Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to thereShe would merengue and do the cha-chaAnd while she tried to be a starTony always tended barAcross the crowded floor, they worked from eight til fourThey were young and they had each otherWho could ask for more?
At the copa (co) Copacabana (Copacabana)The hottest spot north of Havana (here)At the copa (co) CopacabanaMusic and passion were always the fashionAt the copa they fell in love
Copa, CopacabanaHis name was RicoHe wore a diamondHe was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancing thereAnd when she finished, he called her overBut Rico went a bit to farTony sailed across the barAnd then the punches flew and chairs were smashed in twoThere was blood and a single gun shotBut just who shot who?
At the copa (co) Copacabana (Copacabana)The hottest spot north of Havana (here)At the copa (co) CopacabanaMusic and passion were always the fashionAt the copa, she lost her love(Copa, Copacabana)(Copa, Copacabana)(Copacabana)
like in Havana(Copa, banana)Music and passion were always in fashion
Her name is Lola, she was a showgirlBut that was thirty years ago, when they used to have a showNow it's a disco, but not for LolaStill in dress she used to wearFaded feathers in her hairShe sits there so refined, and drinks herself half-blindShe lost her youth and she lost her TonyNow she's lost her mind
At the copa (co) Copacabana (Copacabana)The hottest spot north of Havana (here)At the copa (co) CopacabanaMusic and passion were always in fashionAt the copa don't fall in love
don't fall in love(Copacabana)(Copacabana)
3 comments:
Ah yes, the infamous Copa Cabana
Although Manilow has a few other hits I remember, this is one I always think of when Manilow is mentioned
It's a catchy little song that Manilow wrote the music for in 15 minutes
A parody of this song was used in an episode of The Simpsons. In the episode "Tales From The Public Domain," one of the three
shorts involves Homer (as Odysseus), along with Lenny, Carl, and Moe (his companions). They travel to the "Island of Sirens,"
where Patty and Selma (Homer's sister-in-laws) portrayed sirens singing a drawing song that had the same tune as the song
"Copacabana."
A popular parody version was played on several radio stations in the US in the mid-'90s during the re-release of the Star Wars
trilogy called "The Star Wars Cantina." The lyrics were rewritten so that they were about the movies ("Her name was Leia, she
was a princess...") and featured sound clips from the films ("Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope...")
It's been used on many TV shows and movies - I remember it in the movie 'Foul Play' with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn
But perhaps its best appearance - Liza Minnelli performed "Copacabana" on The Muppet Show in 1979 in a bit that visualizes
the song with Tony and Rico as Muppets. Kids could handle a lot more back then: Tony indeed gets shot, and we shift scenes to
see Minnelli (as Lola) drinking herself into a stupor as she's lost her mind.
Manilow really played up the camp factor when he performed this song live, wearing a mambo jacket with ruffled sleeves while
banging on the bongos with gusto
wow. i didn't know any of that. Dan you should teach music history at CSU. I never paid attention to the lyrics. i always just assumed this was a stupid party song. never knew it was tragic. i just know that this has been danced to too many times at dumb weddings. i'm probably guilty of it - i don't remember.
the muppets used to be awesome. not no more. So sad.
Yes Dan your comments are educational funny and poetic. The Muppets have been not so rad for a while. Although the first of the new movies was pretty rad. And yes children's television has lost its soul.
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