Song of the Day 7/8: Glen Campbell, “Turn Around, Look at Me”

The same Supreme Court justices who whinged a mighty whinge about protesters outside their homes hypocritically overruled the conviction of an egregious stalker a couple of weeks ago.

I should have addressed the subject at the time, but I couldn’t decide which stalker song to go with. The Police classic “Every Breath You Take” would be the obvious choice — too obvious, I thought. Then I recalled that many people mistook it for a love song long enough for it to reach No. 1 before Sting pointed out, “It’s a nasty little song.”

When you look at some of the myriad songs lamenting unrequited love, they suddenly translate the same way. Consider this tune, co-written by Glen Campbell in 1961. “There’s someone walking behind you, turn around, look at me” reads a little differently if you put yourself in the shoes of the woman receiving unwanted attention.

This was Campbell’s first charting single as a solo artist, though it only reached No. 62, but it made the Top 10 in 1968 when it was covered by the Ventures.