Origins: Music sample back to 1930's - Al Bowlly

Subject: Origins: Music sample back to 1930's - Al Bowlly
From: Helen
Date: 05 Jun 22 - 12:08 AM

Yeah, I know, it's not blues or folk, but...

This week when I was in the supermarket, I think, I heard this song with the distinctive riff:

Dua Lipa x White Town - Love Again / Your Woman (Stan O Mashup)

And you may have previously heard the riff in this song:

White Town - Your Woman which was released in 1997.

But interestingly, the riff originally was used in this song:

Al Bowlly - My Woman (1932)
a typical sounding 1930's song by Al Bowlly & Lew Stone Monseigneur Band.

Each song is different, has different lyrics and a different take on the concept of relationships. Each reflects a certain period in music and social history, but listening to each one makes me feel that there is a well-rounded musical and social universe which progresses over time, building on past achievements and creating something new and interesting.

It reminds me of the discussions on Mudcat about folk or traditional or blues songs which evolved from other songs or older versions of songs, depending on the singer's own view of the world or in some cases, on the singer misremembering the lyrics from an older song and unintentionally creating a new version.

Subject: RE: Origins: Music sample back to 1930's - Al Bowlly
From: Helen
Date: 05 Jun 22 - 03:17 PM

Relationships, different kinds, the person who hurts the other one, the questions about whether this is the right person to be in a relationship with, the consequences of negative relationships, the possibility of moving forward after a negative relationship.

The basis for the evolution is a song from nearly 100 years ago. It is still relevant today. And that riff, in my opinion, fits as neatly into music of the late 1990's and music of the 2020's as it did in the 1930's. That's cool!

Al Bowlly, My Woman lyrics. [The woman is at fault]


Oh, my woman as mean as she can be
My woman, she makes a fool of me
Never treats me good
Don't know why I should love her

She's lying when she says "I love you"
I know it but what am I to do
Though she makes me cry
I don't care for I love her

Once I laughed and loved for it all wrong
Then she came along like a new song
Now I sing a blue song
My woman, she has a heart of stone
Not human, but she might be my own
'Til the day I die
I'll be loving my woman
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: I. Williams / B. Crosby / M. Wartell
My Woman lyrics © Wb Music Corp.


White Town, Your Woman, lyrics [the man is at fault]

Just tell me what you've got to say to me
I've been waiting for so long to hear the truth
It comes as no surprise at all you see
So cut the crap and tell me that we're through
Now, I know your heart, I know your mind

You don't even know you're being unkind
So much for all your highbrow Marxist ways
Just use me up and then you walk away
Boy, you can't play me that way

Well, I guess what you say is true
I could never be the right kind of girl for you
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman

When I saw my best friend yesterday
She said she never liked you from the start
Well me, I wish that I could claim the same
But you always knew you held my heart
And you're such a charming, handsome man

Now I think I finally understand
Is it in your genes?
I don't know
But I'll soon find out, that's for sure
Why did you play me this way?

Well I guess what you say is true
I could never be the right kind of girl for you
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
Ho, I could never be your woman

Well I guess what they say is true
I could never spend my life with a man like you
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
I could never be your woman
Ho, I could never be your woman

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: George Clinton / Irving Wallman / Bing Crosby / Max Wartell / Jyoti Prakash Mishra / White Town
Your Woman lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Bmg Rights Management (uk) Ltd., Mca Music Publishing, A.d.o. Universal S, Bregman Vocco & Conn Inc


Love Again, Song by Dua Lipa [After being hurt by a previous lover, she thinks she can love again]


I never thought that I would find a way out
I never thought I'd hear my heartbeat so loud
I can't believe there's something left in my chest anymore
But goddamn, you got me in love again

I used to think that I was made out of stone
I used to spend so many nights on my own
I never knew I had it in me to dance anymore
But goddamn, you got me in love again

Show me that heaven's right here, baby
Touch me, so I know I'm not crazy
Never have I ever met somebody like you
Used to be afraid of love and what it might do
But goddamn, you got me in love again

You got me in love again
You got me in love again
You got me in love again
Again
So many nights, my tears fell harder than rain
Scared I would take my broken heart to the grave
I'd rather die than have to live in a storm like before
But goddamn, you got me in love again

Show me that heaven's right here, baby
Touch me, so I know I'm not crazy
Never have I ever met somebody like you
Used to be afraid of love, and what it might do
But goddamn, you got me in love again

You got me in love again
You got me in love again
You got me in love again
Again
I can't believe, I can't believe
I finally found someone
I'll sink my teeth in disbelief
'Cause you're the one that I want
I can't believe, I can't believe
I'm not afraid anymore
Goddamn, you got me in love again

La-la-la, la-la-la
La-la-la, la-la-la

I never thought that I would find a way out
I never thought I'd hear my heartbeat so loud
I can't believe there's something left in my chest anymore
Oh, goddamn, you got me in love again

I can't believe, I can't believe
I finally found someone
I'll sink my teeth in disbelief
'Cause you're the one that I want
I can't believe there's something left inside my chest anymore
But goddamn, you got me in love again

You got me in love again
You got me in love again
You got me in love again (again and again)
Again (and again and again and again)

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Irving Wallman / Bing Crosby / Max Wartell / Stephen Noel Kozmeniuk / Chelcee Maria Grimes / Dua Lipa / Clarence Coffee Jr.
Love Again lyrics © Nyankingmusic, Silver Fox Music Limited, Tap Music Publishing Ltd., Best Coffee In Town, Emi Music Publishing Ltd, Bregman Vocco & Conn Inc, Tomboy Music Limited