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Grovelling Songs (Male?)

GUEST,leeneia 19 Aug 13 - 10:19 AM
GUEST,eldergirl 18 Aug 13 - 11:18 AM
Jim McLean 18 Aug 13 - 08:30 AM
Long Firm Freddie 18 Aug 13 - 05:53 AM
Phil Edwards 17 Aug 13 - 06:51 PM
McGrath of Harlow 17 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM
McGrath of Harlow 17 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Aug 13 - 03:59 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Aug 13 - 03:55 PM
McGrath of Harlow 17 Aug 13 - 02:26 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Aug 13 - 01:20 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Aug 13 - 12:06 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Aug 13 - 08:37 AM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 11:03 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 08:38 PM
McGrath of Harlow 16 Aug 13 - 08:23 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 08:17 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 07:48 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 02:58 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 02:12 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 01:46 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 10:34 AM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 09:55 AM
GUEST,eldergirl 16 Aug 13 - 09:21 AM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 01:17 AM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 12:51 AM
Jim Dixon 16 Aug 13 - 12:19 AM
McGrath of Harlow 03 Aug 13 - 01:35 PM
GUEST,Grishka 03 Aug 13 - 12:55 PM
GUEST,Grishka 03 Aug 13 - 12:54 PM
McGrath of Harlow 03 Aug 13 - 08:50 AM
GUEST,gillymor 03 Aug 13 - 07:19 AM
GUEST,Grishka 03 Aug 13 - 05:40 AM
Ron Davies 02 Aug 13 - 10:34 PM
Ron Davies 02 Aug 13 - 10:30 PM
McGrath of Harlow 02 Aug 13 - 01:31 PM
GUEST,gillymor 02 Aug 13 - 10:53 AM
GUEST,leeneia 02 Aug 13 - 10:08 AM
GUEST,gillymor 02 Aug 13 - 09:50 AM
GUEST,Grishka 02 Aug 13 - 05:06 AM
Ron Davies 01 Aug 13 - 10:24 PM
Amergin 01 Aug 13 - 09:17 PM
Amergin 01 Aug 13 - 09:16 PM
GUEST,leeneia 01 Aug 13 - 08:55 PM
GUEST,gillymor 01 Aug 13 - 12:17 PM
GUEST,leeneia 01 Aug 13 - 11:01 AM
GUEST,Frank 31 Jul 13 - 11:05 PM
Ron Davies 31 Jul 13 - 11:05 PM
GUEST,leeneia 31 Jul 13 - 04:15 PM
GUEST,leeneia 31 Jul 13 - 04:10 PM
Ron Davies 31 Jul 13 - 11:41 AM
GingerDave 31 Jul 13 - 11:28 AM
GUEST,eldergirl 31 Jul 13 - 06:18 AM
GUEST,Grishka 31 Jul 13 - 05:54 AM
Mo the caller 31 Jul 13 - 05:18 AM
akenaton 31 Jul 13 - 03:55 AM
Mo the caller 31 Jul 13 - 03:34 AM
akenaton 31 Jul 13 - 03:22 AM
Joe Offer 31 Jul 13 - 03:16 AM
GUEST,pdq 15 Oct 03 - 07:31 PM
alanabit 15 Oct 03 - 02:45 PM
Charley Noble 15 Oct 03 - 12:45 PM
dick greenhaus 15 Oct 03 - 09:44 AM
JJ 15 Oct 03 - 08:24 AM
GUEST,Peter T. 15 Oct 03 - 08:14 AM
JennyO 15 Oct 03 - 07:28 AM
Steve Parkes 15 Oct 03 - 07:14 AM
Gurney 15 Oct 03 - 05:25 AM
Mary in Kentucky 14 Oct 03 - 10:15 PM
Joybell 14 Oct 03 - 08:43 PM
nancyjo 14 Oct 03 - 08:25 PM
nancyjo 14 Oct 03 - 07:57 PM
darkriver 14 Oct 03 - 07:21 PM
HuwG 14 Oct 03 - 07:12 PM
GUEST,pdq 14 Oct 03 - 06:39 PM
Desdemona 14 Oct 03 - 06:31 PM
Joybell 14 Oct 03 - 06:17 PM
Ebbie 14 Oct 03 - 06:04 PM
Charley Noble 14 Oct 03 - 05:57 PM
McGrath of Harlow 14 Oct 03 - 01:58 PM
JenEllen 14 Oct 03 - 01:31 PM
GUEST,Les B. 14 Oct 03 - 01:27 PM
Grab 14 Oct 03 - 08:40 AM
Amos 13 Oct 03 - 10:47 PM
Ebbie 13 Oct 03 - 10:09 PM
Jim Dixon 13 Oct 03 - 06:42 PM
Dave Bryant 13 Oct 03 - 12:06 PM
mack/misophist 13 Oct 03 - 11:56 AM
Peter T. 13 Oct 03 - 11:52 AM
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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Aug 13 - 10:19 AM

