

Ooooh ah my Sharona
Ooooh ah my Sharona
Ooooh ah my Sharona

As I said, Doug Fieger passed away yesterday - February 14, 2010 - at the age of 57 after a long battle with brain and lung cancer. What better way to say good-bye than to play the song that made him and his reputation. Here's a live version of "My Sharona" from what looks to be the mid '80s. Good-bye, Doug; you're gonna be missed!