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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Bob Clayton Lyr ADD: No Hiding Place (26) Lyr Add: NO HIDING PLACE (Carter Family) 24 Jun 97


Well, I'll e-mail this, too, but the song is one of my favorite Carter Family "elastic measure" songs, so I'll wrack my alleged brains for the words:

Sister Mary, she wears a golden chain (2X)
Sister Mary wears a golden chain
There's every link in Jesus' name *
There's no hiding place down here.

Chorus:

There's no hiding place down here. (2X)
Run to the ricks to hide my face,
Rocks cried out "No hiding place!"
There's no hiding place down here.

The Devil, he wears a hypocrite’s shoe (2X)
The Devil wears a hypocrite’s shoe,
If you don't watch, he'll slip it on you!
There's no hiding place down here.

Chorus

Gonna pitch my tent on the old campground (2X)
Gonna pitch my tent on the old campground,
And give old Satan one more round.
There's no hiding place down here.

Chorus


* This is what the Carters sing, even though you expect it to be "Every link spells Jesus' name" or "Every link bears Jesus' name.” I like the odd phrase so I sing it that way.

The "elastic measure" reference is to the performance, where the second line "runs into" the third, without stopping like you expect it to, and then the last line is similarly rushed. The chorus does the same thing. There's two or three beats missing from two different measures per chorus, and it's tricky to play and sing. And Maybelle's guitar solo! Nifty fitting of the short measures into her runs!

Great song.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 10-Mar-02.


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