Topic: Tommy Johnson Lyrics

[beljum]

Ok...I went and modified my original posts with all youz guys insightful interpretations. If there is a consensus on the questions, I will go back and edit so there isn?t a million fragmented lyrics.



Here is the next puzzle.
 
    Big Fat Mama

Cryin big fat mama meat shakin on her bones
Time her meat shake it?s a skinny woman lose her home.

Well, I?m going away mama, wont be back till fall
Wont be back till fall mmmmmm
Goin away mama wont be back till fall
Big fat mama with the meat shakin on her bones

Well I mmmm got to murmur got to murmur low mmmmm
No need to holler, got to murmur low
Big fat mama lord meat shakin on her bones.

Every time the meat shakes fat mouth lose a home
Fat mouth lose a home mmmmmmmmmm
Time the meat shakes it?s a fat mouth lose a home
Time the meat shakes it?s a fat mouth lose a home

Mmmmmmm whats the matter rider?
Where did you stay last, where did you stay last night? mmmmmm
What the matter rider? Where did you stay last night?
Hair all down baby and you wont treat me right.

Mmmmmm big fat mama meat shakin on her bones,
 meat shakes on her bones mmmmmmm
Big fat mama meat shakin on her bones



11/21/2010 edit with Banjochris corrections

[banjochris]

Ok...I went and modified my original posts with all youz guys insightful interpretations. If there is a consensus on the questions, I will go back and edit so there isn?t a million fragmented lyrics.

Here is the next puzzle.
 
    Big Fat Mama

Cryin big fat mama meat shakin on her bones
Time the meat shake it?s a () woman lose her home.

Well, I?m going away mama, wont be back till fall
Wont be back till fall mmmmmm
Goin away mama wont be back till fall
Big fat mama ( with the ) meat shakin on her bones

Well I () got to murmur got to murmur low mmmmm
No need to holler, got to murmur low
Big fat mama lord meat shakin on her bones.

1. Time HER meat shake it's a SKINNY woman lose her home
2. "with the" is right
3. He clearly screws up this first line -- he usually sings "I can't holler" or something like the second line -- he sings this verse in several songs.

In the next verse it should be "her meat shakes" and I think he's saying "fat mouth lose his home" but pronouncing "his" more like "he".
Chris

[uncle bud]

So far, I'd transcribe the line as

TAKE Alcorub, baby, TO REALLY [burn??] my soul

and:

4.3 TAKE A brownskin WOMAN TO DO the easy roll

Been revisiting this song and I am 99% sure Johnson sings

Takes Alcorub, baby, to really burn my soul
Take a brownskin woman to do the easy roll

In the first line he draws out "rea---lly", almost swallowing the -lly. In the second line, the "to" is sung more as "toh".

The cleanest copy I've heard of this BTW is on Yazoo's My Rough and Rowdy Ways Vol 1, though the Friends of Charlie Patton disc is good as well. Both are better than Document, and the line is a bit clearer to my ear.

[beljum]

Went and edited the original posts?

LyricsTo date..

Slidin? Delta
Lonesome Home Blues
Mornin Prayer
Bugalusa
Canned Heat
Big Fat Mama

[LD50]

OK...how about "Canned Heat Blues"? I found a starting point online but changed quite a few things.
The words that are really in question are surrounded by ?


Canned Heat

Crying, canned, canned heat, mama,
crying, sure, Lord, killing me
Crying, canned heat, mama, sure Lord, killing me
Take alcorub to take these canned heat blues

Crying, mama, mama, mama, you know, canned heat killing me
Crying, mama, mama, mama, crying, canned heat is killing me
Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die

I woke up, up this morning, mmmm with canned heat on my mind
Woke up this morning, canned heat was on my mind
Woke up this morning, with canned heat, Lord, on my mind
Crying, Lord, Lord, I wonder, canned heat, Lord, killing me
 
Take alcorub baby to really burn my soul.                  
Take a brownskin woman (?) the easy roll
                                 Lord do
                                 TO DO
                                won't do(or could be "don't")

I woke up, up this morning, crying, canned heat 'round my bed
Run here, somebody, take these canned heat blues
Run here, somebody, and take these canned heat blues
Crying, mama, mama, mama, crying, canned heat killing me
Believe to my soul, Lord, it gonna kill me dead



(edit again 11/21/2010 unclebud corrections)
(Edit 11/3/2010 and 11/14/2010 to add many corrections)
 

For this line: "Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die", he really says  "Canned heat don't, cryin', babe I, never die".

