Lyr ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw

Subject: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 08:36 PM

One of the few rules on Mudcat is that one may not refer to a song not in the Database or Forum, without posting the lyrics to that song. It was Our Fearless Leader Dick Greenhaus who established this rule, and who has repeated this rule until his face turned a permanent hue of scarlet. It seems that one among us has broken this Sacred Rule. A search for chainsaw and [chain saw] comes up with this gem from Bill Morrissey, but it doesn't bring up "I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw." Roger in Baltimore, would you like to share the lyrics with the rest of the class?
-Joe Offer-

---

I saw Peter Krug at San Francisco's Camp New Harmony this last week, and he confirmed that he is the author of "I Gotta Find a Woman With a Chainsaw." If you want to obtain permission to record this or any other Peter Krug song, you can contact him at this e-mail: [e-mail] (leave out the dashes). Peter gave me permission to post his e-mail address.
-Joe Offer, January, 2010-

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 09:16 PM

Gee, Joe, I didn't knwo about that rule. Sorry and thanks for letting us know.

kat

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: RiGGy Rackin
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 09:27 PM

I THOUGHT it was written by Russian River [ CA ] song writer Peter Krug !! Are you out there Peter ?? RiGGy

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Barbara
Date: 19 Jul 99 - 09:40 PM

Yah, it's Peter Krug all right, and I thought it was called "I Just Want a Woman With a Chainsaw." The chorus goes:

"I just want a woman with a chainsaw
To spend the winter with me
I just want a woman with a chainsaw
All night long I would tend her fire, yessirree!

I can't remember the verses, but someone this weekend was saying MOtherlode recorded it.

I dunno if Peter's on the internet. He isn't listed in the SFFMC directory.
Blessings,
Barbarar

Subject: ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 06:32 AM

I GOTTA FIND A WOMAN WITH A CHAINSAW
(Peter Krug)

I woke up this mornin' frozen nearly dead,
Was so damn cold I couldn't get out of bed.
As I lay there shiverin' as cold as can be.
Suddenly this revelation occurred to me.

CHORUS:
I gotta find a woman with a chainsaw,
To spend the winter with me.
If I could find a woman with a chainsaw,
Than all night long I would stoke her fire, yes indeed.

I put an ad down at the Co-op, a notice on the stump,
I don't care if she's skinny, I don't care if she's plump,
I don't care if she's pretty or ugly as sin,
If she's got a chainsaw she can move right in.

Oh, you big city women in your Calvin Klein clothes,
Ain't much good when the ground gets froze.
I need a tough country mama, to help me chop my wood,
And when I find her, I'm gonna treat her good.

I 'd treat her sweet and gentle and we would never fight,
If she went out with someone else I wouldn't get uptight.
She can just do her thing, and I can do just mine,
And she and me and that machine we'd get along just fine.

I've got a cabin in the mountain, a Chevy pickup truck,
With half a ton of Mendocino thunder f**k,
I've got a bushel of soy beans, a whole barrel of brown rice,
And a couple cords of firewood would make it all so very nice.


If you need to know the songwriter, it will take a while to dig that information up.

Roger in Baltimore (who hates rules, who will now be late for work, and who thinks all that Joe had to do was ask)

Line Breaks <br> added. But Roger, it was fun to needle you a bit….
Thanks for the song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 20 Jul 99 - 06:33 AM

Damn, screwed up the HTML. I hope Joe can fix it. I see that others know Peter Krug wrote this song.

Big RiB

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 21 Jul 99 - 12:48 AM

Rules don't really exist at the Mudcat Cafe. Please consider my request as jus that--a request. Fervent, though.

Thanx for the lyrics.

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Annie
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 11:07 PM

Jim finds a woman with a chainsaw:

My friend Jim called tonight.
Jim is 87.
He is sorry he didn't cut up that little oak I fell for him.
That operation on his shoulder made his arm weaker than he thought.
So he put the chainsaw in his vice and used starter fluid.
While it was running he put it in the trunk of his Buick.
But it stopped running on the drive down.

