James Brown, Mar 16, 2013
James Brown performs and dances to "Out of Sight", live on the TAMI show.
"Out of Sight" was recorded by James Brown in 1964. It was A significant pop hit, reaching #24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #5 on the Cashbox R&B chart.
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of James Brown performing his 1964 song "Out Of Sight" on the Tami Show. The transcript of that video is included in this post.
This pancocojams post also includes some information about the history of the phrase "out of sight" with the meaning "amazing" or "great".
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to James Brown for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/02/what-does-word-uptight-means-in-stevie.html a closely related pancocojams post entitled "What Does The Word "Uptight" Mean In Stevie Wonder's 1966 R&B Song "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" ".
Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-words-out-of-sight-or-out-of-style.html for the related pancocojams post entitled "The Words "Out Of Sight" Or "Out Of Style" In "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky" Rhymes & What Those Examples Suggest About Children's Lack Of Knowledge About Michael Jackson And His Song "Billy Jean" ".
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THE TRANSCRIPT OF THAT EMBEDDED VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zieXmNwHGYA
"Video transcript: Wait a second. Wait a second. He's brought down houses from coast to coast. Where are the flames? Cool it a second, would you? And border to border. Where are the flames? The Flames are right here. Tonight. James Brown and his famous Flames Got your highest sneakers on. It's slippin' new. Got your highest sneakers on. And you're slippin' new. You're more than alright. You know you're out of sight You gotta shake the figure, mama. That's keeping me uptight. You gotta shake the figure, mama. That keep me uptight. You're too much. You know you're out of sight. Hey, the way you do the thing. The way you do the thing you do. The way you do the thing you do. Well, you kissed me too. Well you're alright. You're know you're out of sight. You got a sweet disposition. Oh, you're always right. You got a sweet disposition. Oh, you're always right. My heart's delight. That's what you are. You know you're out of sight. You're too much. You're in now. You know just where it's at. You're beautiful, mama. Most of all you're out of sight. There's no doubt, you're out of sight. Out of sight. Ooooh. Oooooh. There's no doubt you're out of sight. Out of sight. Ooooh. Ooooh," ****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHRASE "OUT OF SIGHT" WITH THE MEANING "AMAZING"
These excerpts are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Online Excerpt #1
From https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/581496/what-is-the-origin-of-out-of-sight-or-outa-sight These numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1. "What is the origin of "out of sight" or "outa
sight" in the sense of amazing/unbelievable?
I had thought that "out of sight" or "outa
sight" in the sense of amazing originated in the 1960s. I was surprised to
find it used frequently in Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets,
published in 1893. For example, Maggie is take to a menagerie and her reaction
is "Dis is outa sight." Was it a common expression in the late 19th
Century? Was it derived from "out of sight" in the sense of hidden
(out of sight, out of mind)?"
-Asked Zan700, Dec. 20, 2021
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2. "It means "beyond the range of sight" and hence
very high, very far, or great, exceeding limits or boundaries; this isn't the
same as meaning hidden. In this metaphorical sense (not relating to sight), it
dates to the 19th century, the 1830s or so.
The OED has an entry on out of sight, adjective and adverb, and it traces the development through three meanings.
"Beyond the range of sight". This can mean hidden or absent but as often means disappeared into the distance. There are very old examples: "When man is out of sight, soon he passeth out of mind" is from Thomas a Kempis c. 1500 (I modernised the spelling). Also, from 1619 "As soon as I was out of sight, I walked further towards the East." From 1745 "She soars clear out of sight." So there's often a sense of disappearing into the sky or exceeding boundaries or going far away, not merely being hidden or going into a dark corner. This leads to the later senses of excelling or exceeding rivals. George Eliot in 1836 uses it with some metaphorical import, implying vast distances and sublimity: "Walking through her own furlongs of corridor and under her own ceilings of an out-of-sight loftiness."
"Extremely well; beyond all comparison." The OED says this is originally American slang (although most of its examples are British); there is one example from 1835 onwards but more commonly late 19th century; it says the phrase is now rare as an adverb but still common as an adjective. Examples 1845 "In most respects my situation is out of sight more suitable than it was at Craigenputtock." 1880 "Under the old management, it was out of sight the most comic journal in England." 1927 "The corn we raise is our delight, / The melons, too, are out of sight." The metaphorical extension seems fairly obvious, but it's interesting to look at sense 3.
