The Temptations

The Temptations are a very popular Motown band that started in the 1960’s when two local vocal groups joined forces. The 1965 album The Temptations Sing Smokey is their album that really catches my ear and put The Temptations on the map. The members of the group at that time were David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Paul Williams. The album was composed of songs written and produced by Smokey Robinson and was the second album The Temptations had put out. Not only is the music great, but also The Temptations knew how to perform. The three hits of the album are the famous “My Girl,” “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and “It’s Growing.” (allmusic.com) All of the songs mentioned above …show more content…

In the music video you can tell they are excited and nervous. They have a great sound and get the crowd so involved with their choreography. This is another love song and the metaphors are somewhat corny, but the way they harmonize and accentuate different words really makes it the song it is. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l_U8DQhYQA) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgm3eeGq4M)
“It’s Growing” is a song of theirs I had never heard before researching for this paper. It has a slower feel to it, which is probably why it wasn’t as popular as the previous two mentioned but gained speed and “grew” like a snowball rolling down a hill. Again it is a love song and the dancing is contagious. The metaphors in this song are not as corny as “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and are common metaphors you wouldn’t think to stick all together in a song. Unlike the metaphors in “The Way You Do The Things You Do” comparing traits of a woman to objects, the metaphors are about things that happen in nature and grow, like a fish that is growing. Then it is compared to how their love for a woman is growing and the unpredictability of how it will go or when it will stop.
I first started listening to this music at the end of high school and it brings me back to the days where myself and a couple of my friends thought we were “in love” with the boys we were dating. There is nothing like the feeling of your “first love” maybe except “real