Well now, today’s prompt for Song Lyric Sunday presents an interesting epistemological conundrum. Jim wants a song from ‘a forgotten band’. Hang on though: if we can write about it, they can’t be forgotten, can they?

But enough of this chop logic – on with the back story. It’s early October 1970 and my first day at university. Of course there was something that I think is now called the freshers’ ball. In this case, my college put on a concert which featured a band called ‘Bees Make Honey’. This was quite exciting for me, because, as an avid reader of New Musical Express, I was familiar with the name, although I don’t think I’d ever heard anything by them. They were very big on the pub rock ‘scene’ at the time, so I really enjoyed the show (there were other reasons, no doubt…).

Anyway, who (apart from me) still remembers Bees Make Honey? Here they’re performing a song written by Fleecy Moore, which has also been covered by – among others – B B King and Willie Nelson. Oh, and they’ve thrown in an a few extra lines. Why they insist on calling it ‘Caledonia’ (the Latin name for Scotland) I have no idea.

Incidentally, the video is a an excellent evocation of the early seventies pub rock scene.

Walking with my baby, she got great big feet
Long, lean and cranky and ain’t had nothing to eat
But she’s my baby, I love her just the same
I’m crazy about my baby ’cause Caldonia is her name
Caldonia, Caldonia
What makes your big head so hard?
I love you, I love you just the same
I’m crazy about you, baby, ’cause Caldonia is your name

You know my mother told me to leave Caldonia alone
No kidding, that what she said
She said, “Son, the woman ain’t no good, leave her alone”
But mama didn’t know what Caldonia had been putting down
So I’m going down to Caldonia’s house and ask her just one more time

Caldonia, Caldonia
What makes your big head so hard?
I love you, love you just the same
I’m crazy about you, baby, ’cause Caldonia is your name

Written by Fleecy Moore

Song Lyric Sunday 19 January 2025