Althouse: "I always felt it is a high honor to be associated with the name of Christ ~ this classic iconic man who lived and died for the poor, the hungry and the broken."

September 16, 2019

"I always felt it is a high honor to be associated with the name of Christ ~ this classic iconic man who lived and died for the poor, the hungry and the broken."

Writes Dion, commenting on this video of "Center of My Life" ("I'll tell you a story about my lord Jesus/He is the only one... Through the years and all the changes/You've been my friend/Never a stranger..."

I ran across that after I played "Teen Angel" (for this post) and YouTube thought I'd want to watch this video of Dion singing "Runaround Sue"...

... which I enjoyed so much — I love the audience reaction to the music! — that I clicked through to see other videos on Dion's playlist and found "Center of My Life." I love Dion (and have since the days when "Runaround Sue" was #1 on the record charts, and I saw him do a great show here in Madison around 1990 (really, the most enjoyable show ever)), but I didn't know about his Christian period.

By the way, Sue — according to that song — ran around "with every single guy in town." Every single guy! Not until today did I take that literally and try to picture the effort and the insanity of getting together with every single guy. Even in a small town...

47 comments:

MadTownGuy said...: I kinda thought Dion was headed toward Christian music when "Abraham, Martin & John" was on the radio.; 9/16/19, 4:51 PM
richlb said...: My older brother was big into Dion at the time he released that Christian album. I remember thinking that it was way better than any other religious music I had heard.; 9/16/19, 4:57 PM
James K said...: Is that every single as opposed to married guy? Or every single guy.; 9/16/19, 5:01 PM
traditionalguy said...: Sue was not a safe space but she as quite energetic. But I think she only ran around with other guys. Today’s Sue lovers face having her running around with all the other gals too...and the trannies etc.; 9/16/19, 5:03 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at Runaround Sue.; 9/16/19, 5:03 PM
chickelit said...: Abraham, Martin, & John is my favorite Dion song -- even though it was a cover.; 9/16/19, 5:04 PM
gilbar said...: I'd never thought that sue would not deal with married men?
I guess there's a limit; 9/16/19, 5:07 PM
JML said...: Me and Sue went steady from 3:30 PM to 11:15 PM on July 18, 1961. She was great at first, but after we smooched under the apple tree, she started to talk about my brother Ted and what a dreamboat he was and could she meet him? They dated the following Thursday. We both got to Tossin' and a Turnin' over Sue. Too bad the tossing' and a turnin' wasn't 'cause we got laid...; 9/16/19, 5:11 PM
Ken B said...: First fact checking satire. Now fact checking pop songs. Hot tip: submarines are not yellow.; 9/16/19, 5:13 PM
gilbar said...: Actually, I HAD always thought that Sue ran with each and every single guy I her cohort.
I figured
A) Sue was in high school
B) Sue was Not into ancients
C) Sue wasn't a les, or into any of those other letters
D) Sue stuck to Fayette, No WAY was she doing Anything with Decorah creeps; 9/16/19, 5:14 PM
madAsHell said...: try to picture the effort and the insanity of getting together with every single guy.

But a guy will try to get with every girl in town.; 9/16/19, 5:18 PM
Rory said...: I think the singer is exaggerating for emphasis.

