one major exception is Betty Wright- Girls Can't Do What the Guys Do. Such a killer tune, but god those lyrics are intolerable.
You've mentioned this before.
You must have some kind of bad personal association with that song, like you found out your girl cheated on you 30 seconds before you heard it for the first time - I mean, the lyrics aren't that bad.
actually betty wright's "secretary" kind of does that to me too. she's talking about how if your man goes and gets with his secretary then its probably your fault for not giving him the right love at home. then the flip of that 45 "value your love" says something like, you better value your man or he'll leave you (that might be a little off, i haven't listened to it in awhile). anyways, i struggled with whether i'd keep that 45 for awhile because the lyrics bugged me so much.
well when I first heard it I thought it was "girls can't do what the guys do, and that's bullshit!" but then I listened more closely and realized it was like "girls, don't try to be like the guys because that's not ladylike". I mean what kind of message is "don't try to do the things that the guys do"? It's one thing for male artists to sing about expecting to be able to get away with more than the woman...Ghostface's "Back Like That" comes to mind. I mean, it's BS, but I can understand it. But to give that song to a woman and have her sing it to other women is just horrible IMO.
actually betty wright's "secretary" kind of does that to me too. she's talking about how if your man goes and gets with his secretary then its probably your fault for not giving him the right love at home.
You guys realize themes like this are present in thousands of soul, blues and R&B songs, right?
This is bedrock shit.
What next? "I almost had to unload my Howlin' Wolf albums because he was talking about sneaking in the back door's of dude's homes and doing their wives while they were at work!"
Every time we have a what blues should I listen to thread I or someone else mention's Jr Wells Hoo Doo Man Blues. Which contains Good Morning Little School Girl. Well I've been listening to that, first Johnny Winter then Jr and maybe a few other people, since I was in the 9th grade and it never bothered me. Then I was playing it for this 20 yo kid who was looking for good blues and he freaked out. Thought it was the sickest thing he had ever heard.
There were top 10 songs kinda like that. Sam The Shams Little Red Riding Hood. Memphis and Sweet Little 16 and When I Saw Her Stand There.
On the domestic violence tip, even when I was a little kid I thought that BEatle song Hide your head in the sand, little girl Catch you with another man, little girl That's the end, little girl
Always thought it was a violent threat.
On the flip side Thin Line Between Love And Hate is cool.
actually betty wright's "secretary" kind of does that to me too. she's talking about how if your man goes and gets with his secretary then its probably your fault for not giving him the right love at home.
You guys realize themes like this are present in thousands of soul, blues and R&B songs, right?
This is bedrock shit.
What next? "I almost had to unload my Howlin' Wolf albums because he was talking about sneaking in the back door's of dude's homes and doing their wives while they were at work!"
it's more that it was kind of flipped. i'm used to dudes talking about that, and ladies talking about getting theirs, but this is more like a lady on the "wrong side". if she had alluded to being the secretary, kind of like in clean-up woman, that i get. it just confuses me.
Aren't lyrics about slapping people around or snuffing them out (ladies included) fairly common in blues/r'n'b and country music?
Another example. In "Watch What You Do To Me" by Syl Johnson he's talking about how he's mad at some guy who he suspects is poking out his lady. The song is obviously on some "don't take my kindness for weakness" theme, but in the last verse Syl is implying that when he sees the dude on the street, he's not just going to curse him out a little:
I carry my piece everywhere I go I have it in my pocket when I go to the store When you walk on me it makes me damn mad And I get real furious when I know I've been had
Aren't lyrics about slapping people around or snuffing them out (ladies included) fairly common in blues/r'n'b and country music?
