“If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me) by the Bellamy Brothers

This week for Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has prompted us with songs pertaining to Could/Might/Should/Would. We’re getting our grammar on, y’all!

David & Howard Bellamy, The Bellamy Brothers are an American Pop & Country Music Duo who hav entertained audiences all over the world for the past 40 years. They have released multiple albums in 17 countries.

The Bellamy Brothers are from Darby, Florida in Pasco County. They had their first musical gig in 1968 at a benefit concert in San Antonio, Florida at the Rattlesnake Roundup with their father who played country music around the house. Fraternity parties at the University of Florida became their first paid gigs. To hear their story, you may be interested in their book “Let Their Love Flow – The Live and Times of the Bellamy Brothers”.

“If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” was released in March 1979 and was the second single on the album “The Two and Only”. The song was written by David Bellamy and became The Bellamy Brothers first number 1 hit on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Singles chart and their second number one overall, after their 1976 pop hit “Let Your Love Flow” which is a great song in its own right.

On the original single, the song showed the word “Have” in the title, however on subsequent releases, the title was listed with “Had”. The change came from a Groucho Marx line that he would sometimes use while interviewing attractive female contestants on his television program “You Bet Your Life” where Marx would say to them “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body”, then shake his cigar & raise his eyebrows to elicit a reaction. Of course today, the show would be cancelled and Marx would be sued for sexual harassment.

In an issue in 2003, Country Weekly magazine named “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me” the number 1 country pick-up line of all time. Took them long enough to decided that. It was the #1 pick up line in the 80’s when I was a teenager moving into adulthood. I know, I lived it!

David Bellamy on left, Howard Bellamy on the right

If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
If I swore you were an angel,
Would you treat me like the devil tonight
If I were dying of thirst
Would your flowing love come quench me
If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
Now we can talk all night about the weather
Tell you 'bout my friends out on the coast
I could ask a lot of crazy questions
Or I could ask what I really want to know
If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
If I swore you were an angel,
Would you treat me like the devil tonight
If I were dying of thirst
Would your flowing love come quench me
If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
The rain can fall so soft against the window
The sun can shine so bright up in the sky
But daddy always told me, "Don't make small talk"
He said, "Come on out and say what's on your mind"
So if I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
If I swore you were an angel,
Would you treat me like the devil tonight
If I were dying of thirst
Would your flowing love come quench me
If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
If I said you had a beautiful body
Would you hold it against me
If I swore you were an angel,
Would you treat me like the devil tonight
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: David Bellamy
If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me) lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC