“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (The Animals)

Continuing our week honoring the late Cynthia Weil, we come to “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.” This song, recorded by the Animals, was released in August of 1965 (in the U.S.; a month earlier in the UK) and went to #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart.

“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” was written by Cynthia Weil and her songwriting partner and husband Barry Mann. Barry wanted to replicate the success of the big hit they’d recently written for the Righteous Brothers, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” You can hear the resemblance in the tempo and the opening bass line, especially on the solo version that Barry recorded on his 1999 solo album, Soul & Inspiration.

Mann and Weil originally targeted “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” at the Righteous Brothers, but Righteous Brother Bill Medley (“stupidly,” in his own words) turned it down. Mann subsequently scored his own recording contract and decided to keep the song for himself. As luck would have it, however, Mickie Most, the producer for the British group the Animals, had heard a Mann/Weil demo of the song and decided it was perfect for his group. The Animals recorded it, changing a few lines in the lyrics, and the result was a big hit on both sides of the pond.

“We Gotta Get Out of This Place” addresses the issue of class and the striving of the downtrodden to escape from their stifling environs. (“Girl, there’s a better life for me and you.”) But there’s more than that; whether intentional or not, the song reflected America’s growing anti-war sentiment in the mid-1960s and became something of an anthem, especially for the soldiers of the time and veterans in the years after.

Barry Mann started writing songs in 1958, and had two dozen tunes published (including the Paris Sisters’ “I Love How You Love Me” and Dicky Lee’s “Patches”) by the time he signed with Aldon Music in 1961; he had also recorded a solo album as a performer, which spawned the novelty hit “Who Put the Bomp (In the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp).” It was at Aldon that Mann met fellow songwriter Cynthia Weil, an aspiring actress who had worked previously for famed composer Frank Loesser. They married in August of 1961, and went on to create the longest-lasting songwriting partnership of the modern pop era.

Mann and Weil are, without a doubt, one of the most successful songwriting teams of all time, right up there with Goffin and King and the Gershwin brothers. More than 150 million recorded copies of their songs have been sold, and one of their compositions—“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”—is the most-played song of the 20th century.

Mann and Weil’s compositions are difficult to categorize, which speaks to their skill and versatility. Their songs run the gamut from light pop (Eydie Gorme’s “Blame It on the Bossa Nova”) to Girl Group classics (the Ronettes’ “Walking in the Rain“) to straight-ahead rock (“Kicks,” by Paul Revere & the Raiders). If there is a common thread to Mann/Weil songs, it has to be Cynthia Weil’s politically and socially conscious lyrics. (She was the wordsmith, while her husband handled the soulful, R&B-influenced music.) Weil’s words, as witnessed in “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” go far beyond the typical “moon-June” teen angst to comment on the driving social issues of the day.

Barry and Cynthia stayed together both as songwriting partners and as husband and wife for 62 terrific years. Barry is still with us, aged 84. Cynthia Weil, unfortunately, passed away on June 1st. She was 82.