You're So Vain

Okay, I admit it: I love to sing this song. It's got a great tune, with some impressive low notes that aren't actually that hard to hit. Plus, you can stick it to anyone in the room who needs to be taken down a few notches. I play it a lot faster than Carly Simon's original, with a kind of home-grown rockabilly kind of feel to it. These are the chords I play.

3rd Capo

Well, you walked into the party

| Em | Em |

Like you were walking onto a yacht

| C | Em |

Your hat strategically dipped below one eye

| Em | Em |

Your scarf it was apricot

| C | Em |

You had one eye in the mirror as

| C - D | G - Em |

You watched yourself gavotte

| C | G |

And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner,

| D - C |

They'd be your partner, and

| C |

[chorus]

You're so vain

| G | G |

You prob'ly think this song is about you

| Em | G |

You're so vain

| Em |

I bet you think this song is about you, don't you?

| C | D |

Don't you? (Don't you?)

| D |

Well, you had me several years ago

When I was still quite naive

When you said that we made such a pretty pair

And that you would never leave,

Well you gave away the things you loved

And one of them was me

I had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee

Clouds in my coffee, and

[chorus]

[instrumental--first 6 lines of verse]

I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee

Clouds in my coffee, and

[chorus]

Well, I hear you went up to Saratoga

And your horse naturally won

Then you flew your new jet up to Nova Scotia

To see the total eclipse of the sun

Well, you're where you should be all the time

And when you're not you're with

Some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend

Wife of a close friend, and

[chorus]

| G | G | Em | G | Em--

You Gotta Give Me Some

I'll forgive any song its sexism with innuendoes like these. Bessie Smith sure knew how to say something incredibly dirty without saying anything dirty.

Lovin' is the thing I crave

For your love I'd be your slave

You gotta give me some

Yes, give me some

Can't you hear me pleading?

You gotta give me some.

Said Miss Jones to Old Butcher Pete

"I want a piece of your good old meat:

You gotta give me some

Oh, give me some,

I crave your round steak,

You gotta give me some."

Sweetest candy in the candy shop

It's just your sweet, sweet lollipop

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

I love all these suckers

You gotta give me some

To the milkman I heard Mary scream

That she wanted lots of cream

You gotta give me some

Oh, give me some

Catch it when you come, sir

You gotta give me some.

Hear me cryin' on my bended knees

If you want to put my soul at ease

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

Can't stand it any longer

You gotta give me some.

Zebra called the camel sugar lump

Said, "I'm goin' crazy about your hump:

You gotta give me some

Please, give me some

I can't wait eight days

You gotta give me some."

Jay bird said to the pecker wood

"I'll let you peck like a pecker should,

But give me some

Yes, give me some

I'm crazy bout them worms

You gotta give me some."

Murder In The First Degree

I'm flat-out guessing on some of these lyrics. They don't seem to be anywhere on the wide webs. The biggest question is, the first half of the last line in the third verse--"Any charge that I'm makin" makes the most sense, but it isn't what it sounds like she's actually saying. Let me know if you've got a different interpretation.

Well, I'm layin' here in this jailhouse, scared as any fool can be (2x)

I believe they're gonna hang me, from what my lawyer said to me

My man got runnin' around with a woman he know I can't stand (2x)

There's one notch on my gun, and the world's rid of one triflin' man

I scrubbed them pots and kettles, I washed and ironed them white folks' clothes (2x)

Any charge that I'm makin', I killed him, Judge, and that's all I know

Judge, if you had killed your woman, and had to come before me

If you'da killed a woman who trifled and had to come before me

I'd send her to the gallows, and, Judge, would let you go free

I said I ain't done nothin but killed a man what belonged to me (2x)

And here they got me charged with murder in the first degree

Jug Band Blues Sept. 16, 1924

For the life of me I can't figure out the last line of this song, which makes me pretty sad cause the rest of this song is so groovy. Sara Martin.

Did you ever wake up, find your daddy gone?

Turn over on your side, sing this lonesome song

I woke up this morning between midnight and day

You oughta see me grab the pillow where my daddy used to lay

Crying, hey, hey, ain't got no daddy now

If my country goes to war don't need no thing no how

Cause I'm singing this song for women just like myself

Running wild about a man when you know he's got someone else.

You can always tell when your man is treating you mean

You can always tell when your man is treating you mean

Lord, his meals ain't reg'lar and your house ain't never clean.

