I thought this was a neat lyric when I first heard it on a Lonnie Johnson & Elmer Snowdon record.

Lonnie Johnson (and many other early blues singers) sang:



I'm sittin' here wonderin' will a matchbox hold my clothes,

Just sittin' here wonderin' will a matchbox hold my clothes.

Well I ain't got so many, but I sure got a long way to go.



The idea, of course is that he has so few "clothes", not "matches", that they might even fit into a matchbox.

Carl Perkins (and other rockabilly singers) seem to have interpreted it as though the singer has a shortage of matches.

Which makes more sense?



Carl Perkins' Lyrics:



Well I'm sitting here wondering, will a matchbox hold my clothes
Yeah I'm sitting here wondering, will a matchbox hold my clothes
I ain't got no matches, but I got a long way to go


This makes less sense to me, but here's what the Beatles did with the lyrics.



Beatles' Lyrics:

I said I'm sitting here watching, matchbox hole in my clothes
I said I'm sitting here wondering, matchbox hole in my clothes
I ain't got no matches but I sure ot a long way to go


What?