The Joke (Is Not On Me)

Album: Lonely Teardrops (1959)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • When Janie Bradford was a teenager, she wrote poetry, unaware that it wasn't the same as writing songs. It was Motown founder Berry Gordy who encouraged her to start penning lyrics for music. She recalled to Mojo magazine:

    "When I saw Berry, he was just an ordinary man, no wings. I told him, 'If you can write a song, I can write a song better than you any day.'"

    Bradford added: "Maybe a month or two later, Berry came by the house to hear some of my songs, which I did not have, of course. I've never written a song in my life but I had notebooks full of poetry. So I got one of them and said, 'Here are my words,' cos I didn't even know the term lyric at that point. He took my words and showed me how to take the poetry out, do it in song form, with hooks and bridges and that stuff."

    Soon afterwards Janie Bradford wrote her first proper song, "The Joke (Is Not On Me)," with Berry Gordy's sister, Gwen; it was included on Jackie Wilson's album Lonely Teardrops.
  • Janie Bradford went on to a successful songwriting career, co-penning many of Motown's classic '60s songs, including (with Berry Gordy) Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" and Marvin Gaye's "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.

Laura Nyro

Laura NyroSongwriting Legends

Laura Nyro talks about her complex, emotionally rich songwriting and how she supports women's culture through her art.