I ain't got nobody to carry my troubles to

I ain't got nobody to carry my troubles to

I've got the blues so bad I don't know what to do

I'll tell you now, I can't be satisfied

If I don't get my man, gonna catch a train and ride

Gonna sing this verse and I ain't gonna sing no more

The way this man goes to ___ ___ it makes me sore

Any-Kind-A Man

Another song about a woman who's leaving her no-good fella, this time from Victoria Spivey.

Daddy, there's a big change in your life

Why you don't treat me like you should a wife

Why you stay out all night

And you don't come home for days

But daddy you know, that isn't right

And now I've changed my ways

Well, you dragged me around until I'd lost my pride

And when I lose you, I'll be satisfied

Cause any-kind-a man will be better than you

If he's got one leg, that'd be alright

Just so he brings that one leg home to mama every night

Cause any-kind-a man will be better than you

Well, I tried being good, I meant to live like I should

That didn't matter to you

Now my good days are done, man I'm having my fun

Don't care what I do

Aw, I'm really glad I found you out in time

I mean to get me a good man while I'm in my prime

Cause any-kind-a man will be better than you

Mama Will Be Gone

For the life of me I cannot figure out what Rosa Henderson is saying in that third line. Someday, maybe, I will decipher it. Or someone will enlighten me. Which is to say, please do.

ETA: The folks over at WeenieCampbell.com have offered help deciphering the lyrics of the third line; Uncle Bud suggests "two-time me"; although not everyone is completely satisfied with that, it scans and it makes sense. Thanks, guys and gals!

I'm tired of fussing and calling you down

Your trifling ways is the talk of the town

You played around and tried to two-time me

You caused such misery

Done everything that a sweet mama should

Done everything I could

Still you won't appreciate

Til it will be too late

You're gonna wake some morning

You're gonna be in mourning

Cause sweet mama will be gone

You're gonna wake up sighing

You're gonna wake up crying

You'll be all alone

You used to call me

Your ace in the hole

But papa, papa,

You'll miss sweet jelly roll

You're gonna wake some morning

You're gonna be in mourning

Cause sweet mama will be gone

Fifty Miles Of Elbow Room

I think this song is what first truly alienated me from my metal-head friends. They just couldn't get it why I would like a song so much that was about going to heaven. They sneered at the "three great chords" progression typical of the Carter Family tunes, and I just gave up explaining it. It's not supposed to be difficult to play; it's supposed to be fun to play. And that tune is kind of a doozy to sing, for all it's no "Oh Danny Boy."

One hundred miles its length and breadth

The four-square city stands

With gems its walls of jasper shine

Not made with human hands

One hundred miles the gates are wide

Abundant entrance there

With fifty miles of elbow room

On either side to spare

For the gates are wide on the other side

Just beyond the sunset sea

There'll be room to spare as we enter there

Room for you and room for me

For the gates are wide on the other side

Where the flowers ever bloom

On the right hand, on the left hand

Fifty miles of elbow room

Sometimes I'm cramped and crowded here

And long for elbow room

I want to reach for altitude

Where fair flowers bloom

It won't be long til I shall fade

Into that city fair

With fifty miles of elbow room

On either side to spare.

Hand Of The Almighty; or God Will Fuck You Up

Don't tell me you don't know this one.

Oh, sinner do not stray

| D | D |

From the straight and narrow way

| G | D |

For the Lord is surely watching what you do

| D | D | A7 | A7 |

If you approach the Devil's den,

| D | D |

Turn round, don't enter in

| G | D |

Lest the hand of the Almighty fall on you

| D | A7 | D | D |

He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)

Yes, God will fuck you up

If you dare to disobey His stern commands

He'll fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)

Don't you know he'll fuck you up

So you better do some prayin' while you can

Long ago a man named Lot

Had a wife he thought was hot

But she would not stop her black and sinful ways

You know it was her own damn fault

When God turned that bitch to salt

That's the way he used to work back in those days

He fucked 'em up (he fucked 'em up)

He really fucked 'em up

When the people went and turned their backs on Him

He can fuck you up (he'll fuck you up)

No shit he'll fuck you up

Just like he fucked the people up back then

I used to have a friend named Ray

Who walked that evil way

He cursed and drank and broke his neighbor's fence

You know Ray was full aware

That some sheep were over there

And he knew them in the Biblical sense.

