Cross My Heart (Phil Ochs song)

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Cross My Heart (Phil Ochs song) - Wikipedia

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"Cross My Heart"
Song by Phil Ochs
from the album Pleasures of the Harbor
Published	1966
Released	1967
Genre	Folk rock
Length	3:23
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Phil Ochs
Producer(s)	Larry Marks

"Cross My Heart"

Single by Phil Ochs

B-side

"Flower Lady"

Released

1967

Genre

Folk rock

Length

3:23

Phil Ochs

Larry Marks

Phil Ochs singles chronology

"I Ain't Marching Anymore"
(1966)

"Cross My Heart"
(1967)

"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends"
(1967)

"Cross My Heart" is a 1966 song by Phil Ochs, an American singer-songwriter best known for the protest songs he wrote in the 1960s.

"Cross My Heart" is the first song on Pleasures of the Harbor (1967), Ochs's first album for A&M Records and his first foray into orchestral instrumentation, or "baroque-folk".^[1] The song describes a world in which a person's dreams and plans are not as stable and certain as they seem. Nevertheless, the singer expresses optimism: "But I'm gonna give all that I've got to give, Cross my heart and I hope to live."^[2]

Ian Freebairn-Smith arranged the music on "Cross My Heart" and producer Larry Marks recalled that the orchestra had difficulty keeping pace with Ochs, who tended to slow his singing for the bridge and speed up for the verses.^[3]

Both Ochs and Marks thought the song might be a hit, so A&M released it as a single in 1967.^[2]^[3] Billboard included the single among the records it predicted would reach the Hot 100.^[4] "Cross My Heart" never reached the charts, nor was it the hit Ochs and Marks had hoped for. Cash Box said that it's a "poetic, mid tempo ballad with classical backing and overall flavor that is closer to pop than folk."^[5]

Boston Broadside, in its review of Pleasures of the Harbor, wrote that "Cross My Heart" was "both naive and pretentious ... it suffers from the colorlessness of Ochs' singing".^[6]

Beside the orchestrated version of "Cross My Heart" that appeared on Pleasures of the Harbor, a live version of the song from the 1966 Newport Folk Festival, performed by Ochs accompanying himself on guitar, was released in 1996 on the CD Live at Newport.^[7] A demo recording of the song was included in the 1997 box set Farewells & Fantasies.^[8]

Other performers who have recorded "Cross My Heart" include Eugene Chadbourne, Neil Hamburger and Jim and Jean.^[9]

References

^ Brend, Mark (2001). American Troubadours: Groundbreaking Singer-Songwriters of the 60s. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 106. ISBN 0-87930-641-6.
^ ^a ^b Schumacher, Michael (1996). There But for Fortune: The Life of Phil Ochs. New York: Hyperion. p. 154. ISBN 0-7868-6084-7.
^ ^a ^b Eliot, Marc (1989) [1979]. Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs. New York: Franklin Watts. p. 132. ISBN 0-531-15111-5.
^ "Chart Spotlights". Billboard. October 28, 1967. p. 10. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 21, 1967. p. 46. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
^ Eliot, p. 138.
^ Cohen, David (1999). Phil Ochs: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 200–201. ISBN 0-313-31029-7.
^ Cohen, pp. 202–205.
^ Cohen, pp. 276, 282.

v t e Phil Ochs
Discography
Studio albums	All the News That's Fit to Sing I Ain't Marching Any More Pleasures of the Harbor Tape from California Rehearsals for Retirement Greatest Hits
Live albums	Phil Ochs in Concert Gunfight at Carnegie Hall There and Now: Live in Vancouver 1968 Live at Newport Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace
Other albums	Camp Favorites
Posthumous releases	Sings for Broadside A Toast to Those Who Are Gone The Broadside Tapes 1 The Early Years On My Way
Posthumous compilations	Chords of Fame The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs There but for Fortune Farewells & Fantasies American Troubadour 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Phil Ochs Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs
Interview album	Interviews with Phil Ochs
Singles	"Power and the Glory" "I Ain't Marching Any More" "Cross My Heart" "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends" "The War Is Over" "My Life" "One Way Ticket Home" "Kansas City Bomber" "Bwatue"
Other songs	"Crucifixion" "Draft Dodger Rag" "Here's to the State of Mississippi" "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" "There but for Fortune" "Vietnam Talking Blues" List of songs recorded by Phil Ochs
Documentaries	Chords of Fame (1984) Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune (2011)
Tributes	Get Your Phil Learn: The Songs of Phil Ochs Poison Ochs: A Tribute to Phil Ochs This Is Absolutely Real: Visions and Versions of Phil Ochs What's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs List of cover versions
Related	Archives Sonny Ochs (sister) Michael Ochs (brother) Robyn Ochs (niece) Jim Glover Pigasus

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