Godfathers – She Gives Me Love

There’s no easing into She Gives Me Love. It hits fast and stays there. Released in 1986 on Hit by Hit, the track shows what The Godfathers were about in their early run: tight playing, sharp edges, and no interest in slowing down.

 I listened to their first real album Birth, School, Work, Death, and it was fantastic. I then skipped around and listened to some songs throughout their career. Super band… they have a tough, rough Katie bar the door… no-holds-barred sound. I hear some Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Sloan, and other bands in them.

The main reason I like them…the hooks. They know how to develop and use great hooks in the right places. While you have the hooks and melodies, you also have the super-aggressive anger riding on top of everything. They mix it perfectly. In short… abrasive in-your-face rock.

The band, led by Peter Coyne and Chris Coyne, came out of the UK scene with a sound that pulled from R&B and stripped-down rock. You can hear that here. The guitars are direct, and the whole thing feels built for a small room turned up too loud. It doesn’t try to expand beyond that.

This is one I came across later, digging past the usual tracks people mention. It felt like finding something still wired tight after all these years.  No buildup, no release, just straight through. Sometimes that’s all you need.

She Gives Me Love

Don’t claim to understand herI wonder what she’s doing with meDon’t know what she does with the rest of her timeBut she gives it to me for free

She gives me loveShe gives me love

She never takes my moneyBut she always steals my timeShe’s the kind of a girl that if you gave her the worldShe’d say it wasn’t worth a dime

She gives me loveShe gives me love

It’s not easy to explain itThe effect she has on meMake a dumb man talk and a blind man seeThat sweet little mystery

She gives me loveShe gives me love

She gives me loveShe gives me love

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

32 thoughts on “Godfathers – She Gives Me Love”

  1. They were a fave of mine in the late 80s, and BSWD got a ton of play on my headphones! I saw them live at UMass Amherst (I think late 1988, it was an MTV College Tour) opening for Living Colour, and they both put on a hell of a show.

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  2. Great song, dude – right up my alley! I love the harmony guitar action and the bassline. The song also has a neat chorus. Last but not least, Godfathers is a cool name for a band. Looks like they are still around and still releasing new music. Most recent album is from Sep 2022…

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  3. good find. I only know ‘Birth School Work Death’ by them, which is a song I always liked back from the ’80s. This has that same catchy power. If I knew they were British, I’d forgotten – I actually for some reason had Ohio in my mind as their origin

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      1. Hey Max, on another topic, I was talking with my son about The Prisoner and told him you were covering it week by week. Turns out he knows a *lot* about it. Tried to convince him to drop in and comment but he’s too busy. He said there is a subreddit on it, whatever that is.

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