Here's a link to a mercifully short Beatles song that may be the ultimate male grovel.

abject

The hoarse bellowing (adult male's equivalent of a tantrum), the lack of pride (I'll never make it alone) and the promise that "I'll never do you no harm" all gave me the creeps when I first heard it.

Then I thought maybe it was supposed to be a parody. I still can't tell whether it is or not.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,eldergirl
Date: 18 Aug 13 - 11:18 AM

LFFreddie, that has to've been Hard-hearted Hannah.
Phil, that was a lovely Grovel-and-response!
Jim Dixon, thanks for confirming One More Chance, and it was Gary Farr and the T-bones, must have been a silver anniversary reissue cos I recall hearing it on Radio Luxemburg the same year Love Me Do was released! Was trying to remember the boxing connection, boxer Tommy Farr was Gary's dad. No I don't remember him, just the wee factoid.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Jim McLean
Date: 18 Aug 13 - 08:30 AM

I recorded Hugh MacDiarmid, the great Scottish poet, reciting this Robert Burns poem. He couldn't help chuckling during the recording.




"Wha is that at my bower-door?"
"O wha is it but Findlay!"
"Then gae your gate, ye'se nae be here:"
"Indeed maun I," quo' Findlay;
"What mak' ye, sae like a thief?"
"O come and see," quo' Findlay;
"Before the morn ye'll work mischief:"
"Indeed will I," quo' Findlay.

"Gif I rise and let you in"-
"Let me in," quo' Findlay;
"Ye'll keep me waukin wi' your din;"
"Indeed will I," quo' Findlay;
"In my bower if ye should stay"-
"Let me stay," quo' Findlay;
"I fear ye'll bide till break o' day;"
"Indeed will I," quo' Findlay.

"Here this night if ye remain"-
"I'll remain," quo' Findlay;
"I dread ye'll learn the gate again;"
"Indeed will I," quo' Findlay.
"What may pass within this bower"-
"Let it pass," quo' Findlay;
"Ye maun conceal till your last hour:"
"Indeed will I," quo' Findlay.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 18 Aug 13 - 05:53 AM

I found this one one Monologues.co.uk - they now have lyrics to over 2,000 Music Hall songs:

HANNAH, WON'T YOU OPEN THE DOOR?

(Hannah, Hannah, Open the door it's Bill)

Bill's at the door, chilled to the core
Please baby, Hannah, take me back once more
Here in the snow, I'm shivering so
My bones are rattling in breezes that blow
Hannah, be nice, I'm cold as ice
Why don't you answer me Babe I've knocked twice
I'm hungry too, smell chicken stew
Hannah I loves only you.

Chorus: Hannah, Hannah, won't you open that door?
Hannah, Hannah, won't you change your manner
This is old Billy Johnson don't you love him no more?
And I pleads, 'cos I needs
That place behind the stove that I used to have before
Hannah, Hannah, don't you hear me, Won't you open that door.

(If you don't open that door I'm going to kick it in, you hear me?)

Hannah, Hannah, let me in please, honest I'll freeze
I'll surely catch the grip starting to sneeze
Please stop that rhyme, gal it's a crime
Singing that song about old Summer time
Frost bitten, nose like a beak
I'm frozen sure honey I want some heat
I love you still, I always will
Open that door Babe it's Bill.

Chorus: Hannah, Hannah, won't you open that door?
Hannah, Hannah, won't you change your manner
This is old Billy Johnson don't you love him no more?
And I pleads, 'cos I needs
That place behind the stove that I used to have before
Hannah, Hannah, don't you hear me, Won't you open that door.

Written and composed by Sam and Kirk McGee - 1927
Performed by Ella Retford (1886-1962)

Here's a link to the song as performed by Sam McGee:

Sam

LFF


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 06:51 PM

Here's one you probably won't have heard, because I wrote it & I've only sung it out a couple of times. It's a kind of modified grovel, or grovel-and-response.

THE PAUPER
(Phil Edwards)

If my clothes were all tattered and spattered and old
If my shoes let in water and my coat let in the cold
If I'd the look of a dog that had never been fed
Would I still find the way to your bed?
Could you still love a pauper? he said.