God fucked him up (he fucked him up)

He went and fucked Ray up

Went and paid him back for all his wicked sins

He fucked him up (he fucked him up)

Fucked that boy completely up

Now he's married to a Presbyterian.

Knoxville Girl

Here's another "murdered girl" song, with definitely the most gruesome description yet. I find the chord progression here really sweet, and it's the song for which I first learned to play the boom-chuk-chuk of waltz time. The version I learned is from the Louvin Brothers, although the song comes from England originally.

I met a little girl in Knoxville

| D | D | D | D |

A town we all know well

| G | G | D | D |

And every Sunday evening

| D | D | D | D |

Out in her home I'd dwell

| E | E | A7 | A7 |

We went out for an evening walk

| D | D | D | D |

About a mile from town

| G | G | D | D |

I picked a stick up off the ground

| D | D | D | D |

And knocked that fair girl down

| A7 | A7 | D | D |

She fell down on her bended knee

For mercy she did cry

Oh, Willie dear, don't kill me here

I'm unprepared to die

She never spoke another word

I only beat her more

Until the ground around me

With her blood did flow

I grabbed her by her golden curls

And I drug her around and around

Threw her into the river

That flows through Knoxville town

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl

With the dark and roving eye

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl

You can never be my bride

I started back to Knoxville

Got there about midnight

My mother she was worried

And woke up in a fright

Dear son, dear son, what have you done

To bloody your shirt so?

I told my anxious mother

I was bleeding at my nose

I called for me a candle

To light my way to bed

I called for me a handkerchief

To bind my aching head.

Rolled and tumbled the whole night through

As troubles was for me

Like flames of hell around my bed

And in my eyes could see

They carried me down to Knoxville

And put me in a cell

My friends all tried to get me out

But none could go my bail

I'm here to waste my life away

Down in this dirty old jail

Because I murdered that Knoxville girl

The girl I loved so well

Murder Ballads

I have a (perhaps morbid) fascination with a folk song phenomenon I call "Poor Ellen Smiths" after the first example of it I heard. These ballads about men who murder their girlfriends--out of jealousy, madness, drink, what have you--have many common themes, but what interests me is the tone of the songs. They are usually told from the killer's POV, and they are always oddly sympathetic with him, even as they describe, often in gruesome detail, the murder itself. Collecting these songs is an ongoing pet project of mine.

• "Poor Ellen Smith"
• "Knoxville Girl"
• "Little Sadie"
• "Down In The Willow Garden"
• "Tom Dooley"
• "Pretty Polly"
• "Banks Of The Ohio"
• "Jealous Lover"
• "Delia's Gone," Johnny Cash
• "Omie Wise"

Jealous-Hearted Me

When I decided to learn the chords to this song, I didn't know how to play a bar-F chord, which played heavily in the tab I could find online. So I made it up. I think it is awesome. This version is heavily influenced by the Ma Rainey version, which predates the Carter Family recording, so I've listed both in the tags.

It takes a rocking chair to rock

| A - E |

Takes a rubber ball to roll

| A - E |

Takes the man I love to satisfy my soul

| A - E | A7 |

Because I'm jealous, jealous

| D |

Jealous-hearted me

| D | A |

I said I'm jealous

| E |

Jealous as I can be

| E | A |

You can have my money

You can have my home

But for god's sake women leave my man alone

[chorus]

I got a stove in the kitchen

And it bakes it nice and brown

But I need a papa to turn my damper down

[chorus]

I'm gonna buy me a bulldog

To watch him while he sleeps

Watch that man of mine on his midnight creep

[chorus]

[repeat verse 1]

[chorus]

Moaning the Blues

Pretty much the sexiest blues song of all time. I haven't figured out what the last intelligible word of the song is--strut would make more sense, but doesn't strictly rhyme with was. Of course, as Tom Lehrer put it, it sounds more ethnic if it ain't good English and it don't even gotta rhyme. From the crooning of Victoria Spivey.

ETA: Suzy Thompson suggests bug may be the mystery word at the end of the third verse. Sounds pretty good to me. She's also given the OK on the chords, although she suggests a C7, which seems solid to me.