For this line: "Take a brownskin woman ( ) the easy roll", I think he really says "Take a brownskin woman, lord do that easy roll".

Other than that, I think you have it nailed.

Anyone wanna tackle 'Alcohol and Jake Blues' or 'Ridin' Horse'? 

[Chezztone]

I've always heard "takes alcorub to turn me from my soul."

[beljum]

Song Lyrics to date..

Slidin? Delta
Lonesome Home Blues
Mornin Prayer
Bogalusa
Canned Heat
Big Fat Mama
Alcohol and Jake Blues



LD50,

For this line: "Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die", he really says  "Canned heat don't, cryin', babe I, never die".

The ?kill me? is there but is very faint. It seems as though this is part of Tommy?s style?he squeezes a few words in before the beat ends and they are a challenge to hear.


Chezztone,

I've always heard "takes alcorub to turn me from my soul."

I don?t know if we?ll ever figure this one out. That line is tough. I am hoping that it turns up somewhere else and Tommy borrowed it.




OK?Alcohol and Jake Blues.

Again, I had a head start with a web search and modified the obviously wrong parts.


                  Alcohol And Jake Blues

Alcohol alcohol cryin' sure Lord killing me {Is that so, boy?}
Alcohol mama sure Lord was killing me {Ought to let it alone, then!}
Alcohol don't kill me (?I believe?) Lord I'll never die

I woke up early this morning, crying, alcohol around my bed {What happened then?}
Woke up this morning, alcohol was 'round my bed
Says, "I'm gonna get drunk, () to speak my troubling mind"

Mmmmmm mmmmmm  {Oh, moan it a long time} mmmmmmm
 mmmm I ain't gonna be here long {Moan it a long time, boy}
Says, "I'm leaving town, I'm going to worry you off my mind"

I drink so much of Jake, it done give me the limber leg
{Now that sure mess you up}
Drinking so much of Jake, till it done give me the limber leg
{Sure messes you up, boy, there's no cure for that}
If I don't quit drinking it (?every morning?), sure gonna kill me dead
{You ain't no lying man}

Mmmmmm   mmmmmmmmmm   mmmmmmmm
{You ain't got ()}, alcohol gonna kill me dead
And if it don't kill me, Lord, it sure gonna put me down
{You ain't gotta put 'em on me 'cause you got 'em}

I woke up, up this morning, crying, alcohol on my mind
Woke up this morning, alcohol was on my mind
I got them alcohol blues and I can't rest easy here

[LeftyStrat]

"Alcohol & Jake" looks pretty spot on to me.  I'll admit that some of those lines sound pretty slurred to me, so you've enlightened me quite a bit.  I'll give the track a spin when I get a chance and see what I can assist with, if needed.

[LD50]

LD50,

For this line: "Canned heat don't kill me, crying, babe, I'll never die", he really says  "Canned heat don't, cryin', babe I, never die".

The ?kill me? is there but is very faint. It seems as though this is part of Tommy?s style?he squeezes a few words in before the beat ends and they are a challenge to hear.

Ehhhh, I just listened to it on headphones again 3 times, I don't think it's there. I think he pauses, acknowledging that's where the words *would* go, tho I really do not hear him utter them. Oh well.

[LD50]

Just some minor nitpicky things:

(2nd line) "Alcohol mama sure Lord was killing me": there's no 'was'

"Alcohol don't kill me I believe Lord I'll never die": I'm not sure 'I believe' is there, but I think something is.

"If I don't quit drinking it every morning, sure gonna kill me dead": same thing -- I'm not convinced 'every morning' is there, but something is. Maybe put these bits in parentheses?

Sadly I can't ID any of the stuff you've put in question marks.  These beaten-up Paramounts sure are a lot harder to hear than the Victors.

Alcohol and Jake Blues.

Again, I had a head start with a web search and modified the obviously wrong parts.