So he's real sorry, and would I mind starting it for him tomorrow?

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Deckman
Date: 10 Feb 04 - 11:56 PM

I've been looking for this song for years. I first heard it from the lips of George Austin, in Redmond, Washington. CHEERS, Bob

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: dianavan
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 12:18 AM

Very funny song! Very appropriate. On the island I come from, everyone (including single women) get a little "squirrelly" in the Fall. Try as hard as you might, you never quite get it all together. Everyone is praying that a member of the opposite sex might fall from the sky with chainsaw in hand.

Perfect!

d

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 12:44 AM

Back in 1999, I lived in the city and was afraid of chainsaws, and this song didn't make sense to me. Since then, I've married a country girl and moved to her paradise in the foothills - and NOW I wish she had a chainsaw. It's nice having a wood fire, but it's a lot of work to keep it going when it's your only source of heat.

I heard Peter Krug sing this at Camp Harmony this winter, and it was truly inspiring. Peter has written lots of wonderful songs. See How The Land Yields Up Her Treasure is another one I heard him sing this year - it's in the Rise Up Singing Songbook. I'll see what we have posted, and crosslink them to this thread.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Willie-O
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 10:45 AM

Annie, I am KILLING myself laughing.

Another warning note for the chainsaw manuals (there are already two full pages in most of them): "Do not place a running chainsaw in your vehicle even if the saw idle is correctly adjusted and it is secured in the trunk."

They do say you shouldn't walk with the saw still running.

W-O

Subject: RE: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 11 Feb 04 - 03:04 PM

I can't sing the line "Mendocino Thunder F**k." I'm an addictions counselor by trade and I'm not anti-drug, but I try to avoid "glorifying" drug use.


My substitute is:
]
"I've got a cabin in the mountains, a Chevy pick-up truck,
With stereo and 4 - Wheel drive to pull us through the muck."

My friend Sue Trainor, currently in the trio "Hot Soup", has put a lot of miles on this song as well. She, too, has altered the line (although I don't remember her words).   I've been accused of stealing this song from her, but I know for a fact we both learned it from a gift tape sent to us by a mutual friend.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Remy Rodden
Date: 18 Oct 05 - 03:17 PM

Interesting to find this discussion...this song has been oft-sung, oft-requested in campfire circles here in the Yukon Territory, in British Columbia and across Canada.

This was taught to me in true folk process (written out by hand, and melody learned by ear). The person who taught it to me (and many others it seems, through a wilderness lodge on Vancouver Island) credits Faith Petric as the composer. And that's what I've been telling people.

But apparently I'm mistaken! And I've discovered a "missing verse" that I never learned. This is great to clear this up. Thanks to you and the Internet!

[And if anyone knows how I can reach Peter to find out who owns the publishing rights, I'd appreciate it!!]

Remy www.thinkabout.ca

---

Remy did a nice (but censored) performance of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxYWVrdRaQw
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Daniel H.
Date: 31 Dec 05 - 05:11 PM

I just stumbled across this thread while doing a rainy day net surf for no other reason than pure boredom....anyways

Peter Krug is the father of my best friend from high school (this was around 1979-1982). He is a musician/songwriter/carpenter who had some reknown in the sixties as "the Bay Area Bob Dylan" - I think he wrote a song that was recorded by Country Joe and the Fish. As I recall, he kind of looks like Jerry Garcia (but I only met him a few times 25 years ago -= so that memory may be a confabulation).

The song "Woman with a Chainsaw" appeared on a compilation album titled "Sonoma Soundtrack" around 1979 - Peter really did live in a hand built cabin in a Sonoma enclave called Camp Meeker at the time. AFAIK, he prolly still lives there.

