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The opening vocal phrase of "pony blues"

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chickenlegs:
Hey to all,
I've been listening to and attempting to play "pony blues" for a long time. And while the lyrics seem to be some of Patton's easiest to understand (other than the minutia), l have always struggled relating the first part of the opening repeated phrase to various transcriptions.


 
The two most common interpretations "hitch up my pony", and "baby, saddle my pony", I could never really hear. And they're not the right amount of syllables.
A few days ago while listening casually I heard what sounded like "need to shed my pony" (pronounced "nee-ta"). A wow! moment for me. When listening again a few times, I could clearly hear it (especially in the repeated phrase).
This seems to fit both aurally and contextually (I never got why he wanted to saddle both his pony and his black mare in the most often used transcription). If he is indeed saying "need to shed my pony", it's hard to know whether he meant? put his pony in the shed, or shed as in, get rid of it. The latter makes for an interesting interpretation of the third verse.

"Got a brand new Shetland, man already trained
Brand new Shetland, baby already trained
Just get in the saddle, tighten up on your reins"

Is he just bragging about his new pony, or is he trying to sell it?
I guess It's all open to interpretation. Just wanted put it out here and see what others think.

P.S. A quick search on weenie found no lyrics for this.

banjochris:
After listening to the last Yazoo re-mastering many times, I am 99% sure that Patton sings

It is catch my pony, saddle up my black mare

both times in the first stanza. Seems weird, but I think it's along the same line as something like "And it's T for Texas, T for Tennesee," or Sleepy John's "Now..." before many lines.
Chris

chickenlegs:
After listening again repeatedly, I still couldn't hear "it is catch". The first two syllables could be "it is" (or almost anything else), but I just don't hear "catch" at all. For that word I hear a "sh"(?) followed by an "eh" sound followed by a "d" or possibly a "t" sound. It's hard to be sure. It could maybe be "it is get my pony" or "need to get my pony", but I'm 99% sure it's not "catch". So one of us is wrong by a long shot (and it very well could be me). But we can never know for sure.
Thanks for your input banjochris.

TenBrook:
chickenlegs,
After you first proposed "need to shed my pony" I started hearing that. Then, after Chris suggested it might be "it is catch my pony" I started hearing that as well. Now upon close listening I can hear "it is catch my pony" the first time he sings the phrase and "it is shed my pony" the second time he sings it. Perhaps my brain/ears are just trying to be conciliatory.

Lew

Pan:
How about "It is tend my pony"? :)

Cheers

Pan

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