In "Watch What You Do To Me" by Syl Johnson he's talking about how he's mad at some guy who he suspects is poking out his lady. The song is obviously on some "don't take my kindness for weekness" theme, but in the last verse Syl is implying that when he sees the dude on the street, he's not just going to curse him out a little:
I carry my piece everywhere I go I have it in my pocket when I go to the store When you walk on me it makes me damn mad And I get real furious when I know I've been had
Don't mess with Syl.
damn... and here i was thinking that all this kinda schitt started with rap music... i need to rethink all my thoughts now
Aren't lyrics about slapping people around or snuffing them out (ladies included) fairly common in blues/r'n'b and country music?
In "Watch What You Do To Me" by Syl Johnson he's talking about how he's mad at some guy who he suspects is poking out his lady. The song is obviously on some "don't take my kindness for weekness" theme, but in the last verse Syl is implying that when he sees the dude on the street, he's not just going to curse him out a little:
I carry my piece everywhere I go I have it in my pocket when I go to the store When you walk on me it makes me damn mad And I get real furious when I know I've been had
Don't mess with Syl.
damn... and here i was thinking that all this kinda schitt started with rap music... i need to rethink all my thoughts now
Then you should check out that track I posted from the 40's:
Last night I went out drinking And when I came home I gave her a beating so she catch up the rolling pin and went to work on my head till she bashed it in
That's like on some Mind Of A Lunatic steez. Proto murdah rap.
Then you should check out that track I posted from the 40's:
Last night I went out drinking And when I came home I gave her a beating so she catch up the rolling pin and went to work on my head till she bashed it in
That's like on some Mind Of A Lunatic steez. Proto murdah rap.
peace
h
Ha, yeah, except here it's the wife who bashing the husband:
I lick him with the pot and the frying pan I lick him with the pot and the frying pan I lick him with the pot and the frying pan And if I kill him, he had it coming ??? There's one thing that I am sure He ain't going to hit me no more So I tell you I doesn't care If I was to die in the electric chair
Aren't lyrics about slapping people around or snuffing them out (ladies included) fairly common in blues/r'n'b and country music?
In "Watch What You Do To Me" by Syl Johnson he's talking about how he's mad at some guy who he suspects is poking out his lady. The song is obviously on some "don't take my kindness for weekness" theme, but in the last verse Syl is implying that when he sees the dude on the street, he's not just going to curse him out a little:
I carry my piece everywhere I go I have it in my pocket when I go to the store When you walk on me it makes me damn mad And I get real furious when I know I've been had
Don't mess with Syl.
damn... and here i was thinking that all this kinda schitt started with rap music... i need to rethink all my thoughts now
and "on the down low" isnt a modern day phenom either...Pinetop Perkins' "Cissy Man Blues" has the lyrics:
"Oh Lord If you cant send me a woman just go on and send me a cissy man"
actually betty wright's "secretary" kind of does that to me too. she's talking about how if your man goes and gets with his secretary then its probably your fault for not giving him the right love at home.
You guys realize themes like this are present in thousands of soul, blues and R&B songs, right?
This is bedrock shit.
What next? "I almost had to unload my Howlin' Wolf albums because he was talking about sneaking in the back door's of dude's homes and doing their wives while they were at work!"
yes of course I realize that...did you read what I wrote? You can't tell the difference between "Back Door Man" and a song where a woman is telling other women, in a song written by a man, that they deserve the BS that happens to them? And if they get cheated on to not try and get even because that's not ladylike?
Furry's Blues:
I believe I???ll buy me a graveyard of my own Believe I???ll buy me a graveyard of my own I???m gonna kill everybody that have done me wrong
If you wanna go to Nashville, mens, ain???t got no fare Wanna go to Nashville, mens, ain???t got no fare Cut your good girl???s throat and the judge will send you there
I???m gonna get my pistol, forty rounds of ball Get my pistol, forty rounds of ball I???m gonna shoot my woman just to see her fall
I???d rather hear the screws on my coffin sound I???d rather hear the screws on my coffin sound Then to hear my good girl says, ???I???m jumpin??? down???
a ban on certain music in the house while she's within hearing distance??? wild... i'm all about respecting the women of the world, but i hope you've got some hand along the same lines. It's only music, not like your promoting wife beating simply cause the song is hot and it's talking about that.