I knew that Dion was the fourth headliner on the tour where Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens died. What I didn't know until recently was that they didn't stop the tour. Bobby Vee was dispatched from New York to headline.; 9/16/19, 5:20 PM
MadisonMan said...: The audience in that Dion video is not so much into showing enthusiasm, that's for sure.; 9/16/19, 5:26 PM
Clark said...: Reminds me of this scene from Erin Brockovich: "634 blow jobs in five days — — — I'm really quite tired."; 9/16/19, 5:39 PM
Unknown said...: His Christian music may have been a phase, but if you've seen an interview with Dion in recent years you'll realize that is Christianity wasn't a phase.; 9/16/19, 5:39 PM
tim in vermont said...: “every willing guy in town” would scan too.; 9/16/19, 5:45 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Kamala Harris was embarked on exactly that mission until she met Willie Brown. Then she was able to slow it down a bit.; 9/16/19, 5:48 PM
reader said...: When I think of the song Runaround Sue I hear it in my head as covered by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. In high school we made fun of the name of that group.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w4EZXPHippI; 9/16/19, 5:49 PM
Molly said...: I've been visiting the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Christianity certainly did inspire a lot of fabulous art.; 9/16/19, 6:09 PM
William said...: He declined a ride on that ill fated plane. He has every reason to believe in a provident God. The Big Bopper perhaps less so......Runaround Sue was inescapable on the radio, and you didn't want to escape. It's one of those songs you can listen to endlessly. "The Wanderer" too. I didn't quite make it through that Christian song once, but if he has found peace and God and a steady source of income, then good for him.....Some singers, perhaps more talented than Dion, never had such a monster hit. What's the signature song of Allison Kraus or Bonnie Rait? If you have that signature hit, you're set for life......Well,he's made it to eighty and this with a former heroin habit. There's reason to believe that God really does love some people.; 9/16/19, 6:11 PM
Susan said...: Run Around Sue. Worst song ever. Right up until A Boy Named Sue came along to make my life a living hell.; 9/16/19, 6:15 PM
D 2 said...: Welcome to town, son. Let me introduce you to the girls
That's Runaround Sue, Ruby and Jolene all making eyes with the DJ. Alison and Cecilia would be too, but they probably found someone already. I'd say Cecilia is quite the catch, but don't get out to wash yourself.
Angie the Heroin Addict is the one nodding off in the corner. Maggie May is the one helping her - if you're into either the comatose or the mothering type
That's Proud Mary - the only virgin for 20 miles they say - giving Billie Jean the sneer.
Finally: a word of advice: stay away from Crazy Jane; you can't afford Roxanne, and you might want to avoid Lola altogether.; 9/16/19, 6:22 PM
Mary Beth said...: chickelit said...

Abraham, Martin, & John is my favorite Dion song -- even though it was a cover.

9/16/19, 5:04 PM

According to Wikipedia, ""Abraham, Martin and John" is a 1968 song written by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion."

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles recorded it a year later (1969). Marvin Gaye did it in 1970 and Ray Charles in 1972. And then we had Watergate and the deaths of King and Kennedy seemed too remote to remake the song again.; 9/16/19, 6:38 PM
eddie willers said...: I was listening to Coast To Coast AM the other night and they player "Dream Lover" as a bumper. I stopped reading my Kindle and really listened. I remembered liking it from my youth, but this time I am hearing a voice right up there with Frank Sinatra. I tought, "Was this Roy Orbison or Conway Twitty before he went country?".

So I looked it up: Dream Lover

I saw Bobby Darin and said, "But of course". (and another good die young)

BTW, the Conway Twitty song I was thinking of was: It's Only Make Believe; 9/16/19, 6:52 PM
JZ said...: That sounds like the version we have all heard which makes me think that everyone on stage was pantomiming.; 9/16/19, 6:54 PM
madison mike said...: Anybody else associate "the Wanderer" with Ted Kennedy, courtesy of the Rush Limbaugh show?; 9/16/19, 7:07 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: In this world there's a train bound for glory

...it's a slow train coming,
but-- people get ready--
There's a train, it's coming
You don't need no baggage
You just get on board; 9/16/19, 7:14 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: I met Dion when I first got sober, in Boca Raton at a spiritually-based 12 step program. We talked several times a week about Christ and recovery. I didn't know he was THAT Dion until a few months in but our relationship, such as it was, stayed on topic. I never discussed his career or music or anything of that nature. It wasn't appropriate. Almost five years into my sobriety we went to a Via de Cristo retreat for men together. He, along with my wife (at the time) and a prison pastor (who worked for me as a USPS clerk), were pretty much responsible for my being born again. I rarely see him now as we live at opposite ends of Palm Beach County, but we shared the same sobriety anniversary month. He has 51 years, I have 25. He has been a blessing in my life.