Hope that helps

Daniel ([e-mail])

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,julia
Date: 31 Dec 05 - 05:43 PM

true- you know you are from Maine when your 75 year old mother inlaw not only has a chain saw, but knows how to file and use it, and does...!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Al Bates
Date: 19 May 06 - 04:23 PM

It was interesting to read this long running thread. I too have been singing and playing the song for years and often wondered who was the writer. Like Remy above, I learned the song in 1982 while at Strathcona Park Lodge on Vancouver Island (similarly incomplete - no Calvin Kline verse) and was told the writer was Faith Petric. I scoured Faith Petric sites looking for a recorded version of the song but always came up empty. This explains why. I'll try to find the Sonoma Soundrack. Does anyone else know of a recorded version of the song by Peter Krug or others? I have changed the way I play it since I was taught, made it more of a walking boogie. People seem to love it and it is often requested of me at jams/campfires. I have also added and adapted verses for use during special occassions. I would love to hear the original. The song has become a true folk song, being passed on through campfire jams across the country for more than 30 years. Nice to know it is still possible to spread music this way.

Cheers Folks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Barbara
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 07:32 PM

Peter Krug has a tape out with this song and many other wonderful ones on it. He might even have turned it into a CD by now.
Last address I had for him was 17926 Santa Rosa Rd, Guerneville CA 95446. I think I remember Peter singing an alternate line to the "mendecino Thunder**" and I wouldn't say he looks particularly like Jerry Garcia.
What he sometimes explains about the song is that, in the first verse, "the Stump" is the local underground paper.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Kaleea
Date: 22 Jun 06 - 07:44 PM

Don't know the lyrics, but I own a chainsaw & lots of other tools.

Subject: RE: Chainsaw Mamma
From: GUEST,Uncle Jaque
Date: 23 Jun 06 - 09:11 AM

Before our Daughter, "The Wylde One" and our Son in Law (both Wildlife Biologists) were married, a couple of Kyle's redneck buddies pulled into the dooryahd of where they were camping only to see our Darling Princess skinning out a deer that Kyle had shot that morning, beside HER pickup truck with HER canoe on top of it.

As soon as Kyle ambled over, they asked him;...

Just where the hell DO you get a woman like that??!!

They currently share a couple of chainsaws, a wood splitter, and such paraphanalia - and our first Grandchild is due in November.
Regardless of gender, we expect that they'll be shooting, sawing, and driving a tractor by the time they're 7.
Probably be cleaning their own fish and skinning their own deer, too, God bless 'em!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Genie
Date: 24 Jun 06 - 12:11 AM

Thanks for posting the lyrics to this song, Roger.

The first time I heard this song was in a concert by a very openly lesbian group in Portland, OR, called "Motherlode." They added a spring/summer verse & chorus about wanting to
"find a woman with a rototiller" and "all night long I would plow her field, yessirree."
Since most of the songs they sing are their own compositions, I sort of assumed it was one of their own and that it was originally intended to be a song about a woman looking for another woman for aid and comfort.   
When I later learned it was written and originally performed by a guy, it shifted the sense of the song in my mind a little -- actually making it funnier.

Obviously, it works either way.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Remy Rodden
Date: 25 May 07 - 01:17 PM

I am presently at a large environmental education conference in Kananaskis, Alberta (www.trailstosustainability.ca). The song "Woman with a Chainsaw" is a perennial favourite at these gatherings. Very interesting how the folk process works: a great song gets passed on and lives, even without a readily available recording. Does Peter know the power of his song?

However, one of my colleagues here, who makes me lead the song every time we meet, says he met someone who knows Faith Petric and swears that Faith is the author.

BTW, I personally did find a woman who loves to use a chainsaw, which has proved pretty useful in our off-grid home in the Yukon!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: DADGBE
Date: 25 May 07 - 06:29 PM

Hi Friends,

Peter Krug is one of the consistantly finest song writer I know. I just left word on his answering machine about this thread. If/when he gets back to me I'll post more info here.

