Focus on... Walking In The Sand

As you all know, this song is a Shangri-Las cover, originally released in 1964 :

Some sources claim that the song originally lasted 7 minutes and was faded out sooner to fit radio standards.

Lyrics of the Shangri-Las version :

Seems like the other day
My baby went away
He went away 'cross the sea
It's been two years or so
That's when my baby go
And then this letter came for me
It said that we were through
He found somebody new
Oh, let me think, let me think, what can I do?
Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no no

(Remember) walkin' in the sand
(Remember) walkin' hand in hand
(Remember) the night was so exciting
(Remember) smile was so inviting
(Remember) then he touched my cheek
(Remember) with his fingertips
Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips

Whatever happened to
The boy that I once knew?
The boy who said he'd be true
Oh, what will happen to
The life I gave to you?
What will I do with it now?

(Remember) walkin' in the sand
(Remember) walkin' hand in hand
(Remember) the night was so exciting
(Remember) smile was so inviting
(Remember) then he touched my cheek
(Remember) with his fingertips
Softly, softly we'd meet with our lips

Walking In The Sand is the very first cover the Go-Go's made, and they started performing it in their very early days :

The band had already made the song theirs, taking it very far to the original even though Belinda still sings it quite the same way as the Shangri-Las did.

Lyrics of the Go-Go's version :

Seems like the other day
My baby, he went away
He went away across the sea

It's been two years ago
That's when my baby go
That's when this letter it came to me

It said that we were through
He'd found somebody new
Oooh, let me think
Oooh, let me think
What can I do?

Oh no
Oh no
Oh no no no no no

Walking in the sand
Walking hand in hand
The night was so exciting
His lips were so inviting

Whatever happened to
The boy that I once knew
The boy who said he'd be true
What will happen to
The life I gave to you
What will I do with my heart now

(Remember) walking in the sand
(Remember) walking hand in hand
(Remember) walking in the sand

As you can see, the girls cut out the end of the chorus.

As the Go-Go's sound evolved towards pop-rock, they still performed a very punk-rocky Walking in The Sand in 1981. And they had progressed greatly as musicians :

After the Beautify America Tour, Walking In The Sand was dropped from the setlists. Fans had to wait until the 1990 Reunion Tour to see them play this song again, in a more... melodramatic way.

Then again, no more Walking in The Sand for more than 10 years. But the song came back in the 2000's and has been performed regularly since then, starting with an emotional intro only to blast into an amazing harder-than-ever version :

Has this song been recorded during the Beauty And The Beat sessions ? It seems not, but I can't give up the hope to see a studio version see the light of day...

Many others artists have covered this song :

Louise Goffin, who made the song "No Trespassing" with Charlotte, also covered this song in 1979. If anyone has it please contact me because I would like to get it.