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Chart History
From the album Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!),
Help Me, Rhonda was a
#1 Pop hit for The Beach Boys in 1965.
It was also a
#22 hit for Johnny Rivers on New Lovers and Old Friends in 1975.
Songwriter:
Brian Wilson
J's Journal:
The first rock group I ever liked was the Beach Boys. Not only was the Beach Boys' "Endless Summer" the first record I ever purchased, their follow-up collection, "Spirit of America," was the first cassette I ever purchased. So, I had plenty of Beach Boys in my background, and it was only a matter of time till we started spoofing them. Our first shot at that was an early version of "John 1:1" (a parody of "Fun Fun Fun") on "Want It Dead or Alive?," our last cassette release before "Isn't Wasn't Ain't." "Help Me Rhoda" was next. That was a non-brainer, especially once I got the full line of "Help me, Rhoda, yeah, get inside of the house."
I love the story in Acts chapter 12 that this parody is based on: Peter is in jail, facing almost certain execution, and everybody in the church is praying for him. God sends an angel to set him free, and Peter gets to the place where the believers are hiding and knocks on the door. They send a servant girl named Rhoda to go see who's at the door. She goes and discovers it's Peter and runs to tell them, but they don't believe it's really Peter -- they think it's his angel! Here these people are, praying to God for Peter's release, and when it happens, they don't believe it. Of course, when the angel first appeared to Peter, he thought the angel was a vision! And these were people who'd seen miracles before. And isn't that the way we are with our prayers, too? We pray for things even though sometimes we don't believe they really can happen, or when they do happen, we can't believe it. Actually, that story in Acts 12 was also the basis for the Christian song that was playing on my tape deck the first time I felt God leading me to read the Bible way back in 1987, a year before I became a born again Christian -- Amy Grant's famous song "Angels."
My favorite performer on "Help Me Rhoda" is probably Jeff Pakula, who was still our concert drummer at this time but elected not to play drums on the "Isn't Wasn't Ain't" project. He did, however, sing some background vocals, mostly for comedic effect. Jeff's muffled vocals at the door (we were banging on a real door in the basement) and the one "Yeah!" he says after "Help me Rhoda" never fail to crack me up. Karl cut one of my favorite vocal parts on this song. At the end, I said, "Acts chapter 12, check it for yourself," and Karl thought it sounded too snotty or something, so he faded it out after "Acts chapter 12."
Stats:
Genre: Oldies
Length: 2:38
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Help Me, Rhoda
Parody of "Help Me, Rhonda" by The Beach Boys
(Acts 12:2-17)
Well, since he let me out
I've been out knockin' on your door
Come open it up
'Cause I'm the one that you've been prayin' for
Ah, Rhoda, you looked surprised (looked surprised)
But you didn't let me come inside
You gotta – help me, Rhoda
Help me get inside of the house
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda! Help, help, me Rhoda!
Help me, Rhoda, yeah, get inside of the house!
They were gonna take my life
And I was gonna be quite dead
But an angel came along
And he freed me, now I'm out here instead
Ah, Rhoda, you got the door (got the door)
But I'm wonderin' what you're waitin' for
You gotta, help me, Rhoda, help me get inside of the house
CHORUS
Acts 12:13-14
Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to
answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she
ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
©2010 Parodudes Music, Inc.
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