Cover Songs

National Lucky Penny Day – May 23

randydafoe18 Comments
J.D. McPherson “Lucky Penny”

Ok, so not the best lyrics to start this post off but who would have thought a song called “Lucky Penny” would be saying “This lucky’s penny’s been nothing but bad luck”. Let’s try and turn that frown upside down!

I have a lot to feel lucky about, not just today but every day. I hope you do too! It’s been said that if you found a penny on the ground it was good luck. Some superstitions claimed it had to be a “heads up” as the opposite side was a bad omen.

“Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck.” It is a very old idea and from what I gather it is not strictly the opposite of the “Bad Penny” that seems to have been around since Ancient Greece.

Well, it was February 4, 2013, that they stopped circulating them here in Canada and cash prices were rounded to the nearest five cents. Just like when we got rid of the dollar bill, people complained but we got over it and frankly it became much easier. So if you found a penny around here today it would be a rare thing indeed. I think Ireland got rid of theirs as well. Elsewhere, well if prices are anything like they are here, a penny won’t get you very far. Not much if any copper in them towards the end, so melting them down won’t get you very far either.

All that said let’s remember the good omen. Here are some songs with “Luck” or “Lucky” in the title. For the most part, the songs are all facing “heads up” or on the “Good” side. Happy Lucky Penny Day!

Emerson, Lake & Palmer “Lucky Man”
Alison Krauss & Union Station “The Lucky One”.
Nick Lowe “Lucky Dog”
Frank Sinatra – “Luck Be A Lady”
Bonnie Raitt “Luck of the Draw”
Elvis Presley “Good Luck Charm”
Britney Spears “Lucky”
Lana Del Rey “Lucky Ones”
Loverboy “Lucky Ones”
Lloyd Price “Lady Luck”
The Style Council “Luck”
Deep Purple “Lady Luck”
Rusty Kershaw “Fisherman’s Luck”
Ella Fitzgerald “(I’ve Got) Beginner’s Luck”
Marvin Gaye “Happy Go Lucky”
Richard Himber (Stuart Allen, vocal) “I’m A Lucky Devil (To Find An Angel Like You)”
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra – Vocal Refrain by Al Hibbler “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So”
Michael Feinstein “Luckiest Man in the World”
Jason Mraz feat. Emily King “Lucky”
Lefty Frizzell “Lucky Arms”
Judy Garland “Lucky Day”
Sarah Vaughn “Lucky in Love”
Bruce Springsteen “My Lucky Day”

I confess to not listening to all the lyrics of each song, but if you can get in some Rusty and or Doug Kershaw, then for me that’s a lucky day. That calls for a bonus song and future post teaser.

“Hey Mae” (1958)

18 thoughts on “National Lucky Penny Day – May 23”

  1. Happy ‘Lucky Coin We Don’t Have Anymore Day,’ Randy!

    That’s quite a selection of genres, Randy! Some great tunes I did not know, and it’s coincidental that just this week I was thinking of using ELP’s “Lucky Man” and opted for a more obscure track of theirs instead. I second obbverse’s suggestion of “O Lucky Man.”

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  2. Wide ranging styles and decades listed here, something for everyone. I even enjoyed the Mraz song, which for someone living in the musical past is a nice change! On listening to Rusty Kershaw’s ‘Fishermans Luck’ I was struck (unintentional rhyme there) by the similarity to Bobby Gentry’s ‘Louisiana Man.’ That’s no bad thing though! A couple from the ol’ playlists, Eels ‘Your Lucky Day In Hell’ and Alan Price ‘O Lucky Man’ last song on the soundtrack of the film of the same name.

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