Thanks,
Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 12:44 PM

Just heard a woman's version of this song, done by Sue Trainer of Hot Soup, on hober radio. Great song and great version!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: open mike
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 02:48 PM

is it about finding a man who can tune up and sharpen a saw?
also splitting and stacking would be helpful...
we had our first rain in many weeks yesterday
and it is time to stoke the fires again..
ooh, the smell of burning dust that comes
with the first stove load!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 10:53 PM

It is! I'll have to email them for the lyrics, maybe. I've already smelled the first stove stoke in Colorado, as we drove over the Rockies last Friday, through Eagle, Vail, Dillon, the scent carried over the air, stirring among the evergreens and bringing such special memories.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Celtaddict
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 11:23 PM

I do love my chainsaw (which my husband never quite trusts).
I was once in the operating room and one of the anesthesiologists said to another (I am not sure of the context as I was busy operating), "Yes, but she's the sort of woman who uses a chain saw." I have long wondered just what was meant.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 12:33 AM

LOL...wonder how the patient felt about it, if they were able to register what they were hearing!:-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Celtaddict
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 12:40 AM

It is generally easy to tell if the patient is (marginally) conscious or completely unconscious by the conversation of the anesthesiologist.
Mind, I do recall one who used to stimulate waking patients by rapping on the forehead and asking, 'Anybody home?'

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Peter krug himself
Date: 03 Jun 10 - 05:24 PM

I wrote "chainsaw" in the fall of 1976 while cutting firewood with a borrowed chainsaw and brooding over the prospect of being single and facing a cold, soggy winter. As I sawed away the 2 unrelated things merged into a song.I thought it'd be a fun little ditty to sing at parties, but it got away from me. If you have any questions, I am at pakrug @ hotmail.com

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Barbara
Date: 03 Jun 10 - 05:45 PM

Hey, Peter, welcome to the 'cat! Feel free to post any or all of your song lyrics here; or at least tell us how we can order a tape/CD with them on it. I personally would like the words to the packrat song, hint hint.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Barbara
Date: 05 Jun 10 - 03:40 PM

Aha, I see the words are already in the DT. I should have known.
Anyway, post some of your OTHER jems here. We'd love to have 'em. Like the Geritol Gypsy, or Somebody Else's Blues, or the LSD song.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Al Bates
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 02:12 PM

I have recently posted a version of this song on youtube (sorry I'm not much of a singer). It would be great if more people posted versions of this song, so we can all see how it has morphed over the years and miles. I also found the 'Motherlode' rendition of the song on both itunes and amazon, I guess it has been officially recorded and distributed since they recorded it in 1999. If you have any stories about this song, post them on the youtube site, I would love to hear them!

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Melissa
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 02:22 PM

Thanks, I've been wanting to hear that for a long time..


Guest Al's version

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Richard Domm
Date: 15 Feb 14 - 09:10 AM

Hi,

I am writing to ask your permission to release a french version of your song in Canada.

If the answer is yes, would you like me to tell you how to go about collecting your royalties afterwards?

You can write me at [e-mail] or call me at 418-627-0188. If you call, please leave a message and i will get back to you.

I am legally registered in Canada as a publisher under the name of Mantree Music.

It is a sin that a man as talented as you are is not more widely known.

Richard Domm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Richard Domm
Date: 22 May 14 - 01:19 PM

Hi Mr. Krug,

Richard Domm here. Gave you the wrong email address above. You can reach me at [e-mail] or by calling 418-627-0188. I would appreciate it if anyone, someone, can tell me where or how to reach Mr. Peter Krug.