"But your larder is full and your clothes are all new
Your labels are good and your credit is too
If I loved a poor man he wouldn't be you
And I'm not into three in a bed.
I've no love for a pauper," she said.

Oh, my life has been tattered and spattered with grief
I'm empty inside, and cold beyond belief
My heart is a pauper, a beggar, a thief
And you don't want that sort in your bed
So I'll vex you no longer, he said.

"You've taken me places both rich and remote
From spoons that were greasy to cuisine that's haute
You've put the world at my feet and put chains round my throat
So don't tell me your heart's in the red
You're not the pauper around here," she said.

"And don't tell me my love's made you emotionally rich
Or you can go and try sleeping in an emotional ditch
Love is better than money, but I know which is which
And you'll owe me if I let you stay -
Shall I tell you how I want you to pay?"


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM

Well it shows consistency. Most times I read through a thread before I post in it, but this time I skipped.

Often when I'm reading through an old thread I find myself thinking "why doesn't someone say so-and-so, and thinking I'll post saying that, and then I run upon an od pst I made years ago saying exactly what I was thinking of saying.

I'm not sure whether that's something to be pleased about or not. Is it good to keep thinking the same thing years later?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 04:25 PM

Well it shows consistency. Most times I read through a thread before I post in it, but this time I skipped.

Often when I'm reading through an old thread I find myself thinking "why doesn't someone say so-and-so, and thinking I'll post saying tat, and then I run upon an od pst I made years ago saying exactly what I was thinking of saying.

I'm not sure whether that's something to be pleased about or not. Is it good to keep thinking the same thing years later?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 03:59 PM

McGrath: Those look like the same lyrics you posted in this same thread ten years ago.

Looks like Oldtimer's disease has struck again.


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Subject: Lyr Add: WON'T YOU GIVE HIM (ONE MORE CHANCE)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 03:55 PM

Eldergirl quoted an excerpt from this, 16-Aug-2013:


WON'T YOU GIVE HIM (ONE MORE CHANCE)
As sung by Solomon Burke on "Rock 'n' Soul" (1964)

(If you'll give him one, just-a one more chance,
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.)

Just let me prove that my love is real.
Baby, won't you let me show you how I feel.

(All he wants is one, just-a one more night.
That's all he needs to make things right.)

Why can't you see that my love is true?
Can't you see that I'm still in love with you?

I don't care what's in the past; it's all over.
(It's all gone; it's all gone.)
I don't care what people say; I know that you're the one.

(Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance.
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.)

If you let me try, I'll make you see, oh, yeah,
The only man you'll ever need in life is me.

(Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance.
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.)

If you let me try, I'll make you see, oh, yeah,
The only one you'll ever need in life is me.

For all I need is—

(Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance.
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.
Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance.
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.
Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance.
That's all he needs is-a one more chance.)


[Covered by The British Lions (1982), Gary Farr & The T-Bones (1987), Robert Cray (1999), Wishbone Ash (2000), The Fortunes (2004), Tom Jones (2005), and possibly others.]


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 02:26 PM

A great one is Beans for Breakfast by Johnny Cash (I think he wrote it as well as recorded it) - and this is one that is definitely a man song all the way.

I couldn't hear you for the TV, I didn't know you said goodbye
I saw your cancelled check for the airfare, didn't know flyin' got too high
Beans for breakfast once again, hard to eat 'em from the can.

I've run out of clean utensils, I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man
I heard the crows outside my window, guess it's me they're talkin' about
The fire you lit has burnt to cinders, every good things fizzled out
Beans for beakfast once again, hard to eat 'em from the can.

Wish you'd come back and wash the dishes, I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man
Caught a cold with the window open, crow droppings o my window sill
Probably got histoplasmosis, got no gun or I would kill them crows
Beans for breakfast once again, hard to eat 'em from the can.

Plastic forks are a dime a dozen I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man
Finally made it to the mailbox, felt so bad I thought I'd die
All I got was a bill from my doctor, well I guess flyin' ain't so high
Bean for breakfast once again, hard to eat 'em from the can.

Blue tick mattress cold and greasy, I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man
The house burned down from the fire that I built, in your closet by mistake
After I took all them pills, but I got out safe in my duck head overalls
Beans for breakfast once again, I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.


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Subject: Lyr Add: WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU (Four Seasons)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 01:20 PM

Mentioned by nancyjo on 14-Oct-2003:


WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
As recorded by The Four Seasons (later known as Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons), 1966.