Sounds like it's time to break out the headphones.
But I know what you mean. When I had a roots-music radio show on a college station back in the oh-so-PC early nineties, I never spun Gorgeous George's "Biggest Fool In Town" (from the first Stax box set). Great tune, but when he starts ad-libbing towards the end, it's almost as if the wrestler of the same name took over the mike ("girl, I'm mad enuff to blacken your eye," etc.).
"People Will Say We're In Love" by the Spaniels always creeped me out too (there's a part where he tells a woman that he'll have to get his "robe and glove" if she keeps up with the public displays of affection). And it's otherwise this sweet little love song, at that, but the "robe & glove" business breaks the mood real quick.
Every time we have a what blues should I listen to thread I or someone else mention's Jr Wells Hoo Doo Man Blues. Which contains Good Morning Little School Girl. Well I've been listening to that, first Johnny Winter then Jr and maybe a few other people, since I was in the 9th grade and it never bothered me. Then I was playing it for this 20 yo kid who was looking for good blues and he freaked out. Thought it was the sickest thing he had ever heard.
What's even sicker, I once heard some old guy at a small convenience store quote the lyrics to that very same song to some 13-year-old girl. He probably meant it as a joke, but still, those lyrics came to life for me that day (and I was 17 y.o. myself at the time).
There were top 10 songs kinda like that. Memphis and Sweet Little 16 and When I Saw Her Stand There.
Wolf, I'll always have nothing but respect for your opinions, but I gotta disagree. Chuck Berry is known by now for his perverted bent, but "Memphis," if you listen closely, is all about a guy trying to get in touch with his six-year-old daughter who he lost in a custody battle ("we were torn apart because her mom did not agree/and tore apart our happy home in Memphis, Tennessee"). He made it sound as if his daughter was his girlfriend (the fact that she is six years old is supposed to be the punchline), but then again that just proves what a powerful writer Berry is (I'll leave his own real-time love life out of this). And even in "Sweet Little Sixteen," he's narrating the tale from the outside; not once does he say in the song that he wants to get with this 16-year-old groupie, nor is he implying that the girl is after him, he's just telling the tale of what he observed happening (although, in real life...another story!).
As for "I Saw Her Standing There," sure "she was just 17," but then for all we know the narrator could be too.
As for "I Saw Her Standing There," sure "she was just 17," but then for all we know the narrator could be too.
When I was DJing Thursday night, I found myself singing along to Bobby Freeman's "Ill never Fall in Love Again"(not a mic, just quietly to myself) and he says, talking about his heart..."a 16 year old girl just tore it apart"...I did a double take on myself (No Pasue)
Any time the term "fag" or "faggot" is used, I cringe a bit. Like in the Artifacts - Wrong Side of the Tracks, it's rolling along all nice and then "I know his whole tag because the fag writes his name crooked."
Willie John's sister has a great song on Stax I know you know, "He Hit Me And It Felt Like A Kiss". Mabel John.
Nah, the Crystals did "He Hit Me...".
Mabel John's song was "Don't Hit Me No More," and it says exactly what it means. Some guy makes a pass at Mabel, and her boyfriend bitchslaps HER instead of the guy. She does threaten to come back at him if he tries it again, though.
Trivia note: Joe Tex wrote "Don't Hit Me No More," but for some reason credited it to his then-wife.
As for "I Saw Her Standing There," sure "she was just 17," but then for all we know the narrator could be too.