THEOLDMAN

I recommend his "greatest hits gospel" music CD. The music is VERY good. You may not be aware, but Dion went back to his Catholic roots several decades ago after being a non-denominational Christian. He is still recording and his Blues albums are just great.; 9/16/19, 7:17 PM
Otto said...: For your information Ann, Christians do appreciate secular music. So this "Christian phase" has nothing to do with one's Christianity.; 9/16/19, 7:21 PM
chickelit said...: @Mary Beth: I see your point. Dion was the first to record it (even though he didn't write) -- so technically it's not a cover.
Thanks for the clarification.; 9/16/19, 7:28 PM
Tommy Duncan said...: "Now people let me put you wise"

That is my all time favorite line in a rock and roll song. Cool words from another era.; 9/16/19, 7:31 PM
Tommy Duncan said...: Anyone else miss Del Shannon?

"When I see her comin' down the street
I get so shaky and I feel so weak
I tell my eyes to look the other way
But they don't seem to hear a word I say, and I

Go to pieces and I want to cry
Go to pieces and I almost die
Every time my baby passes by"; 9/16/19, 7:38 PM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Marcus @7:17 PM: Thank you for the interesting story.

Keep well and carry on.; 9/16/19, 8:43 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "I have always felt it is a high honor to be associated with the name of Christ..."

thank you Ann Althouse for highlighting this piece; 9/16/19, 9:00 PM
Earnest Prole said...: I love the audience reaction to the music!

I think what they say about white people just might be true.; 9/16/19, 9:07 PM
stephen cooper said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/16/19, 9:27 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: The poor, the hungry, and the broken were the people Jesus came from.
Christ fed the hungry, hr did not make them wealthy.
Christ healed the sick and the afflicted. He did not use a miracle to stop a sinner from sinning.
The only thing that Christ demanded from people was their faith. You can't love another as you love yourself (an internal mental state) if you do not have faith.; 9/16/19, 9:44 PM
Roughcoat said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/16/19, 9:47 PM
eddie willers said...: He has 51 years, I have 25.

Wonderful story.

I feel like a baby. It will be twenty one years come February 2.

My joke is that my sobriety will be old enough to drink.; 9/16/19, 11:40 PM
eddie willers said...: Psst....don't tell anyone but moderation is off.; 9/16/19, 11:41 PM
Peter said...: Years after this song was cut, one of the local boys was running for governor and Runaround Sue made an allegation of sexual assault against him. It was settled for an undisclosed amount.; 9/17/19, 12:57 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Post script: My younger daughter was subjected to me playing Dion's music as she was growing up. A few father's day ago, she posted on her Facebook, that the "most interesting thing my dad ever told me was that 'Sue goes out with other guys'.

THEOLDMAN

The best line in The Wanderer is "with my two fists of iron but I'm going nowhere" which deflates the whole premise of the song's bravado.; 9/17/19, 5:30 AM
Mary Beth said...: I think what they say about white people just might be true

That they listen politely, focusing their attention on the performers (and not trying to talk over them), and then applaud enthusiastically and appreciatively at the end?; 9/17/19, 6:40 AM
Virgil Hilts said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/17/19, 6:41 AM
Virgil Hilts said...: If you take "ran around with every single guy in town" literally, it suggests only that Sue was an avid runner and regularly ran lots of 5ks/10ks/marathons with all of the avid male runners.; 9/17/19, 6:42 AM
Rory said...: The linked video is from the movie "Twist Around the Clock." The only authentic part of it is that it is Dion DiMucci standing there. The musicians aren't his musicians and the audience reaction, of course, is scripted. There are a number of movies around this time that have these bourgeois audiences listening to teen idols, and it reflected real problems about how what had been teen music was going to fit in popular culture over the long haul. Within a few years, it was decided that they would just burn the existing culture to ground, destroy the old gatekeepers, but no one knew that yet in 1961.; 9/17/19, 8:15 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Dion has stated in many interviews that Runaround Sue was based on a real person, but her name was Roberta. They used "Sue" because Roberta didn't rhyme with much (Roberta, deserter?). He married Sue Butterfield but he is quick to point out she's not THAT Sue.

THEOLDMAN; 9/17/19, 9:22 AM