                  Alcohol And Jake Blues

Alcohol alcohol cryin' sure Lord killing me {Is that so, boy?}
Alcohol mama sure Lord was killing me {Ought to let it alone, then!}
Alcohol don't kill me I believe Lord I'll never die

I woke up early this morning, crying, alcohol around my bed {What happened then?}
Woke up this morning, alcohol was 'round my bed
Says, "I'm gonna get drunk, () to speak my troubling mind"

Mmmmmm mmmmmm  {Oh, moan it a long time} mmmmmmm
 mmmm I ain't gonna be here long {Moan it a long time, boy}
Says, "I'm leaving town, I'm going to worry you off my mind"

I drink so much of Jake, it done give me the limber leg
{Now that sure mess you up}
Drinking so much of Jake, till it done give me the limber leg
{Sure messes you up, boy, there's no cure for that}
If I don't quit drinking it every morning, sure gonna kill me dead
{You ain't no lying man}

Mmmmmm   mmmmmmmmmm   mmmmmmmm
{You ain't got ()}, alcohol gonna kill me dead
And if it don't kill me, Lord, it sure gonna put me down
{You ain't gotta put 'em on me 'cause you got 'em}

I woke up, up this morning, crying, alcohol on my mind
Woke up this morning, alcohol was on my mind
I got them alcohol blues and I can't rest easy here

[beljum]

LD50...I increased the volume during the ?kill me?...it probably doesn?t help my case but here it is....

[beljum]

Just some minor nitpicky things:

(2nd line) "Alcohol mama sure Lord was killing me": there's no 'was'

"Alcohol don't kill me I believe Lord I'll never die": I'm not sure 'I believe' is there, but I thinksomething is.

"If I don't quit drinking it every morning, sure gonna kill me dead": same thing -- I'm not convinced 'every morning' is there, but something is. Maybe put these bits in parentheses?

I?m 97.62% sure that ?was? is there. Maybe other folks will weigh in on this one.

The ?every morning? and ?I believe? is up for grabs. I wouldn?t bet a huge sum on either of those. I modified the lyrics with parentheses.

[Giorgio]

Hi again everybody, I just love Tommy Johnson's "I Want Someone To Love Me" and I'm tryin' to figure out the lyrics, but I'm really in trouble because of my bad english...anyway I tried and I hope in the power of the forum! 

This is what I think I've heard:



Lord, I want someone to love me
[Don't get along the hardy time?]
[Do ever?] think of me sweetheart?
Cause you know that's what I [like?]
Dear Lord, I want someone to love me, to love me the [hardy?] time

Now the [men?] are in trouble
I want you to think of me
Now the [men?] are in trouble
Dear Lord, I want you to think of me
Trouble, trouble, in trouble
Well I had it all my days
Dear Lord in trouble, in trouble, in trouble
I had it, it all my days

Lord I'm goin', I'm going, I'm goin'
Back to my old [dyin'?] home
Lord I'm goin', I'm goin', I'm going
Back to my old dyin' home
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Cause I ain't gonna be alone
Dear Lord I'm leavin', I'm leavin', I'm leavin'
[Get through of you with all my mind]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Cause I ain't gonna be alone




I think I'm easy-wrong, hope somebody help me...

[CF]

I've been working on this song lately since Andrew discovered the alt tuning. Here's a quick transcription I did of the lyrics. This needs a bit of tweaking but it will help you out on some of those phrases

 I WANT SOME ONE TO LOVE ME

Lord I want some one to love me
Born just to love me all the time . . .
Lord I hope they call me sweetheart
Cause you know that?s what I like
Lord I want some one to love me
To love me all the time

Now when in times of trouble
I want you to think of me
Now when in times of trouble
Lord, I want you to think of me . . .
Trouble, trouble, yeah trouble
Now I had it all my days
Trouble, trouble, yeah trouble
Now I had it all my days

Lord I?m going, I?m going, I?m going
Back to my old time home
Lord I?m going, I?m going, I?m going
Back to my old time home
MmmMmmmm
Cause I ain?t gonna be here long
Lord I?m leavin?, I?m leavin? I?m Leavin
Just to worry you off my mind
MMmmmMm Yes I ain?t gonna be here long . . . . . . .

[Giorgio]

Thank you cheapfeet, I always have these problems catching these old "Mississippi-English" lyrics, got to learn the slang or the dialect....