When I was DJing Thursday night, I found myself singing along to Bobby Freeman's "Ill never Fall in Love Again"(not a mic, just quietly to myself) and he says, talking about his heart..."a 16 year old girl just tore it apart"...I did a double take on myself (No Pasue)
oooh gary puckett's "young girl" definitely falls in that category
"it's wrong to be alone with me but that 'come on' look is in your eyes" and "run home to your mama cause i'm afraid we'll go too far"
gross!!
but i don't like that song so i guess it doesn't count.
i do love 'Beautiful Daughter' by The Move. i'm fooling myself into thinking it's not the same
"your beautiful daughter made me younger yesterday"
I never spun Gorgeous George's "Biggest Fool In Town" (from the first Stax box set). Great tune, but when he starts ad-libbing towards the end, it's almost as if the wrestler of the same name took over the mike ("girl, I'm mad enuff to blacken your eye," etc.).
Right - but then he swabs it up with the "...but I'm too much of a man, woman" line. Still makes an indentation, though.
I never spun Gorgeous George's "Biggest Fool In Town" (from the first Stax box set). Great tune, but when he starts ad-libbing towards the end, it's almost as if the wrestler of the same name took over the mike ("girl, I'm mad enuff to blacken your eye," etc.).
Right - but then he swabs it up with the "...but I'm too much of a man, woman" line. Still makes an indentation, though.
I know. Even though he tries to take the edge off of that remark, just the fact that he had to go there at all makes you think twice.
Comments
You guys realize themes like this are present in
thousands of soul, blues and R&B songs, right?
This is bedrock shit.
What next? "I almost had to unload my Howlin' Wolf
albums because he was talking about sneaking in the
back door's of dude's homes and doing their wives while
they were at work!"
There were top 10 songs kinda like that. Sam The Shams Little Red Riding Hood. Memphis and Sweet Little 16 and When I Saw Her Stand There.
On the domestic violence tip, even when I was a little kid I thought that BEatle song Hide your head in the sand, little girl
Catch you with another man, little girl
That's the end, little girl
Always thought it was a violent threat.
On the flip side Thin Line Between Love And Hate is cool.
it's more that it was kind of flipped. i'm used to dudes talking about that, and ladies talking about getting theirs, but this is more like a lady on the "wrong side". if she had alluded to being the secretary, kind of like in clean-up woman, that i get. it just confuses me.
Another example. In "Watch What You Do To Me" by Syl Johnson he's talking about how he's mad at some guy who he suspects is poking out his lady. The song is obviously on some "don't take my kindness for weakness" theme, but in the last verse Syl is implying that when he sees the dude on the street, he's not just going to curse him out a little:
I carry my piece everywhere I go
I have it in my pocket when I go to the store
When you walk on me it makes me damn mad
And I get real furious when I know I've been had
Don't mess with Syl.
damn... and here i was thinking that all this kinda schitt started with rap music... i need to rethink all my thoughts now
Then you should check out that track I posted from the 40's:
Last night I went out drinking
And when I came home I gave her a beating
so she catch up the rolling pin
and went to work on my head
till she bashed it in
That's like on some Mind Of A Lunatic steez. Proto murdah rap.
peace
h
Ha, yeah, except here it's the wife who bashing the husband:
I lick him with the pot and the frying pan
I lick him with the pot and the frying pan
I lick him with the pot and the frying pan
And if I kill him, he had it coming
???
There's one thing that I am sure
He ain't going to hit me no more
So I tell you I doesn't care
If I was to die in the electric chair
The ladies get
This thread needs some country lyrics.
I always thought "Gansta Lean" should be a food product. Sausage patties for pimps whos getting a little puunchy.
and "on the down low" isnt a modern day phenom either...Pinetop Perkins' "Cissy Man Blues" has the lyrics:
"Oh Lord
If you cant send me a woman
just go on and
send me a cissy man"
yes of course I realize that...did you read what I wrote? You can't tell the difference between "Back Door Man" and a song where a woman is telling other women, in a song written by a man, that they deserve the BS that happens to them? And if they get cheated on to not try and get even because that's not ladylike?