CHORUS: Workin' my way back to you, babe,
With a burnin' love inside.
Yeah, I'm workin' my way back to you, babe,
And the happiness that died.
I let it get away,
Payin' every day.

When you were so in love with me,
I played around like I was free.
Thought I could have my cake and eat it too,
But how I cried over losin' you.

See me down and out,
But I ain't about
To go living my life without you.
For every day I made you cry,
I'm paying, girl, 'til the day that I die.

CHORUS: I keep workin'....

I used to love to make you cry.
It made me feel like a man inside,
But if I'd been a man in reality,
You'd still be here, babe, lovin' me.

Now the nights are long
And lonely and I ain't too strong,
Babe; I just miss you so.
And you're too proud; you won't give in,
But when I think about all I could win,

CHORUS: I keep workin'....

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

CHORUS: I'm workin' my way back to you, babe,
With a burnin' love inside.
I'm workin' my way back to you, babe,
And the happiness that died.
Oh, how I cried.

Workin' my way back to you, babe,
With a burning love inside....


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE HEART THAT YOU OWN (Dwight Yoakam)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 12:06 PM

Mentioned by Joybell on 14-Oct-2003:


THE HEART THAT YOU OWN
As recorded by Dwight Yoakam on "If There Was a Way" (1990)

I pay rent on a run-down place.
There ain't no view but there's lots o' space
In my heart, the heart that you own.

I pay the rent, pay it right on time.
Baby, I pay you ev'ry single dime
For my heart, the heart that you own.

Used to be I could love here for free,
Way back before you bought the property.
Now I pay daily on what once was mine.
Lord, I probably owe you for these tears that I cry.

'Cause I pay rent on a run-down place.
There ain't no view but there's lots of space
In my heart, the heart that you own.

I struggle each night to find a new way
To pay you what I owe just so I can stay.
I ain't overdue so you can't throw me out.
I've loved here for years; don't know where I'd go now.

'Cause I pay rent on a run-down place.
There ain't no view but there's lots of space
In my heart, the heart that you own,
Yeah, my heart, the heart that you own.


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE DOGS, THEY REALLY MISS YOU
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Aug 13 - 08:37 AM

Suggested by JenEllen on 14-Oct-2003:


THE DOGS, THEY REALLY MISS YOU
As recorded by The Austin Lounge Lizards on "Employee of the Month" (2006)

I know the day you left, you said, "Let's never talk again,"
But I'm not callin' for myself; I'm calling you for them.
Our little ones who wait at home are broken and upset,
And though they don't remember much, they can't seem to forget.

The dogs, they really miss you; they're different since you said goodbye.
They brood, they pout; they feel put out; if they could speak, they'd tell you, "Hi."
They're too down to play around; they hardly touch their meals.
The dogs they really miss you, and I know just how they feel.

Their tails won't wag; their hearts won't heal; they blame themselves that you're astray.
They're sorry that you felt tied down, and never learned to stay.
Molly's nose is warm and dry since she sat and watched you pack.
She figures that you must be lost and can't find your way back.

And Scooter's just a basket case; he won't accept my calls.
His squeaky toy lies silent; he's lost interest in his balls.

The dogs they really miss you; they're not themselves since you're not here.
They sleep all day, watch TV all night; they drink way too much beer.
They've seen "Old Yeller" forty times; they bathe less than they should.
The dogs, they've stopped their poker games, hoping you'll come home for good.

You know how they hate to beg, but the dogs are really blue,
Because they really miss you and you know that I do too.


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Subject: Lyr Add: TAKE ME BACK (Little Anthony & Imperials)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 11:03 PM

Mentioned by nancyjo on 14-Oct-2003:


TAKE ME BACK
As recorded by Little Anthony & The Imperials, 1965.

CHORUS: take me back, I'm beggin' please.
Take me back; I'm on my knees,
For you to scold me,
Hurt me, hold me.
Darling, take me back.

1. When you belonged to me, I had a jealous mind.
Too late I learned that you were not the cheating kind.

2. My jealous eyes have learned to take a look or two.
They were too blind to see that I was losing you.

3. They say you live and learn, and though I've tried before,
I promise never to be jealous anymore.


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Subject: Lyr Add: SO IN LOVE (Cole Porter)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 08:38 PM

Mentioned by gillymor on 01-Aug-13. Yup, that's grovelling, all right, but not until the last verse.


SO IN LOVE
Written by Cole Porter for the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" (1948)
As sung by Patricia Morison on the original cast album.

