“Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” (The Lovin’ Spoonful)

When you were younger, did you ever have to choose between two equally appealing girls? (Or, if you’re a girl, two equally attractive guys?) I never had the good fortune to be in that situation, but apparently John Sebastian was, and he wrote today’s classic song of the day about it.

As the lyrics so neatly put it:

Sometimes there’s one with big blue eyes, cute as a bunny
With hair down to here, and plenty of money
And just when you think she’s that one in the world
Your heart gets stolen by some mousy little girl

And then you know you’d better make up your mind
And pick up on one and leave the other behind
It’s not often easy and not often kind
Did you ever have to make up your mind?

The song was “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” and John Sebastian was inspired to write it after meeting two sisters at a summer camp, where he was a counselor. Neither one was interested in him, however, making the song somewhat of a fantasy.

Sebastian’s group, the Lovin’ Spoonful, recorded “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” in September of 1965 for their upcoming debut album, Do You Believe in Magic. It ended up being the first track on side two and their label, Kama Sutra, released it as a single in April of 1966. (That album also spawned two other big hits, the title track “Do You Believe in Magic” and “Younger Girl.”)

“Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” ended up going all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was also a top ten hit in Canada, New Zealand, and Sweden. (It wasn’t released as a single in the UK, for whatever reason.)

So here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, John Sebastian and the Lovin’ Spoonful (Sebastian and Zal Yanovsky on guitars, Steve Boone on bass, and Joe Butler on drums) performing “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” live on some television program back in 1966. I always thought the boys were a lot of fun.