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You Never Can Tell (song)
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"You Never Can Tell"
Single by Chuck Berry
from the album St. Louis to Liverpool
B-side
"Brenda Lee"
Released
August 1964
Format
7" single
Recorded
January 1964
Genre
Rock and roll
Length
2:43
Label
Chess
Songwriter(s)
Chuck Berry
Producer(s)
Leonard Chess, Philip Chess
Chuck Berry singles chronology
"No Particular Place to Go"
(1964) "You Never Can Tell"
(1964) "Promised Land"
(1964)
"No Particular Place to Go"
(1964) "You Never Can Tell"
(1964) "Promised Land"
(1964)
"You Never Can Tell", also known as "C'est La Vie" or "Teenage Wedding", is a song written by Chuck Berry. It was composed in the early 1960s while Berry was in federal prison for violating the Mann Act.[1] Released in 1964 on the album St. Louis to Liverpool and the follow-up single to Berry's final Top Ten hit of the 1960s: "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell" reached #14 becoming Berry's final Top 40 hit until "My Ding-a-Ling", a #1 in Oct. 1972. A 1977 Top Ten C&W hit for Emmylou Harris, the song has also been recorded or performed by Chely Wright, John Prine, New Riders of the Purple Sage, the Jerry Garcia Band,[2] Bruce Springsteen, The Mavericks, Buster Shuffleand Bob Seger.
Contents
[hide]
1 Description
2 Pulp Fiction
3 Impact
4 Other versions
4.1 Emmylou Harris version
4.2 Also
5 References
6 External links
Description[edit]
The song tells of the wedding of two teenagers and their lifestyle afterward. Living in a modest apartment, the young man finds work and they begin to enjoy relative prosperity. Eventually they purchase a "souped-up jitney" (an automobile modified for high performance) and travel to New Orleans, where their wedding had taken place, to celebrate their anniversary. Each verse ends with the refrain, "'C'est la vie,' say the old folks, 'it goes to show you never can tell.'"[3] The melody was influenced by Mitchell Torok's 1953 hit "Caribbean"[citation needed].
Pulp Fiction[edit]
The song briefly became popular again after the 1994 release of the film Pulp Fiction, directed and co-written by Quentin Tarantino. The music was played for a "Twist contest" in which Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) competed (and were the only contestants shown in the film). The music added an evocative element of sound to the narrative and Tarantino said that the song's lyrics of "Pierre" and "Mademoiselle" gave the scene a "uniquely '50s French New Wave dance sequence feel".[3]
Impact[edit]
Nick Lowe has indicated this song was a source of inspiration for his song "I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll)", which has been recorded by Dave Edmunds, Status Quo, and Lowe himself.
Other versions[edit]
Emmylou Harris version[edit]
"(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"
Single by Emmylou Harris
from the album Luxury Liner
B-side
"Hello Stranger"
Released
February 2, 1977
Format
7" single
Genre
Rockabilly
Length
3:27
Label
Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Chuck Berry
Producer(s)
Brian Ahern
Emmylou Harris singles chronology
"Light of the Stable"
(1976) "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"
(1977) "Making Believe"
(1977)
"Light of the Stable"
(1976) "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"
(1977) "Making Believe"
(1977)
Emmylou Harris' recording of "You Never Can Tell" - entitled "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie" - was the lead single from her 1977 Warner Bros. Records album Luxury Liner.
Harris had sung Chuck Berry songs as a member of a DC-based folk trio early in her career. Her decision to record "...C'est La Vie" was the result of her listening extensively to rock-&-roll oldies while on the road.[4] The track, which features a prominent Cajun fiddle contribution by Ricky Skaggs, was recorded in an August 10, 1976 session recorded in the Enactron Truck, the mobile studio owned and operated by Harris' producer Brian Ahern. The same session yielded "Hello Stranger" which would serve as the B-side of the single release.
Released February 2, 1977, "...C'est La Vie" rose as high as #6 on C&W chart in Billboard that April. The track also rose to #4 and #5, respectively in the Netherlands and also the Flemish Region of Belgium. It also charted in Germany at #41.
In a 2013 interview Harris said: "'C’est la Vie' was a wonderful song to do, and I might [perform] it for nostalgic reasons, but it just lost its appeal for me after a while. I didn’t feel that I was bringing anything to it, I guess."[5]
Also[edit]
1974 Ronnie Lane, on Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance
1975 John Prine, on Common Sense
1975 Loggins and Messina, on So Fine
1976 New Riders of the Purple Sage, on New Riders
1981 Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, on Leather and Lace
1984 Ian A. Anderson and Mike Cooper, on The Continuous Preaching Blues
1985 Bill Wyman's "Willie and the Poor Boys" featuring Charlie Watts, Andy Fairweather-Lowe, Mickey Gee, Geraint Watkins[6]
1993 Aaron Neville, on The Grand Tour
1994 Bob Seger, on Greatest Hits (as "C'est La Vie")
1996 Status Quo, on Don't Stop
2003 Farmboy, on the album Farmboy (as C’est la Vie)
2005 Chely Wright, on The Metropolitan Hotel (as "C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell)")
2005 Santiago & Luis Auserón, on Las Malas Lenguas (as "Quién Lo Iba A Suponer")
2005 Texas Lightning, on Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (as "C'est La Vie")
2008 Roch Voisine, on Americana
2010 The Morlocks, on Play Chess
2013 Buster Shuffle On the "You Never Can Tell" single
2013 Bruce Springsteen, on the Wrecking Ball tour, in Germany[7]
2017 Elise LeGrow, on Playing Chess
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Chuck Berry is arrested on Mann Act charges in St. Louis, Missouri"," This Day in History, History.com, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
Jump up ^ "Jerry Garcia Band, 10-31-92, Oakland Coliseum Arena, Oakland". Shakedown Blog. Accessed July 2010.
