Is, Fattening Frogs For Snakes...
LaserWolf
Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
...the greatest blues line ever? Lyric search gives the whole song like this:It took me a long time, to find out my mistakes Took me a long time, to find out my mistakes, it sho'h did man But I bet you my bottom dollar, I'm not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes I found out my downfall, back in nineteen and thirty, I started checkin' I found out my downfall, from nineteen and thirty I'm tellin' all of my friends, I'm not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes All right now Yeah it is nineteen and fifty-seven, I've got to correct all of my mistakes Whoa man, nineteen and fifty-seven, I've got to correct all of my mistakes I'm tellin' my friends includin' my wife and everybody else, not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes Rice MillerNot fattening no more frogs for snakes, I love that line.Of course Robert Johnson was a great poet/lyracist. From Memphis To Norfolk is a 36 hour ride,I just like the way that one rolls off the tounge and fits with the music.Come On In My Kitchen is just a beautiful song and includes this line:Women get in trouble everyone put her downLooking for a good friendHe can't be foundand this:Woman I loveStole from my best friendThat joker got luckyStole her back againLots more great lyrics from Robert JohnsonBB King has a few good ones:I've got a sweet little angelI love the way she spreads her wingsI was about 14 when I heard that, I'm not sure how long it took me to realize he was singing about more than just angels.I bought her a brand new fordShe said I want a cadillacBought her a ten (100) dollar dinnerShe said thanks for the snackLet her live in my penthouseShe called it a shackGave her 7 children and now she wants to give them back!When I was young I thought the blues was about guitar players, when I was in my 20s-30s I thought it was all about dancing and partying. Later I thought I had learned it was about the singers. Lately I've been realizing just how great these blues lyrics are. What are your favorites? Muddy Waters? Jr Wells' Stomach Ache? Lets hear em.
Comments
Got a cobra snake for a necktie
Brand new house on the roadside
Made outta rattlesnake hide
Brand new chimney up on top
Made outta human skulls
Come on baby, take a walk with me Eileen
Tell me who do you love."[/b]
Courtesy of Diddley, Bo....
1000 x harder than hard as fuck...
I've got a few things I'd like to say to you:
I'm gonna murder my baby
Yes, I'm gonna murder my baby
Yes, I'm gonna murder my baby (yeah, I'm tellin' the truth now)
'Cause she don't do nothin' but cheat and lie.
Pat Hare as recorded for Sun Records.
Some years later, in 1962, Pat Hare did what he said he would do.
He murdered his baby, and a policeman and spent the rest of his life in prison.
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee,
You can't judge a daughter by looking at the mother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,
I look like a farmer,
But I'm a lover,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
Oh come on in closer baby,
Hear what else I gotta say!
You got your radio turned down too low,
Turn it up!
You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane,
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man,
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,
I look like a farmer,
But I'm a Lover,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
You can't judge a fish by lookin' in the pond,
You can't judge right from looking at the wrong,
You can't judge one by looking at the other,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
Oh can't you see,
Oh you misjudge me,
I look like a farmer,
But I'm a lover,
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover.
"I got an axe handle pistol on a graveyard frame
That shoot tombstone bullets, wearin' balls and chain
I'm drinkin' TNT, I'm smokin' dynamite
I hope some schoolboy start a fight
'Cause I'm ready, ready as anybody can be
I'm ready for you, I hope you're ready for me
All you pretty little chicks with your pretty little hair
I know you feels like I ain't nowhere
But stop what your doin' baby come overhere
I'll prove to you baby, that I ain't no square
Because I'm ready, ready as anybody can be
Now I'm ready for you, I hope you're ready for me
I been drinkin' gin like never before
I feel so good, I want you to know
One more drink, I wish you would
I takes a whole lotta lovin' to make me feel good
'Cause I'm ready, ready as anybody can be
Now I'm ready for you, I hope you're ready for me"
"I'm bad
I'm bad
Like Jesse James, uh-huh
I had a friend one time
Least I thought I did
He come to me
Said, 'Johnny?'
Said, 'What man?'
