Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Something to Make You Happy (1970)

Having just recently removed himself from his psychedelic English group, Traffic, Dave Mason traveled to the United States. “Mama Cass,” Cass Elliot, of The Mamas and The Papas had already released two solo albums and was looking to get back into producing. The two were introduced to one another by a mutual friend, and they decided to work together professionally and release an album. Recorded in 1970 and released in 1971, that album, Dave Mason & Cass Elliot, reached number forty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, a moderate success.

From their only album came this song, the first single of two to be released. Co-written by Mason and Elliot, it is the only song on the album to have been written by both artists. Although each half of the duo expressed an interest in recording another album with one another, it would be their only collaborative effort. Mama Cass would pass away in 1974, just three short years after this album’s release.



Dave Mason & Cass Elliot - Something to Make You Happy (1970)

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Lyrics:

Laying here at night, I think of the love we made
Causing our mind and souls to fly
We talked to each other and silence was just a game
Seemed that we didn’t even have to try

We started the way we both had in mind to do
After a while, we went the wrong way
I tried to show you all the things that you needed to
Keep me in love and let me stay

La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la la
La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la

If all of our time is spent in misusing it
Nothing will come of what we say
Try to retain all the things that are near to us
Trying to love in a natural way

La la la la la-la la-la
La la la la la la

It comes from the heart, this love that I offer you
Don’t try and cage it like a wild beast
Love is as free as the spirits of destiny
Something to make you happy

La la la la la-la la-la
Something to make you happy
La la la la la-la la-la
Something to make you happy