Thanks kindly,
Richard Domm

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: WOMAN WITH A CHAINSAW (Peter Krug)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 02:18 AM

I heard tonight that Peter Krug died. He was a good guy. I came across another transcription of "Chainsaw" at http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1218816/16152662/1327108108323/Woman_With_a_Chainsaw.txt?token=shE6TFj2JZZ2K%2BUMaufFnAjO2qU%3D. Here's what it looks like:

Woman With a Chainsaw
  Peter Krug
  
  Intro: E A-D A-E D-A (2x)
  
         E              D           E               D
  When I woke up this morning I was frozen nearly dead
         E       D               E           D
  It was so damn cold I couldn't get out of bed
           E              D     E              D
  And as I lay there shivering, cold as could be
  E             D          E             D
  Suddenly this revelation   occurred to me
  
  |     G             D            A        E
  |I've got to find a woman with a chainsaw
  |G              D            A  E
  |  To spend the winter with me
  |   G              D            A        E
  |If I could find a woman with a chainsaw
  |G                      D                     E
  |All night long I would stoke her fire, yessirree
  |
  |(Intro chords)
  
  I put a notice in the coop, I put an ad in the Stump
  I don't care if she's skinny and I don't care if she's plump
  I don't care if she's pretty or she's ugly as sin
  If she's just got a chainsaw she can move right in
  
  Refrain ("I'm just looking for a...")
  
  Those big-city women in their I. Magnin clothes
  Are not very useful when the ground is froze
  I need a tough country mama who can help me cut my wood
  And when I find her I'm gonna treat her good
  
  Refrain ("Yeah, I'm looking for a...")
  
  I would treat her sweet and gentle, we would never fight
  If she went out with other guys I wouldn't get uptight
  No, she could just do her own thing and I would do mine
  She and me and that chainsaw would get along just fine
  
  Refrain ("'Cause I'm just looking for a...")
  
  I got a cabin on the mountain, a Chevy pickup truck
  Eleven pounds of homegrown Mendocino Thunderfuck
  A hundred pounds of soybeans, a barrel of brown rice
  Seven cords of firewood would make it all so nice
  
  Refrain ("That's why I'm looking for a...")
  
  (Intro chords; end on E7)
  For free, just her and me, and some parts of a tree
  
  
  Note: I. Magnin was founded in 1876 by Mary Ann Magnin. Acquired by Bullock's in 1944, the combined entity merged in 1964 into Federated Department Stores. The last I. Magnin stores were rebranded in 1994.

---

Chainsaws are very important tools for providing firewood in chilly Newfoundland and Labrador, so of course there's a page on this song at GEST.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Nov 16 - 11:13 AM

Reminds of the days when I got my first real job and unemployed would-be boyfriends suddenly started appearing out of nowhere.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Christy S
Date: 21 Mar 17 - 04:51 PM

I lived with Peter in Camp Meeker for 3 years (1976 -1979) and YES I did own a chainsaw... I had an old beat up black 1959 Ford pickup named Big Truck and a big Shepard dog named Bodacious. We had some great times, traveled to Canada (where he had friends on Saturna Island) and to Mexico and many other places. We generally lived the good old hippie life. I met Peter in the 60's at his store on Haight St. called "Wild Colors". He was a warm and genuine and gifted songwriter and a great carpenter. I just heard he died in November and I for one will miss him. Thanks for all the memories... Christy

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Dec 21 - 08:57 PM

Anybody know how to get permission to record this and other Peter Krug songs?

This is the only recording I could find of Peter singing his "Greatest Hit": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Brv0HmOD-A

I'm sure glad I got the chance to go to camp with him a few times. He was a true unreconstructed hippie, and it was wonderful to know him. Almost made me feel guilty to have become middle class myself. And he was nice to me despite that. Maybe he saw where my heart was.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: gnu
Date: 07 Dec 21 - 03:39 AM

Delightful thread!

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: I Gotta Find a Woman with a Chainsaw
From: GUEST,Riggy
Date: 07 Dec 21 - 02:59 PM

Check in with Sadie. His daughter is in the area and put on his memorial celebration on Mt Tam and a whole bunch from Guerneville were there.