Songfacts®:

• In this song, Don Covay has a woman that brings him up one minute and down the next - her love is like a see saw. He knows he loves her, so it's driving him crazy because he doesn't know where he stands.
• Covay was an American soul singer who recorded for a few different labels in the '60s. He didn't have any huge hits as an artist, but as a songwriter was far more successful - in 1961, Chubby Checker took his song "Pony Time" to #1 in America.
  
  Covay was signed to Atlantic when he released "See Saw" in 1965. Aretha Franklin was also on the roster and recorded Covay's "Chain Of Fools" in 1967. It was a huge hit for her, so Aretha recorded "See Saw" in 1968. Her version went to #14 in the US.
• Don Covay wrote "See Saw" in Memphis with the guitarist Steve Cropper, who was part of the house band at Stax Records, where they recorded it. That Stax band was Booker T. & the MG's, which had a hit on their own with "Green Onions" in 1962. Atlantic Records sometimes sent their artists there to record, knowing they would get top-quality work.
  
  Cropper and Covay also wrote "Sookie Sookie" at these sessions. Covay included that one on his 1966 See Saw album, and Steppenwolf released it as a single two years later.