^ Jump up to: a b Robert Miklitsch (April 2006). Roll Over Adorno. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7914-6733-6.
Jump up ^ Watts, Derek (2008). Country Boy: a biography of Albert Lee. Jefferson NC: McFarland & Co. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-7864-3658-3.
Jump up ^ Anderman, Joan (March 22, 2013). "A Full Circle for Emmylou Harris". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
Jump up ^ "Projects: Willie And The Poor Boys - Studio album". BillWyman.com. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
Jump up ^ Springsteen, Bruce (14 November 2013). "Bruce Springsteen - You Never Can Tell". Bruce Springsteen Vevo profile on YouTube (youtube.com/user/BruceSpringsteenVEVO).
External links[edit]
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
[show]
v
t
e
Chuck Berry
Studio albums
After School Session (1957)
One Dozen Berrys (1958)
Chuck Berry Is on Top (1959)
Rockin' at the Hops (1960)
New Juke Box Hits (1961)
Two Great Guitars (with Bo Diddley) (1964)
St. Louis to Liverpool (1964)
Chuck Berry in London (1965)
Fresh Berry's (1965)
Chuck Berry's Golden Hits (1967)
Chuck Berry in Memphis (1967)
From St. Louie to Frisco (1968)
Concerto in "B Goode" (1969)
Back Home (1970)
San Francisco Dues (1971)
The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 1)
Bio (1973)
Chuck Berry (1975)
Rock It (1979)
Chuck (2017)
Live albums
Chuck Berry on Stage (1963)
Live at the Fillmore Auditorium (1967)
The London Chuck Berry Sessions (1972) (Side 2)
Chuck Berry Live in Concert (1978)
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
Live! (2000)
Live on Stage (2000)
Chuck Berry – In Concert (2002)
Compilations
Rock, Rock, Rock (1956)
Chuck Berry Twist (1962)
Chuck Berry's Golden Decade (1967, 1973, 1974)
The Great Twenty-Eight (1982)
The Chess Box (1988)
The Anthology (2000)
Volume 2 (1995)
Hit singles
"Maybellene" / "Wee Wee Hours" (1955)
"Roll Over Beethoven" / "Drifting Heart" (1956)
"Too Much Monkey Business" / "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" (1956)
"School Days" / "Deep Feeling" (1957)
"Rock and Roll Music" / "Blue Feeling"
"Sweet Little Sixteen" / "Reelin' and Rockin'" (1958)
"Johnny B. Goode" / "Around and Around" (1958)
"Almost Grown" / "Little Queenie" (1959)
"Back in the U.S.A." / "Memphis, Tennessee" (1959)
"Nadine" (1964)
"No Particular Place to Go" (1964)
"My Ding-a-Ling" (1972)
Other articles
Discography
Chuck Berry House
Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
Book
Category
[show]
v
t
e
Emmylou Harris
Studio albums
Gliding Bird
Pieces of the Sky
Elite Hotel
Luxury Liner
Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town
Blue Kentucky Girl
Light of the Stable
Roses in the Snow
Evangeline
Cimarron
White Shoes
The Ballad of Sally Rose
Thirteen
Angel Band
Bluebird
Brand New Dance
Cowgirl's Prayer
Wrecking Ball
Red Dirt Girl
Stumble into Grace
All I Intended to Be
Hard Bargain
Collaboration albums
Trio (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Trio II (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions (with Linda Ronstadt)
All the Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler)
Old Yellow Moon (with Rodney Crowell)
The Traveling Kind (with Rodney Crowell)
Live albums
Last Date
At the Ryman (with The Nash Ramblers)
Spyboy
Compilation albums
Profile: Best of Emmylou Harris
Profile II: The Best of Emmylou Harris
Duets
Songs of the West
The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches & Highways
Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems
Video albums
Real Live Roadrunning (with Mark Knopfler)
Notable singles
"If I Could Only Win Your Love"
"Together Again"
"One of These Days"
"Sweet Dreams"
"(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"
"Making Believe"
"To Daddy"
"Two More Bottles of Wine"
"Save the Last Dance for Me"
"Blue Kentucky Girl"
"Beneath Still Waters"
"Wayfaring Stranger"
"The Boxer"
"Mister Sandman"
"If I Needed You" (with Don Williams)
"Tennessee Rose"
"Born to Run"
"(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date"
"I'm Movin' On"
"So Sad to Watch Good Love Go Bad"
"In My Dreams"
"Pledging My Love"
"Heartbreak Hill"
"Heaven Only Knows"
"I Still Miss Someone"
Collaboration singles
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
"Telling Me Lies" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
"Those Memories of You" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
"Wildflowers" (with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt)
Guest singles
"Thing About You" (with Southern Pacific)
"We Believe in Happy Endings" (with Earl Thomas Conley)
Discographies
Discography
Solo contributions
Collaborations A–F
Collaborations G–K
Collaborations L–Q
Collaborations R–Z
Related articles
Roy Orbison
John Denver
Gram Parsons
Daniel Lanois
Rodney Crowell
Desire
The Last Waltz
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=You_Never_Can_Tell_(song)&oldid=819923848"
Categories:
1964 singles
Chuck Berry songs
Bob Seger songs
Chely Wright songs
Emmylou Harris songs
Songs about New Orleans
Songs written by Chuck Berry
1964 songs
Chess Records singles
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