'I'm outdoor'
I say, 'Yeah?'
I taken the cat in
Get him a place to stay
And I found out
He goin' 'round town
Tellin' ev'rybody that he
He got my wife
Then I gets mad
I goes to the cat
Like a good guy should
I said, 'Look man
'I'm gonna warn, you just one time'
Next time I warn you'
'I'm gonna use my gun'
'Cause I'm mad, I'm bad, like Jesse James
I'm so mad, I'm so mad.
I'm gonna ruin you this mornin'.
I've got three boys
Do my dirty work
Now, you don't see me
I'm the big boss
I do the payin' off
After they take care of you
In their on way
They may shoot you
They may cut you.
They may drown you
I just don't know
I don't care
Long as they take care of you
In their on way
I'm so mad, I'm bad this mornin', like Jesse James.
They gon' take you right down
By the riverside
Now four is goin' down
Ain't but three comin' back
You read between the line
We're gonna have a deal
'Cause I'm mad, I'm bad, like Jesse James.
They gonna tie yo' hands
They gonna tie yo' feet
They gonna gag your throat
Where you can't holler none
An cryin' won't help you none
Set you in the water
Yeah, the bubbles comin' up."
I used to drop it in conversation, because I honestly must have
dated 4 or 5 girls in a row that I sort of "cleaned up" (this is
dangerous territory, I know, but it's more just that they were
tomboy types that I encouraged to dress nicer or not cover their
face with their hair, etc, I know it sounds shallow but it was
really just the way things worked out, I just have always had a
tendency to be attracted to girls who 'hide' their good looks) and
after they became as attractive to everyone else as they had been
to me all along, left me for someone richer, slicker or just snakier.
I remember drunkenly shouting across a crowded bar when my ex walked
in with her sleazy new beau, "I'M TIRED OF FATTENING FROGS FOR SNAKES!"
And I don't think it's no disgrace (2x)
Oh, I'm built like an outhouse
With not a brick out of place.
When you first found out
I was going with your man
You talked it all over town
Sayin' it was a cryin' shame
I may be old now, almost 90 years
But I ain't too old to strip your young man's gears...
I got hips like Two-Gun Pete
When he's on duty
Chest like headlights on a pimp's car
Diamond in the back - you know that's a beauty!
Some of you women try to hide your shape
'Cause you're built up like a turtle
But I'm STUCK, baby
Don't even have to wear no girdle
(Arelean Brown, "I Am A Streaker")
(a) The person doing the singing refers to themselves in the third person (Shy Guy Douglas singing "you thought I's gonna kill myself, but Shy Guy is still in town," Lightnin' Slim singing "when you get whiskey from a milkcow, that's when Lightnin' will come back to you")
(b) The singer refers to themselves as "poor me" (A.C. Reed singing "I know it's plain to see, somebody's foolin' po' me" from "Talkin' About My Friends," one of the funniest, funkiest blues singles ever...needs to be reissued like a dead man needs a coffin)
And I always did like that "fattening frogs for snakes" line myself...I've long had a tendency to quote blues lyrics in conversation too...I once used that "whiskey from a milkcow" line in a conversation with some friends from work and they were so amused that they didn't catch the rest of my sentence!
That Bo Diddley lyric and song are great. I am surprised that it has not been covered more. Seems timeless. The only cover I can think of off hand is Tom Rush.
I thought more people would have favorite blues lyrics. I guess this isn't bluesstrut. Most of the lyrics posted are the bragdiocco type. I've been thinking about more sensitive ones.
I think he has been quoted but not mentioned so I will mention: Willie Dixon.
Love In Vain is a brilliant song, a very linear story, an opera in 3 or 4 verses. The last verse is killer.
When the train left the station
there were 2 lights on behind x2
The red one was my baby
blue one was my mind
All my love's in vain x2
Robert Johnson
The Woolies, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, Ronnie Hawkins, the Preachers....I know there are others, but they're not coming to mind at the moment. Sure seems like an oft-covered standard.
