Our second classic song with a girl’s name in the title of the day this week is “Clair” by Gilbert O’Sullivan. This pleasant ditty was released as a single in October of 1972 and eventually rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
“Clair,” written by Mr. O’Sullivan (under his given name of Raymond O’Sullivan), is a gentle little song, complete with a whistling introduction. At first listen it sounds like a typical romantic love song from a young man to a young lady; it’s only at the end that you realize he’s singing about his familial love for a young child.
In reality, Mr. O’Sullivan wrote the song for the three year-old daughter of his producer/manager, Gordon Mills, for whom he used to babysit. The “Uncle Ray” mentioned in the song is Mr. Raymond O’Sullivan himself and the giggling at the end is that of Clair herself. It’s actually quite charming.
The tell is in the final lyrics:
Clair
I’ve told you before, don’t you dare
Get back into bed
Can’t you see that it’s late
No, you can’t have a drink
Oh, all right then
But wait just a minute
While I, in an effort to babysit
Catch up on my breath
What there is left of it
You can be murder at this hour of the day
But in the morning the sun
Will see my lifetime away
Oh, Clair
Clair
Gilbert O’Sullivan had a few hits in the 1970s, including “Alone Again (Naturally)” (#1 in 1972) and “Get Down” (#7 in 1973). (An Irishman, he had quite a few more hits in the UK.) He continues to record and perform hits to this day; he and his wife Aase have two daughters of their own, Helen-Marie and Tara.