Strange, dear, but true, dear,
When I'm close to you, dear,
The stars fill the sky,
So in love with you am I.

Even without you,
My arms fold about you.
You know, darling, why:
So in love with you am I.

In love with the night mysterious,
The night when you first were there—
In love with my joy delirious,
When I knew that you might care.

So taunt me and hurt me,
Deceive me, desert me;
I'm yours 'til I die,
So in love,
So in love,
So in love with you, my love, am I.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 08:23 PM

I wrote in an earlier post about how we take a version we've got used to a the key to whether it's a man's point of view or a woman's, and interpret it accordingly, even if the words don't limit it that way.

For example take These Boots Are Made For Walking, and imagine it sung by a man. The words don't need to change but the feeling does, and it gets pretty nasty.


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Subject: Lyr Add: POOR POOR PITIFUL ME (Warren Zevon)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 08:17 PM

JJ mentioned this on 15-Oct-2003. It sounds consciously ironic to me; I think he is parodying self-pity, not owning it.


POOR POOR PITIFUL ME
Warren Zevon

I lay my head on the railroad track
To wait for the double-E.
The railroad don't run no more.
Poor, poor pitiful me!

CHORUS: Poor, poor pitiful me!
Poor, poor pitiful me!
These young girls won't let me be.
Lord, have mercy on me.
Woe is me.

Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood.
I ain't namin' names,
But she really worked me over good.
She was just like Jesse James.

She really worked me over good.
She was a credit to her gender.
She put me through some changes, lord,
Sort of like a waring blender.

[CHORUS TWICE]

I met a girl at the Rainbow Bar.
She asks me if I'd beat her.
She took me back to the Hyatt House.
[Spoken:] I don't want to talk about it.

Poor, poor pitiful me!
Poor, poor pitiful me!
Poor, poor pitiful me!
Poor, poor pitiful me!


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Subject: Lyr Add: MANDY (Barry Manilow)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 07:48 PM

Mentioned by leeneia on 31-Jul-2013. A case study in self-pity and regret, but is it grovelling? Don't you have to be asking for something to be grovelling, even if it is only forgiveness?


MANDY
Barry Manilow

I remember all my life
Rainin' down as cold as ice,
Shadows of a man, a face through window,
Cryin' in the night; the night goes into

Morning, just another day.
Happy people pass my way.
Lookin' in their eyes, I see a mem'ry.
I never realized how happy you made me.

Oh, Mandy, well, you came and you gave without takin',
But I sent you away.
Oh, Mandy, well, you kissed me and stopped me from shakin',
And I need you today, oh, Mandy.

I'm standin' on the edge of time.
I walked away when love was mine,
Caught up in a world of uphill climbin'.
The tears are on my mind and nothin' is rhymin'.

Oh, Mandy, well, you came and you gave without takin',
But I sent you away.
Oh, Mandy, well, you kissed me and stopped me from shakin',
And I need you today oh, Mandy!

Yesterday's a dream; I face the mornin'
Cryin' on the breeze; the pain is callin':

Oh, Mandy, well, you came and you gave without takin',
But I sent you away.
Oh, Mandy, well, you kissed me and stopped me from shakin',
And I need you today.

Oh, Mandy, you came and you gave without takin',
But I sent you away.
Oh, Mandy, you kissed me and stopped me from shakin',
And I need you.


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Subject: Lyr Add: LIGHT MY FIRE (The Doors)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 02:58 PM

JenEllen mentioned this on 14-Oct-2003. Sorry, I don't see this as grovelling. This is mere exhortation. Grovelling needs to have a "pity me" component; I don't see any of that.


LIGHT MY FIRE
As recorded by The Doors on "The Doors"

You know that it would be untrue.
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you:
"Girl, we couldn't get much higher."
Come on, baby; light my fire.
Come on, baby; light my fire.
Try to set the night on fire.

The time to hesitate is through;
No time to wallow in the mire.
Try now; we can only lose,
And our love become a funeral pyre.
Come on, baby; light my fire.
Come on, baby; light my fire.
Try to set the night on fire, yeah!


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'M YOUR MAN (Leonard Cohen)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 02:12 PM

Grab mentioned this on 14-Oct-2003.


I'M YOUR MAN
Leonard Cohen

If you want a lover,
I'll do anything you ask me to,
And if you want another
Kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you.
If you want a partner, take my hand,
Or if you want to strike me down in anger,
Here I stand.
I'm your man.