Furry's Blues:
I believe I???ll buy me a graveyard of my own
Believe I???ll buy me a graveyard of my own
I???m gonna kill everybody that have done me wrong
If you wanna go to Nashville, mens, ain???t got no fare
Wanna go to Nashville, mens, ain???t got no fare
Cut your good girl???s throat and the judge will send you there
I???m gonna get my pistol, forty rounds of ball
Get my pistol, forty rounds of ball
I???m gonna shoot my woman just to see her fall
I???d rather hear the screws on my coffin sound
I???d rather hear the screws on my coffin sound
Then to hear my good girl says, ???I???m jumpin??? down???
Sounds like it's time to break out the headphones.
But I know what you mean. When I had a roots-music radio show on a college station back in the oh-so-PC early nineties, I never spun Gorgeous George's "Biggest Fool In Town" (from the first Stax box set). Great tune, but when he starts ad-libbing towards the end, it's almost as if the wrestler of the same name took over the mike ("girl, I'm mad enuff to blacken your eye," etc.).
"People Will Say We're In Love" by the Spaniels always creeped me out too (there's a part where he tells a woman that he'll have to get his "robe and glove" if she keeps up with the public displays of affection). And it's otherwise this sweet little love song, at that, but the "robe & glove" business breaks the mood real quick.
What's even sicker, I once heard some old guy at a small convenience store quote the lyrics to that very same song to some 13-year-old girl. He probably meant it as a joke, but still, those lyrics came to life for me that day (and I was 17 y.o. myself at the time).
Wolf, I'll always have nothing but respect for your opinions, but I gotta disagree. Chuck Berry is known by now for his perverted bent, but "Memphis," if you listen closely, is all about a guy trying to get in touch with his six-year-old daughter who he lost in a custody battle ("we were torn apart because her mom did not agree/and tore apart our happy home in Memphis, Tennessee"). He made it sound as if his daughter was his girlfriend (the fact that she is six years old is supposed to be the punchline), but then again that just proves what a powerful writer Berry is (I'll leave his own real-time love life out of this). And even in "Sweet Little Sixteen," he's narrating the tale from the outside; not once does he say in the song that he wants to get with this 16-year-old groupie, nor is he implying that the girl is after him, he's just telling the tale of what he observed happening (although, in real life...another story!).
As for "I Saw Her Standing There," sure "she was just 17," but then for all we know the narrator could be too.
When I was DJing Thursday night, I found myself singing along to Bobby Freeman's "Ill never Fall in Love Again"(not a mic, just quietly to myself) and he says, talking about his heart..."a 16 year old girl just tore it apart"...I did a double take on myself (No Pasue)
Nah, the Crystals did "He Hit Me...".
Mabel John's song was "Don't Hit Me No More," and it says exactly what it means. Some guy makes a pass at Mabel, and her boyfriend bitchslaps HER instead of the guy. She does threaten to come back at him if he tries it again, though.
Trivia note: Joe Tex wrote "Don't Hit Me No More," but for some reason credited it to his then-wife.
oooh gary puckett's "young girl" definitely falls in that category
"it's wrong to be alone with me but that 'come on' look is in your eyes" and "run home to your mama cause i'm afraid we'll go too far"
gross!!
but i don't like that song so i guess it doesn't count.
i do love 'Beautiful Daughter' by The Move. i'm fooling myself into thinking it's not the same
"your beautiful daughter made me younger yesterday"
Now I know I'm not your husband
and I know I'm not your Pa
but if you don't get in that kitchen
I'll break your jaw
Cause I'm hungry
Yeah ... that one doesn't go over too smooth with the ladies.
Right. This belongs on any pedophile's top 10.
I still want to know about "Ace Of Spade." Safe or Tame?
Right - but then he swabs it up with the "...but I'm too much of a man, woman" line. Still makes an indentation, though.
I know. Even though he tries to take the edge off of that remark, just the fact that he had to go there at all makes you think twice.
Necromancy and necrophelia are two different things.