I want you to look at the sky. Look at those stars. What a show!In the radio announcer's mind, it is the stars that cause him to exclaim, "what a show!"
Here are The Drifters.
In Baby's mind, though, her memory of her recent dance performance with Johnny at the Sheldrake causes her to think, "what a show!"
On the car radio, the Drifters' song "Some Kind of Wonderful" plays as Johnny continues to drive and as Baby changes her clothes in the car's back seat.
(I do not have a video clip of that scene.)
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!======
All you have to do is touch my hand,
To show me you understand,
And something happens to me
That's some kind of wonderful.
Any time my little world is blue,
I just have to look at you,
And every thing seems to be
Some kind of wonderful.
I know I can't express
This feeling of tenderness.
There's so much I wanna say
But the right words just don't come my way
I just know when I'm in your embrace,
This world is a happy place.
And something happens to me
That's some kind of wonderful.
Baby climbs over front seat's back and sits in the passenger seat. As they sit next to each other, both remain silent. Their lengthy silence matches, in Baby's mind, one stanza of the song playing on the radio.
I know I can't expressWhen the car reaches its destination, Johnny and Baby get out of the car and stand facing each other. They briefly hold each others' hands. The touching of hands matches, in Baby's mind, another stanza.
This feeling of tenderness.
There's so much I wanna say,
But the right words just don't come my way.
All you have to do is touch my hand,======
To show me you understand,
And something happens to me
That's some kind of wonderful.
The song Some Kind of Wonderful, performed by the Drifters, had been released as a record in 1961 -- two years before the Dirty Dancing story is taking place. The record reached #32 on the US Billboard pop chart and #6 on the US Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart.
The song had been composed by the husband-and-wife team of Gerry Goffin and Carol King. He had been born in 1939, and she had been born in 1942, and they had married in 1959, when he had been 20 and she had been 17 years old. In their musical collaboration, he generally wrote the lyrics and she wrote the music.
Their first big collaborative hit was the song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", which was recorded by the Shirelles and released in 1960. In the following decade, Goffin and King collaborated to compose more than two dozen hits, including "Some Kind of Wonderful" in 1961.
The following video is based on the Broadway musical about King's life.
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Of all the songs in Dirty Dancing, the lyrics of "Some Kind of Wonderful" are the only that have all the following qualities:
* a simple and clear meaning,However, the music and lyrics of "Some Kind of Wonderful" can barely be heard, because they are played on the car's radio at a low volume. The only word that can be heard clearly is in the refrain -- wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
* correct grammar and syntax,
* a coherent train of thought from beginning to end,
* easily understandable words and sentences,
* a romantic sentiment,
* an absence of vulgarity.
I assume that all the lyrics were supposed to be heard, because the lengthy silence and the touching of hands matched the lyrics, as I pointed out above. However, the main reason why the song was included in the movie was so that the movie audience would hear that one word wonderful.
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1) Near the movie's beginning: On a day following the performance of Penny Johnson and Johnny Castle in the ballroom, Penny is helping guests, including Baby, try on wigs on an outside yard. Baby remarks to Penny:
So you were really a Rockette? I think you're a wonderful dancer. ... I envy you.2) In the movie's middle: Baby goes to visit Penny, who is recuperating in her cabin. Penny is dressed in a bathrobe and lying on her bed. As Baby enters through the cabin's front door, Penny remarks:
You just missed your father. He's such a wonderful man.3) In the movie's ending: Baby and Johnny have finished their performance at the talent show and then have danced in the crowd for a while. Now Baby and Johnny are walking out of the room, when her father, Jake Houseman, stops them, looks at Baby, and says:
You looked wonderful out there.-----
This is a circle of wonderful compliments. Baby complimented Penny, who complimented Jake, who complimented Baby.
The third compliment -- when Jake calls Baby wonderful -- is extremely important. He then embraces his daughter, and he struggles not to cry. This is the denouement moment that causes all the dopey girls in the movie audience to burst into tears. This third wonderful moment is the emotional summit of the movie's happy ending.
This third and most important wonderful moment had been foreshadowed by the previous two wonderful moments.
1) Baby had envied Penny's being a wonderful dancer -- and then Baby herself became a wonderful dancer.
2) Penny had praised Jake for being a wonderful man -- and then Baby reconciled with this wonderful man, her own wonderful father.
The song on the radio also foreshadowed the third wonderful moment. When the song began playing on the car radio, Baby was sitting in the car's back seat and was apologizing to Johnny for her failure to accomplish the lift move during their performance at the Sheldrake Hotel. As she is apologizing, however, the Drifters are prophesying some future kind of wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Baby will accomplish the lift move at the talent show, and then her father will exclaim to her, "You looked wonderful out there!"
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The Drifters was not a coherent singing group. It was basically just a brand name that was owned by a music producer named George Treadwell. He moved singers in and out the group frequently. Although the group comprised only five singers at a time, at least 60 singers have belonged to the group since it was founded it in 1950.
During the years 1958-1960, the group's lead singer was Ben E. King. During those years he recorded 13 songs, one of which was the song "Some Kind of Wonderful" in 1960. Other of King's "Drifters" recordings were much bigger hits -- such as "This Magic Moment" and "Save the Last Dance for Me".
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King quit The Drifters already in May 1960 and began a solo career. In the below video, he sings one of his first solo hits, "Stand By Me", on a 1961 television program.
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During King's long recording career, which lasted from 1959 to 1986 - his songs included 12 Top-10 hits and 26 Top-40 hits.
King's 1960 song "Some Kind of Wonderful" would have sunk into oblivion long ago if it had not been included -- because of its important word wonderful -- in the Dirty Dancing movie and soundtrack album.
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The expression some kind of itself can mean something like wonderful. I explain as follows.
The adjective some usually modifies a plural noun. The items within the plurality might or might not be varied. Consider the following sentence.
There are some cars in the parking lot.The cars might all be similar to each other or might be varied. None of the cars necessarily is unusual or remarkable.
When the adjective some modifies a singular noun, however, then the item necessarily is unusual or remarkable.
That is some car in the parking lot.This car is so unusual and remarkable that its sight causes a sense of wonder in the viewer. A person looking at this car wonders about it.
This usage of the word some can be amplified by extending the expression to some kind of.
That is some kind of car in the parking lot.The kind itself of the car is unusual and remarkable. The person wonders not merely about the car itself. Rather, he wonders about the very kind of car.
Such thoughts are amplified further by the expression some kind of wonderful.
I just know when I'm in your embrace,The expression some kind of wonderful means something like wonderfully wonderful.
This world is a happy place.
And something happens to me
That's some kind of wonderful.
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