Otis Rush has some good lyrics. Offhand, I don't recall what all he wrote or covered, but I'm particularly thinking of "Can't Wait Much Longer" from the Mourning In The Morning album, which isn't quite the blues-rawk trainwreck most think it is.
Yardbirds, Quicksilver, Steve Miller, Santana, UFO, The Doors, The Band,
Golden Earring, Jesus & Mary Chain, Smith, etc - if you count live versions
then just about every 60's/70's artist has recorded a version.
I don't remember it being that at all ... just a very solid
late-60's blues LP with a killer band, as I recall.
It makes sense that WDYL has been covered so much. I guess the reason versions don't leap to mind (besides my avodance of live records and rock in general) is that none can compare to Bo.
When I first bought Mourning in the Morning I was hoping for burning blues with Duanne Allman, who was my hero at the time. (Am I thinking of the right record? I think this record was produced by Mike Bloomfield or Steve Miller or someone like that.) So of course it was laid back blues/Southern soul and I didn't like it. I listened to it again last year and really liked it. I think that record might have If Walls Could Talk which is a great blues lyric.
I think Ronnie Hawkins' version does.
I love the Quicksilver version where it morphs a few times over the course of an album side.
like...
"Pissed on a fireproof bombshelter and burnt that motherfucka down"
another bad ass blues lyricist was Lucille Bogan and "shave them dry"
"I got nipples on my titties, big as the end of my thumb,
I got somethin' between my legs'll make a dead man come,
Oh daddy, baby won't you shave 'em dry?
Aside: Now, draw it out!
Want you to grind me baby, grind me until I cry.
(Roland: Uh, huh.)
Say I fucked all night, and all the night before baby,
And I feel just like I wanna, fuck some more,
Oh great God daddy,
(Roland: Say you gonna get it. You need it.)
Grind me honey and shave me dry,
And when you hear me holler baby, want you to shave it dry.
I got nipples on my titties, big as the end of my thumb,
Daddy you say that's the kind of 'em you want, and you can make 'em come,
Oh, daddy shave me dry,
(Roland: She ain't gonna work for it.)
And I'll give you somethin' baby, swear it'll make you cry.
I'm gon' turn back my mattress, and let you oil my springs,
I want you to grind me daddy, 'til the bell do ring,
Oh daddy, want you to shave 'em dry,
Oh great God daddy, if you can't shave 'em baby won't you try?
Now if fuckin' was the thing, that would take me to heaven,
I'd be fuckin' in the studio, till the clock strike eleven,
Oh daddy, daddy shave 'em dry,
I would fuck you baby, honey I'd make you cry.
Now your nuts hang down like a damn bell sapper,
And your dick stands up like a steeple,
Your goddam ass-hole stands open like a church door,
And the crabs walks in like people.
Aside: Ow, shit!
(Roland: Aah, sure enough, shave 'em dry?)
Aside: Ooh! Baby, won't you shave 'em dry
A big sow gets fat from eatin' corn,
And a pig gets fat from suckin',
Reason you see this whore, fat like I am,
Great God, I got fat from fuckin'.
Aside: Eeeeh! Shave 'em dry
(Roland: Aah, shake it, don't break it)
My back is made of whalebone,
And my cock is made of brass,
And my fuckin' is made for workin' men's two dollars,
Great God, round to kiss my ass.
Aside: Oh! Whoo, daddy, shave 'em dry"
It sounds like a classic LP NOW, because these days we're used to hearing Chicago blues with soulish influences, from Son Seals on down. But back then the purists hated it (remember, this was Rush's first LP ever, and the 45's he cut before this were slightly more straightforward). These days, it seems like the standard. Besides, worse "contemporary blooze" have come out since then.
Michael Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites produced this album at Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, and Duane Allman was one of the pickers.
There's no song by that title on the album, but that was a great song when Little Milton did it. I've always liked that expression - "if (any random inanimate object) could talk" - and it's good to know there's a good song that goes with it.
Yeah, Little Milton. I felt the same way about that record first time I listened, disappointed that it wasn't burning, but like it's soulfulness now.
I did relisten to that OR MINTM and liked that too.