Lyr Add: Ugly Man Blues

Subject: Lyr Add: UGLY MAN BLUES (Ora Alexander)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 May 16 - 01:54 PM

UGLY MAN BLUES
As recorded by Ora Alexander, 1931.

My man is ugly, ugly as can be.
Lord, my man is ugly, ugly as can be,
But, Lord, he knows a thousand good things, what to do to me

When my medicines(?) is over and I don't know what to do, (2x)
He just shakes my ashes, put his ice(?) right up in my flue.

Ev'ry mornin' when I wake up, I'm happy as I can be, (2x)
'Cause my sweet rockin' stepdaddy done put that thing on me,

[scat verse]

With a man like my man, ain't no woman can't go wrong.
Lord, with a man like my man, no woman can't go wrong.
Because his feet is thin and bony and ….

Lord, Lord, Lord, my walls must be mighty thin. (2x)
Last night a woman heard me groanin', now my man she tried to win.

If anyone tries to win my man at all, (2x)
I'll cut out her ambition and nail it on the wall.

Subject: Lyr Add: UGLY MAN BLUES (Marcy Levy)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 May 16 - 02:57 PM

UGLY MAN BLUES
Written by Marcy Levy
As recorded by the Marcy Levy Band, on "The Upside of Being Down" (2006).

CHORUS: If ever love again, Lord, let it be an ugly man.
Can't be nothin' sweeter than the love of an ugly man.

Listen: a good-lookin' man's always lookin' in a mirror,
Ain't but one thing he holds dearer,
You put on your best dress, he says: "What's wrong with your hair?"
An ugly man gonna love you no matter what you wear. CHORUS

He'll worship and adore you, treat you like a queen,
Shower you with flowers, gold and diamond rings.
It really doesn't matter; pay no mind to his face.
What's inside his heart is all the difference that it makes. CHORUS

When you're with an ugly man, all he sees is you.
A good-lookin' man be with every woman in the room.
[An] ugly man will love you, never think about himself.
To that good-lookin' man, you're just one more notch on his belt. CHORUS

Make him uglier than sin,
If I ever love again.
Make him look like a mangy dog,
With a face only a mother could love.
If I ever love again, Lord, let it be an ugly man.
If I ever love again, Lord, let it be an ugly man.
If I ever love again, Lord, let it be an ugly man.


[Also recorded by Shaun Murphy on "Ask for the Moon" (2012).]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Ugly Man Blues
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 May 16 - 07:03 PM

Here's the Ora Alexander recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Bs-hRle5A

And Marcy Levy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyjBT9lMZM4

What a great song! Somehow, it doesn't seem as sexist as "Never Make a Pretty Woman Your Wife."

-Joe-