If you want a boxer,
I will step into the ring for you,
And if you want a doctor,
I'll examine every inch of you.
If you want a driver, climb inside,
Or if you want to take me for a ride,
You know you can.
I'm your man.

Ah, the moon's too bright.
The chain's too tight.
The beast won't go to sleep.
I've been running through
These promises to you
That I made and I could not keep.
Ah, but a man never got a woman back, not by begging on his knees,
Or I'd crawl to you, baby, and I'd fall at your feet,
And I'd howl at your beauty like a dog in heat,
And I'd claw at your heart and I'd tear at your sheet.
I'd say, "Please, (please)
I'm your man."

And if you've got to sleep a moment on the road,
I will steer for you,
And if you want to work the street alone,
I'll disappear for you.
If you want a father for your child,
Or only want to walk with me a while
Across the sand,
I'm your man.

If you want a lover,
I'll do anything you ask me to,
And if you want another
Kind of love, I'll wear a mask for you....FADE.


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Subject: Lyr Add: AMAZED TO FIND (Kate Wolf)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 01:46 PM

Charley Noble mentioned this on 14-Oct-2003. I couldn't find an online recording by Kate Wolf, so I transcribed a different one. I hope it's close.

I wouldn't call this grovelling. She isn't asking the absent person to return. She doesn't even say whether having this person on her mind is pleasant or unpleasant. This is a lot less like grovelling than some of the other songs in this thread.


AMAZED TO FIND
Written by Kate Wolf
As sung by Clay County on "All the Good Times"

1. After all is said and done,
A few things lost, a few things won,
I can say I've had a full and a happy life,
But in the quiet of the night,
When I turn out the light,
I'm amazed to find you're still on my mind.

CHORUS: I'm amazed to find,
I'm amazed to find that you're still on my mind.
It will hit me without warnin'
Early in the mornin':
I'm amazed to find you're still on my mind.

2. I could be talking with my friends,
Or out walking at day's end,
Or just doing the things that fill my time,
But at the closing of the day,
When my troubles fade away,
I'm amazed to find you're still on my mind.


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Subject: Lyr Add: HIT THE ROAD, JACK (from Ray Charles)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 10:34 AM

This song was mentioned by darkriver on 14-Oct-2003. It has actually been posted once before at Mudcat, but it was buried with 3 other songs in the same message, so its title couldn't be put in the subject heading. I hate when that happens. Every song deserves its own message, at least, and sometimes, its own thread.


HIT THE ROAD, JACK
Written by Percy Mayfield
As recorded by Ray Charles, 1961

(Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

What'd you say?

(Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

Oh, woman, oh, woman, don't treat me so mean.
You're the meanest old woman that I've ever seen.
I guess if you say so,
I'll have to pack my things and go.

(That's right! Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

What'd you say?

(Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

Now baby, listen, baby, don't ya treat me this-a way,
'Cause I'll be back on my feet some day.

(Don't care if you do! 'Cause it's understood
You ain't got no money; you just ain't no good.)

Well, I guess if you say so,
I'll have to pack my things and go.

(That's right! Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

What'd you say?

(Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.
Hit the road, Jack,
And don't you come back no more.)

Well.... (Don't you come back no more.)

Uh, What'd you say? (Don't you come back no more.)

I didn't understand you! (Don't you come back no more.)

You can't mean that! (Don't you come back no more.)

Oh, now baby, please! (Don't you come back no more.)

What you tryin' to do to me? (Don't you come back no more.) FADE.


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Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY (Harold Melvin...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 09:55 AM

Ginger Dave mentioned this song on 31-Jul-2013:


DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY
As recorded by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, 1975.

Don't leave me this way.
I can't survive, can't stay alive without your love.
Don't leave me this way.
No, I can't exist; I'll surely miss your tender kiss.
Don't leave me this way.
No, don't leave me this way,
A broken man with empty hands.
Oh, baby, please, please, don't leave me this way.

Ah, baby, my heart is full of love and desire for you.
Now come on, girl, and do what you gotta do.
You started this fire down near my soul.
Now can't you see it's burnin' out o' control?
Come on, girl, and satisfy the need in me,
'Cause only your good lovin' can set me free.

Don't leave me this way,
'Cause it would be wrong to string along a love so true.
Don't leave me this way.
Don't you understand I'm at your command?
Oh, baby, please, please, don't leave me this way, yeah.

- - -
Besides repeats, the latter part of the record consists of a lot of disconnected phrases and wailings that seem improvised; I have not attempted to transcribe this part.

The song was later covered by Thelma Houston and by The Communards.

