Johnny Tillotson: Poetry in Motion

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The song was written by Paul Kaufman and Mike Anthony, who don’t seem to have written much else of note, which is a shame because these are among the best pop lyrics of all time.

When I see my baby
What do I see?
Poetry
Poetry in motion

Poetry in motion
Walkin’ by my side
Her lovely locomotion
Keeps my eyes open wide

Poetry in motion
See her gentle sway
A wave out on the ocean
Could never move that way

I love every movement
There’s nothing I would change
She doesn’t need improvement
She’s much too nice to rearrange.

Poetry in motion
Dancing close to me
A flower of devotion
A-swaying gracefully

Whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa

Poetry in motion
See her gentle sway
A wave out on the ocean
Could never move that way

I love every movement
There’s nothing I would change
She doesn’t need improvement
She’s much too nice to rearrange

Poetry in motion
All that I adore
No number-nine love potion
Could make me love her more

The reference in the last verse is to Love Potion No 9, a hit for The Clovers in 1959

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt7htnE1s4o

and subsequently The Searchers in 1964 (in the US; it was not released as a single in the UK).

The 1961 recording session of Poetry in Motion was supervised by the legendary sound engineer Bill Porter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Porter_(sound_engineer) and featured saxophonist Boots Randolph and pianist Floyd Cramer.

It got to No 2 in the States in November 1960 and No 1 in Britain in January 1961.

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