[intro]

| G - G7 | C7 | G - D7 | G |

Now, you talk about the black snake blues

| G | G7 |

Well, you haven't heard no moaning yet

| G | G7 |

Moaning all day long

| C7 | C7 | G | G |

And when you hear this moaning

| D7 |

It's moaning you will never forget

| D7 | G | G |

Ahhhh-ohhh

| G | G | G7 | G7 |

Ahhhh-ohhh

| G | G | G7 | G7 |

Mmmmmmm

| C7 | C7 |

Ahh-ohh

| G | G |

Well, I know I can moan,

| D7 |

I don't see how I lost my happy home

| D7 | G | G |

Well, it was on a Sunday morning

I didn't feel so good

I felt like a cow when she had lost her cud

I began my moaning all day long

And when you hear me moaning

You can bet sweet mama feel good.

Ahhhh-ohhh

Ahhhh-ohhh

Mmmmmmm

Ahh-ohh

Lord, I know I can moan,

I don't see how I lost my home

Well, if I'm the only one in my family

To take a biscuit to pieces

And put it back just like it was

With my moaning all day long

Yes, I can kick my legs high

And you oughta see me do the bug.

Ahhhh-ohhh

Ahhhh-ohhh

Mmmmmmm

Ahh-ohh

Ahhh-ohhhhhhh

Ahhhhh-ohhhhhhhhhh

Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Jug Band

• "Jealous-Hearted Me," Carter Family
• "Winding Stream," Carter Family
• "Stormy Waters," Jimmy Martin
• "Dark and Stormy Weather," Carter Family
• "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room," Carter Family
• "I Ain't Gonna Marry," a la Kweskin Jug Band
• "Bury Me Beneath The Willow Tree," Carter Family
• "Sugar Babe," a la Kweskin Jug Band
• "Going To The West"
• "What Was I Supposed To Do?"
• "Rose Of My Heart"
• "I Wish I'd Stayed In The Wagonyard"
• "Fan It," Texas Sheiks
• "Under The Chicken Tree"

Stormy Waters

My mother, as a bluegrass musician, talks about de-Jesus-ifying songs, replacing Jesus with something more secular. This is one song she never really did that with, probably because it felt too awkward. It's from the singing of Jimmy Martin, but I'll always hear it in the key my mom sings it in. There's a beautiful counterpoint harmony on the chorus, which I've provided in parentheses. Where parentheses are absent, the lyrics are in unison.

Capo 3

Though pilgrim on earth I may journey alone

| D | D | G | D |

Knowing not what the future may hold, may hold

| D | D | A7 | A7 |

I'd rather have Jesus and sing a sweet song

| D | D | G | D |

Than to covet their silver and gold

| D | A7 | D | D |

Stormy waters around me

(stormy cold waters drift all around me)

| G | G | D | D |

And the tempest and fury may roll

(tempest... roughly may roll)

| D | D | D | D |

But I have my dear Saviour

(but I still have... Jesus my saviour)

| G | G | D | D |

How he helps me nobody can know

(helps me... no one can know)

| D | D | A7 | A7 |

When it seems I'm forsaken

(Often it seems... I am forsaken)

| D | D | D | D |

And my earthly friends misunderstand

(Earthly... friends... misunderstand)

| G | G | G | G |

Stormy cold waters can drift all around me

(Stormy waters around me)

| D | D | D | D |

As I hold to god's unchanging hand

| D | A7 | D | D |

Angry billows may toss me and cause me to fear

Stormy waters around me may roll, may roll

I'll hold to the hand of my Saviour so dear

He's the shepherd that's keeping my soul

[chorus]

Though I have disappointments so often I sigh

And my cabin is humble and bare, and bare

Someday I'll inherit a mansion on high

Where the beauties of heaven I'll share

[chorus]

These Pinchbacks, Take Them Away

What is a pinchback? I'm not really sure. It might refer to P. B. S. Pinchback, or to a miser, or to someone who produces cheap and/or tawdry goods. Or possibly it simply refers to pinch-back suits, which were fashionable in the 19-teens. Bessie Smith cannot tell us, so we must speculate. I kind of prefer the title I thought up when I found this track unlabeled: Working Man.

I fell in love with a sweet man once

He said he loved me too

He said if I'd run away with him

What nice things he would do

I've traveled around from town to town

How happy I would feel

But don't you know he would not work

Girls, take this tip from me

Get a working man when you marry

And let all these sweet men be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

There's one thing about this married life

That these young girls have got to know

That if a sweet man enters your front gate

Turn out your lights and lock your door

Yes, get a working man when you marry

And let all these pinchbacks be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

And if this panic stays on much longer

I'll hear all these young girls say

That it's a long way to Oklahoma

But these little pinchbacks, take them away.