Tina Turner recorded a different song with the same title in 1999.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,eldergirl
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 09:21 AM

1962 or thereabouts-

Chorus: Won't you give him one, just-a one more chance?
That's all he needs, is-a one more chance!

Man: Just let me prove that my love is real.
Can't you see that's really the way I feel?

Chorus: Won't you give him one, just-a one more night?
That's all he needs, just to make things right!

Man: Just let me prove that my love is true.
Can't you see that I'm still in love with you?

... Can't remember the rest of it, but the guy got all his mates to chime in on his behalf as well, he must've meant it!


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Subject: Lyr Add: BAD DOG, NO BISCUIT (Daron Norwood)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 01:17 AM

This song was mentioned by HuwG back on 14-Oct-2003, but the link he provided is dead now.


BAD DOG, NO BISCUIT
As recorded by Daron Norwood

1. I stayed out late with the boys again.
I got to reminiscing, ya'll; it got out o' hand.
Pulled up in the drive, saw the porch light on.
Trouble, Jack; that's a fact; throw me a bone!

CHORUS: Back in the pound, back on a chain,
My baby left me out in the rain.
I scratched at the door; she told me to get.
She said, "Bad dog! No biscuit!"

2. Well, I whimpered and I whined and I started to beg.
"I hope you freeze" is all she said.
Slept out in my truck with my heater on.
Hey, Roy; oh, boy! Throw me a bone!

3. I woke up with a fever and a runny nose.
I'm a housebroke baby; I do what I'm told.
I won't ever stray, ever roam.
Hush, honey! Honey, hush! Throw me a bone!


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Subject: Lyr Add: ALL FOR THE LOVE OF A GIRL (Johnny Horton
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 12:51 AM

Mentioned by JenEllen on 14-Oct-2003:


ALL FOR THE LOVE OF A GIRL
As recorded by Johnny Horton

Well, today I'm so weary; today I'm so blue,
Sad and broken-hearted, and it's all because of you.
Life was so sweet, dear; life was a song.
Now you've gone and left me; oh, where do I belong?

And it's all for the love of a dear little girl,
All for the love that sets your heart in a whirl.
I'm a man who'd give his life and the joys of this world
All for the love of a girl.


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Subject: Lyr Add: AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG (Temptations)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Aug 13 - 12:19 AM

This song was mentioned by nancyjo back on 14-Oct-2003. This may indeed be the gold standard of grovelling.


AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG
Written by Norman Whitfield and Edward Holland, Jr.
As recorded by The Temptations, 1966.

1. I know you want to leave me,
But I refuse to let you go.
If I have to beg, plead, for your sympathy,
I don't mind 'cause you mean that much to me.

CHORUS: Ain't too proud to beg, sweet darlin'.
Please don't leave me, girl. (Don't you go.)
Ain't to proud to plead, baby, baby.
Please don't leave me, girl. (Don't you go.)

2. Now I heard a cryin' man is half the man,
With no sense of pride,
But if I have to cry to keep you, I don't mind weepin'
Just to keep you by my side.

3. If I have to sleep on your doorstep all night and day
Just to keep you from walkin' away,
Let your friends laugh; even this I can stand,
'Cause I'm gonna keep you any way I can.

4. Now I've got a love so deep in the pit of my heart,
And each day it grows more and more.
I'm not ashamed to come and plead to you, baby,
If pleadin' keeps you from walkin' out that door.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 01:35 PM

As these things go, I thought that was quite an agreeable adjustment of my name...

One thing that arguably mitigates against the unfairness is that Petruchio makes no effort to spare himself the discomforts he inflicts on Kate - no food, no sleep, trudging through the mud in rags.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 12:55 PM

... McGrath ..., sorry.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 12:54 PM

I agree, McHarlow - the notions of punishment and "cure" of behaviour are quite interwoven; both are seen as justifying treatments that would otherwise be considered very unfair, even in Shakespeare's time. (I remember that when Microsoft no longer wanted to call their bugfixes bugfixes, they called them "corrective services", until they were told that in some states the prisons were called similarly. Now we have "Windows Service Packs". Microsoft commits the blunders, and we get the punishment/"cure", if we grovel nicely.)


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 08:50 AM

Kate's course of humiliation in Taming of a Shrew isn't so much a punishment as a cure for a pattern of behaviour that is seen as making her as miserable as those around her. As with Othello and the Merchant of Venice it's a bit hard to spin in a way that is too acceptable these days, probably even more so. Outside certain cultures, such as Saudi Arabia and some parts of the US, that is.

