"Red Rubber Ball" is a song by the American rock band the Cyrkle. Written by Bruce Woodley (The Seekers) and Paul Simon, the song reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100.[2] It also reached number two in South Africa[3] and New Zealand,[4] and it topped the charts in Canada.[5]
"Red Rubber Ball" is sung from the perspective of a person whose relationship and/or friendship has just been ended by their partner or friend, respectively. The song teaches that - when people use you, mistreat you, and ignore you, "there are other starfish in the sea", and it is best to move on. Namely, the other person did not care for them in the first place, using them only as something for their pride.
Recordings
According to Cyrkle guitarist Tom Dawes, Simon offered "Red Rubber Ball" to the band when they were opening for Simon and Garfunkel on tour.[6][7] The song's tracks were recorded in stereo, with the bass, lead guitar, and percussion on the right track, acoustic guitar and electric organ on left, and the vocals on both.
The Columbia picture sleeve issued with the "Red Rubber Ball" single is a very rare and oft-sought item amongst record collectors; near-mint copies are said to fetch three figures.[citation needed]
The Seekers also recorded "Red Rubber Ball" for their 1966 album Come the Day (called Georgy Girl in the USA). It also appears on the CDbox setThe Seekers Complete.
In an interview on The Colbert Report, Paul Simon said he wrote "Red Rubber Ball" while living in England to get a £100 advance from The Seekers. This came in response to Colbert's request for Simon to name a song that was "on the cusp" when it came to being included in his songbook Lyrics 1964–2008.[citation needed]
In the US, "Red Rubber Ball" spent a single week at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart at the same time "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles was at No. 1, during the week ending July 9, 1966. It was the fifth week during 1966 in which songs written by Simon and by John Lennon and Paul McCartney were simultaneously at No. 1 and No. 2 on the chart.
Collaboration Information
Before the success of Simon's The Sound of Silence, Bruce Woodley (Of the Seekers), and Simon co-wrote Red Rubber Ball[8]. Afterwards, however, Woodley's relationship with Simon had deteriorated and Woodley later struggled to get his share of the royalties— for example, his songwriting credit on another song, "Cloudy" was omitted from the release of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.[9] Woodley and Simon stopped working together due to the mentioned royalty problems and creative differences, and the collaborations ended after that.
Canadian punk rock group The Diodes had it as the first track on their debut album, The Diodes (1977). According to the liner notes of the 1998 Diodes anthology, Tired of Waking Up Tired, the band recorded the cover because Paul Simon had been vocal in his disapproval of punk rock music.
Simon and Garfunkel recorded a live version in 1967 that was not released until their 1997 compilation album Old Friends.
Grammy nominated Polka music artist, Lenny Gomulka, recorded a cover with his award winning Polka band, Lenny Gomulka and Chicago Push, on their 1998 album Push It To The Limit.
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