Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)

Subject: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 27 Nov 01 - 03:54 PM

Can anyone help with this Tom Russell song ? I only got part of it on the gift cassette.

Subject: ADD: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Nov 01 - 10:46 PM

Gee, Greycap, I hadn't paid attention to this one before. Scary song, isn't it? Sorry, can't do chords. I don't play guitar.
-Joe Offer-

---

BLOOD ORANGES
(Tom Russell)

It was an old hotel in Morocco
Caruso sang through the walls
Beat North African hipsters
Were muttering outside in the halls
An American waits for his interpreter-guide
Caffeine makes his hands itch and shake
She enters the room and calls with her eyes
Like a snake charmer summons the snake

"Blood Oranges, a copper buys you ten.
Come and see the dancing clown who lives with the Blue Men"

He said, "I came here to study the language
Of a very rare nomadic tribe"
She chortled and clucked and hissed through her teeth
And motioned him to follow her outside
He wondered about the scars on her forehead
And the secrets behind her dark veil
As she led him out through the walls of the city
Through the moonlight on an old camel trail

They came upon a circle of nomads
Camped far from the lights of the town
Blue men with scars and malarial eyes
And teeth that were pointed. . . filed down
He said: "These are the people I've been searching for,
This is more than I ever could have hoped!"
As they threw him down on a blanket
And tied him up with a hand-braided rope

They cut out his tongue and blinded his eyes
With coals from a cous-cous fire
Tied empty tin cans to his arms and his legs
That rattled on long copper wires
Now he's forgotten his name and why he came to the desert
As they lead him through oasis and town
And the people stare, throw coins and laugh wildly
At the Blue Men and their white dancing clown.

(dedicated to Paul Bowles)

from the Tom Russell "Box of Visions" CD, 1993

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: alison
Date: 27 Nov 01 - 10:49 PM

oooh.... tasteful little ditty!!!

I want the tune too please if anyone has it...

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 28 Nov 01 - 02:39 AM

Joe, You are a star I'll buy you beers, I'll try to master the chords tonight, Alison, if I work it out, I'll e-mail the chords on this thread, OK? Greycap

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: alison
Date: 28 Nov 01 - 06:26 PM

thanks Greycap... but I need the tune too....

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 29 Nov 01 - 12:48 PM

Alison, Do you need a cassette? I can go and see the guy who did mine, ask for another for you?

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: alison
Date: 29 Nov 01 - 05:00 PM

ooh yes please.... thanks

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: GUEST,Greycap
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 11:16 AM

Alison, E-mail me on '[e-mail]' with your address and I'll send thecassette - I'll fill it with some other stuff you may/ may not like too. What are your likes? Slainte Roger

Subject: RE: Lyric/Chord assist - Blood Oranges
From: GUEST,Marymac on my boss' computer!
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 11:44 AM

I have been to Morocco, and have seen the Blue Men dancing at night in the huge plaza in Marrakesh. No white clowns with them, though. My friend Joan and I had various young men offer to guide us, but they were all very nice. The people there are very friendly, and those who have studied English are always looking for an opportunity to practice it.

Marymac

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,mike m
Date: 25 May 11 - 09:46 AM

has anyone got the chords for this Tom Russell song

thanks mike

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 May 11 - 10:03 AM

I guess the story ultimately comes from Albert Camus's "The House of the Fetish"?

Did Bowles write something on the same theme?

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 25 May 11 - 01:20 PM

The short story Jack Campin refers to is titled "The Renegade" ("Le renégat").

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,mike m
Date: 26 May 11 - 10:10 AM

can someone whip up the chords to this song before i go blue in the face.

thanks mike

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 27 May 11 - 08:34 AM

mike, if you can give us a link to some representation of the tune, I may give it a try.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 May 11 - 07:55 PM

thanks Grishka

John Weighell. Blood Oranges. after much searching is is the only version that i can find

thank you.   mike

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 28 May 11 - 08:38 AM

Mike, it would have been even better if you had given us this link.

The lyrics are not bad, but they only extract the horror and clash-of-civilizations part from Camus's story. The latter is rather about religion.

The music is not really sophisticated, but Weighell does a decent job to make it sound eerie with minimal equipment.

Here are your chords:

Verse:
Em
|:Em D Em B
Em D C B :|

Chorus:
C Em C Em C Em D Em

BTW, Mike, if you tend to "go blue in your face", you should see a doctor. At Mudcat, a thread is about all aspects of a song, not only the OP's request. For best chances, supply all the necessary informations, say "please" (or, second-rate, your "thank you" in advance), and perhaps give a reason for your request such as "I want to sing it at my cousin's wedding" (well, not this song ...). Other exclamations are not likely to help.

Hope you are happy now, and your blood pressure is back to normal.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,mike m
Date: 28 May 11 - 11:24 AM

Dear Grishka

Thank you for the chords to the song, it was the bar chords in the verse
that i was having the trouble with .
sorry about not posting the link, i am not the most techy bloke i the world
BTW I was only thanking you in advance of your effort in working out the chords
and not for actually doing the work .
i am new to Mudcat but really enjoy the banter (That's English slang by the way)

My face has much recover its proper colour by the time of typing this, you will be glad to know.
although my blood pressure may well rise again if i sing is song on all hollows eve.

many thanks

Mike Musgrave England

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 28 May 11 - 12:37 PM

Mike,

> BTW I was only thanking you in advance of your effort in working
> out the chords and not for actually doing the work.

If that means you did not mean to save yourself thanking me again afterwards - I did not assume anything else. In my opinion, "please" is the most adequate word, and quite short, but your I understood your intention alright, otherwise I would not have responded. It was your line about the blue face that made me write my comment.

Good luck with your Hallowe'en performance.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 01:54 PM

Grishka: You have hit on something that has always (mildly) annoyed me: that phrase "thank you in advance." I always assumed people put that in to save themselves the trouble of thanking me (or whoever) afterwards.

The people who say that often have no idea how much work it might be to find an answer to their question, or how complicated the answer might be, or how you might end up posting only a tentative or partial answer, without knowing for certain whether you have given what was really wanted, and so on.

Not that it matters a whole lot; I will often undertake to answer a request only because I enjoy the challenge, or because I enjoy the thought that I am helping to build the world's biggest database of information about songs, which may well be here in some form for decades to come.

Still, it's nice to have one's work acknowledged.

I think some people post requests and then forget about them, and never come back to see the replies.

It's nice to know that that didn't happen. "Thank you in advance" doesn't supply that kind of information.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 06:43 PM

Jim, in this case I cannot complain about lack of acknowledgement. I just gave Mike a hint about style, not a serious criticism.

Those who wrote "Who has the chords for Bethofen's symphony?" are still waiting for my answer ...

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chord Req: Blood Oranges (Tom Russell)
From: GUEST,mike m
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 08:10 PM

Grishka

thanks once again. when you said that a thread is about all aspects of a song
you was not joking . i will be more careful in future .

mike