‘Lazy Sunday’ is a song by the English band Small Faces, which reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1968. It was written by the Small Faces songwriting duo Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and appeared on the band's 1968 concept album Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. Against the band's wishes, it preceded the album as a single release.
‘Lazy Sunday’ mixes pop with a traditional cockney East End of London music-hall sound. The song was inspired by Marriott's feuds with his neighbours and is also noticeable for its distinct vocal changes. Marriott sings large parts of the song in a greatly exaggerated cockney accent, partly due to an argument he had with the Hollies, who said that Marriott had never sung in his own accent. In the final bridge and the last two choruses, he reverts to his usual transatlantic (singing) accent. John Lydon cited the Small Faces as one of his few influences as vocalist for the Sex Pistols, and evidence of Marriott's influence on him can be found in this song.
This Steve Marriott-penned song has a traditional East End of London Music Hall sound. Keyboardist Ian McLagan recalled to Uncut magazine: "When Steve came in with this it was slower. We started taking the piss out of it while he was out of the room. The 'Root-ti-doo-ti-di-day' thing stop and he laughed when he came back in and heard us. So we cut it like that. It was a piss take!"
Marriott sung much of the song in a greatly exaggerated cockney accent. Drummer Kenney Jones told Uncut: "Steve had been a child actor, he was the first Artful Dodger in Lionel Bart's Oliver in the West End. He brought back that theatricality to this."
According to Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, Lane's "rooty dooty di" vocal lines were in imitation of a member of the Who's road crew; the two bands had recently toured Australia together. The song features various sound effects including crowd shouts, chirping birds, surf, and church bells. If you listen closely, you can hear a loo being flushed just after Marriott sings, "while you flush out the moon." The low-budget promotional video for ‘Lazy Sunday’ was filmed at various locations, including Kenney Jones's parents' home on Havering Street in Stepney, east London. The song was used in the 2009 British comedy film The Boat That Rocked.
Labels – EMI, Immediate
Songwriters – Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane
Producers – Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]A-wouldn't it be nice
To get on with me neighbours?
But they make it very clear
They've got no room for ravers
[Pre-Chorus]
They stop me from groovin'
They bang on me wall (What's going on in there?)
They're doin' me crust in
It's no good at all, ah
[Chorus]
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I've got no mind to worry
A-close my eyes and drift away
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 2]
Here we all are, sittin' in a rainbow
Gor blimey! Hello, Mrs. Jones
How's your old Bert's lumbago?
He mustn't grumble
[Pre-Chorus]
(Tweedle-dee bite) I'll sing you a song
With no words and no tune
(Tweedle-dee bite) To sing on your khazi
While you suss out the moon, oh yeah
[Chorus]
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I've got no mind to worry
Close my eyes and drift away, yeah
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
A-roo-dee-doo-dee-doo
A-roo-dee-doo-dee-die-day
A-roo-dee-doo-dee-dum
A-roo-dee-doo-dee-doo-dee
[Pre-Chorus]
There's no one to hear me
There's nothin' to say
And no one can stop me
From feeling this way, yeah
[Chorus]
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I've got no mind to worry
Close my eyes and drift away
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
Lazy Sunday afternoon
I've got no mind to worry
[Outro]
Close my eyes and drift a—
Close my mind and drift away
Close my eyes and drift away