As an adverb, slang term from 1839 "To a great degree; to the limit of endurance; utterly; completely." 1839: "She'll talk you out of sight." Also people getting beaten "out of sight" from 1844 and 1890. This is listed as slightly later than sense 2 but in view of the closeness of dates and the fact that there are more examples of it from the mid 19th century than there are of sense 2, it's possible it's slightly older, and that 2 and 3 are closely connected. "Out of sight" equalling "very far" is a natural metaphor from the limits of human vision.
Sources:
"out of sight, adv., adj., and n." OED Online.
Oxford University Press, December 2021. Web. 20 December 2021.
Phrase Finder:
Out of sight, The Free Dictionary"
-answered Dec 20, 2021, Stuart F
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Here's some information about the OED:
From https://www.oed.com/information/about-the-oed/?tl=true
"About the OED
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as
the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to
the meaning, history, and usage of 500,000 words and phrases past and present,
from across the English-speaking world.
As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from dictionaries of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You’ll still find present-day meanings in the OED, but you’ll also find the history of individual words, sometimes from as far back as the 11th century, and of the language—traced through 3.5 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts, song lyrics, and social media posts.
The OED started life more than 150 years ago.
Today, the dictionary is in the process of its first full revision. Updates
revise and extend the OED at regular intervals, each time subtly adjusting our
image of the English language."...
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Online Excerpt #2
From https://www.quora.com/Where-and-when-did-the-expression-Its-outta-sight-originate "Where and when did the expression "It's outta sight!" originate?"
1. James Jones, 2021
"I couldn’t give you an exact date, but I first heard it in
the mid to late 1960s.
That said, this web page cites two books from, of all things, the early 1890s, that uses “out of sight” in the 1960s sense!
The meaning and origin of the phrase 'Out of sight'.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/out-of-sight.html
**
2. David Lincoln Brooks, 2021
" “Outta sight!” was mainly used in the 1960’s and into the
early 70’s.
However, I think this slangy expression, like so many of the
1960’s, had filtered down from the lingo of your Black bebop jazz musicians of
the 1940’s, and thence from your 1950’s Beatnik enclaves."
**
3. Valeta Sue, 2021
" "Out of Sight" is a rhythm and blues song recorded
by James Brown in 1964. Of course, the expression 'out of sight has a literal
meaning, that is, 'beyond the range of sight', and will have been used that way
for as long as the language has existed. However, 'out of sight' as a
metaphorical phrase is commonly thought of as the language of the hippie
period, and it was so prevalent then as to have been abbreviated to 'outa
sight. The derivation of that era's use of the phrase was an extension of
another hippie expression - 'far out. Some people or things were so far out
they were 'out of sight. Whatever mind-altering substances the person who
coined it might have been influenced by the existing phrase ‘out of sight, out
of mind’ may also have been an influence. Despite that strong association with
California and flower power, both 'out of sight' and 'far out' were coined in
the more restrained Victorian period."...
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Online Excerpt #3
From https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-out-of-sight What is the meaning of "Out of Sight"?
1. James Puntasecca, 2022
"It can mean 2 things. Literal meaning is that something is
so far away that it can’t be seem. A very American phrase is “out of sight, out
of mind.” If I can’t see you, I am not thinking of you. This is used as a
metaphor from the 1960’s also. It means fabulous, pretty, gorgeous, exciting,
flashy. fancy, fun. May I suggest you watch two videos? Bobby Sherman live on
stage in Tennessee singing “Julie, Julie, Julie” (A girl asks him what he
thinks of Nashville girls. He replies, “Out of sight.”) Another song “Uptight”
Everything is alright. Uptight. Clean out of sight.” Get it??"
-snip-
The second song that was given in the abovecomment is Stevie Wonder's 1966 R&B song "Uptight (Everything is Alright)".
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2. James Michael, 2022
"As several answers have indicated, the literal meaning is
fairly obvious, but I presume you were looking for the figurative meaning of
the expression. “Out of sight“ is a slang expression, usually referring to
something that is terrific or exemplary. It is related to the expression “far
out“ which has a similar meaning. Both expressions arise from the idea that if
an event, a person, or an idea, is so exceptional that it does not fall on the
normal range of similar things, then it is “out” of the realm of the expected.
You could say, for example, that an athlete’s performance in
a sport greatly exceeded the performance of all other athletes. You could graph
a series of data points, on which that athlete’s performance is far outside the
normal range for other athletes. (I think in particular of Wilt Chamberlain
scoring 100 points in a professional basketball game, which no other player has
even come close to). Such a performance could literally be described as “far
out.” And just like in the physical world an object might be so far outside of
our ability to sense it that we can no longer see it, such as when a baseball
is hit out of a ball park, so too in the figurative sense something might be so
exceptional that we say that it is “out of sight.“
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