August 08, 2013

The Split Level - Children Are Bored On Sunday (1968)

When Dave Guard left The Kingston Trio in April 1961, he quickly put together his next folk singing outfit, the Whiskeyhill Singers. In July 1962, Liz Seneff (Elizabeth Seneff-Corrigan) joined the Whiskeyhill Singers to replace a departing Judy Henske. Unfortunately for Seneff, Guard was interested in moving to Sydney, Australia and the band was dissolved in October 1962, just months after she had joined. Seneff recorded a solo album, Now Listen to Liz in 1963 on the Gateway label. Although she would predominately be known as a solo artist for the rest of her life, there was one other short-lived band that she had been a part of: The Split Level.

Formed in either 1967 or 1968, The Split Level was composed of Liz Seneff (vocals, tambourine), Michael Lobel (guitar, flute), Lenny Roberts (vocals, guitar), and Al Dana (vocals, bass, sitar). They only recorded one album, which is sometimes referred to as being self-titled and other times referred to by a quote seen on the back of the sleeve, “Divided We Stand.” The album is full of pop melodies lightly mixed with sunshine psychedelia, Indian-inspired raga, and Latin-sounding Gregorian chants.

This song, which appeared as the album’s fourth track, was written by Louis Charles Auguste Claude Trenet, more popularly known as Charles Trenet, a prolific French singer and songwriter. The song was adapted by band member Michael Lobel and released in 1968 on Dot Records.

album art

The Split Level - Children Are Bored On Sunday (1968)

Loading the ABLYAM player...(Might not work on mobile devices)


Lyrics:

French Lyrics English Lyrics

Poor me, poor me
Sundays bore me
How I wish the week were here

Sundays are the dullest days
Enough to drive a fellow crazy
Children in their Sunday best
Protest against this day of rest
So boring
Snoring
Is too wild to leave a child to do

Les enfants s'ennuient le dimanche
Le dimanche, les enfants s'ennuient
En knickerbockers ou en robes blanches
Le dimanche, les enfants s'ennuient

Vienne vienne
La semaine
Lundi mardi jeudi
Car la rue est toujours pleine
De lumière et de bruit

Sundays, Sundays
They make me moan
Wish they’d leave us kids alone

Dull relationships on vacations
Always seem to phone
They arrive with, "sakes
alive how you and sis have grown."
Sunday's one day they should leave us kids alone

Les enfants s'ennuient le dimanche
Le dimanche, les enfants s'ennuient
En knickerbockers ou en robes blanches
Le dimanche, les enfants s'ennuient

Sunday’s wrong for what we long for
Mondays have what we seek
That is what we sing this song for
Kids are strong for the week

Kids are strong for the week

Poor me, poor me
Sundays bore me
How I wish the week were here

Sundays are the dullest days
Enough to drive a fellow crazy
Children in their Sunday best
Protest against this day of rest
So boring
Snoring
Is too wild to leave a child to do

Children are bored on Sunday
On Sunday, the kids are bored
In knickerbockers or white dresses
On Sunday, the kids are bored

Next comes
The week
Monday Tuesday Thursday
Because the street is always full
Lights and sounds

Sundays, Sundays
They make me moan
Wish they'd leave us kids alone

Dull relationships on vacations
Always seem to phone
They arrive with, "sakes
alive how you and sis have grown."
Sunday's one day they should leave us kids alone

Children are bored on Sunday
On Sunday, the kids are bored
In knickerbockers or white dresses
On Sunday, the kids are bored

Sunday's wrong for what we long for
Mondays have what we seek
That is what we sing this song for
Kids are strong for the week

Kids are strong for the week

4 comments:

  1. What an absolutely bizarre track for an American pop-rock album in 1968. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Stu! I definitely agree. It took while for me to research that the song was original by Charles Tenet. Once I figured that out, I was lucky enough to see somebody else had already posted the lyrics for his song. Then it was only a matter of listening and matching which portions this group decided to use. It's a good song, though. Very different.

      Delete
  2. Here is the correct lyric for:
    The Split Level - Children Are Bored On Sunday (1968)

    Poor me. Poor me
    Sundays bore me.
    How I wish the week were here.

    Sundays are the dullest days e-
    Nough to drive a fellow crazy.
    Children in their Sunday best pro-
    Test against this day of rest so
    Boring snoring is too wild to
    Leave a child to
    do.

    Sundays, Sundays, they make me moan.
    Wish they'd leave us kids alone.

    Dull relations on vacations always seem to phone.
    They arrive with, "sakes alive how you and sis have grown."
    Sunday's one day they should leave us kids alone.

    Sunday's wrong for
    What we long for.
    Mondays have what we seek.
    That is what we sing this song for.
    Kid's are strong for the week.

    ReplyDelete