Some modern productions try to adjust things so that it's seen as a strange kind of feminine empowerment, which is a bit difficult. I went the other day to a screening of the Globe production, which stuck strictly to Shakespeare's line, which felt equally strange.


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Subject: Lyr Add: HONEY, JUST ALLOW ME ONE MORE CHANCE
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 07:19 AM

From The Freewheeling Bob Dylan:

Honey, just allow me one more chance
To get along with you
Honey, just allow me one more chance
Ah'll do anything with you
Well, I'm a-walkin' down the road
With my head in my hand
I'm lookin' for a woman
Needs a worried man
Just-a one kind favor I ask you
'Low me just-a one more chance

Honey, just allow me one more chance
To ride your aeroplane
Honey, just allow me one more chance
To ride your passenger train
Well, I've been lookin' all over
For a gal like you
I can't find nobody
So you'll have to do
Just-a one kind favor I ask you
'Low me just-a one more chance

Honey, just allow me one more chance
To get along with you
Honey, just allow me one more chance
Ah'll do anything with you
Well, lookin' for a woman
That ain't got no man
Is just lookin' for a needle
That is lost in the sand
Just-a one kind favor I ask you
'Low me just-a one more chance

-H.Thomas B.Dylan


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 05:40 AM

"The Taming of the Shrew" is not a typical example, because the woman is explicitly compelled to eat humble pie, as a punishment for her being a shrew. I do not remember "Kiss me Kate" very well, but I think it tries to soften the premise, with all the more questionable result. Comedy has its own laws anyway.

Once a couple is married, a new game starts. Humiliated shrews may well seek revenge, perhaps even unconsciously.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:34 PM

("Good point"--regarding Porter's own sexual proclivities)


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:30 PM

Good point, gillymor.

I'd forgotten that.

To quote another male self-abasement song:   "You win again."


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 01:31 PM

Just because a song gets famous sung by a women it shouldn't be assumed the words don't apply just as much when sung by a man.

For example in the opening post back in 2003, Peter T gave "YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME" as a classical example of a woman grovelling to a man. But it wouldn't need a word changed to be sung by a man grovelling to a woman. Or for that matter by a woman to another woman, or a man to another man.

And that kind of thing applies to a lot of songs.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:53 AM

Yeah leenja, it was written for "Kiss Me Kate" Porter's musical containing a play within a play (The Taming of the Shrew). If memory serves me correctly the song was written for the female lead, Lilli.

The motion picture version is quite good, IMO, and can usually be found at a library.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 10:08 AM

Was it written for a character in a play or musical?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 09:50 AM

Ron writes:
" Minor quibble:   topic was male grovelling songs (though with a question mark, which conceivably lets in all grovelling songs).   But if it's male songs, that would knock out "So In Love"."

Yeah, but considering Porter's sexual proclivities it could be a male groveling song though it was written for a female character.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 05:06 AM

In the OP (almost 10 years old), Peter wrote "Obviously there are lots of women grovelling before men .... but any really good ones of pitiful men?" My guess is that the latter are the vast majority, and (as I wrote above) made a considerable proportion of all love poetry since it was invented.

Ron, indeed, if it is literary, it must not be taken literally. Successful beggars may well turn out bossy (as I wrote above). On the other hand, many existing, apparently stable, love relationships are based on pity, consensual patronizing/matronizing, or similar feelings. Let's face it, the ideal of autonomous responsible personalities having deep love relationships at true eye level, is the actual literary fiction. Compared to that, the groveling songs are pure realism. For example, I know some loving wives who talk about their husbands much like Johnny Cash's narrator describes himself above. (Fortunately, it is not always that bad in reality, but you get the idea.)


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:24 PM

Two things.

Minor quibble:   topic was male grovelling songs (though with a question mark, which conceivably lets in all grovelling songs).   But if it's male songs, that would knock out "So In Love" .

Also: "beat me and hurt me..."    I don't recall any huge feminist outcry about this phrase.   But I'm sure Mudcatters can address this.    The only reason I can think that there was no big protest--at the time of the song or after (the song is still often performed)--is that everybody realized this was not to be taken literally.


Thoughts?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Amergin
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 09:17 PM

oh...and Kenny Rogers' LUCILLE would qualify...though I do prefer the Beat Farmers' version.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Amergin
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 09:16 PM

Well, there's Jimmy Buffett's romantic hit WHY DON'T WE GET DRUNK (AND SCREW).


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 08:55 PM

O yuck! I believe you've won the prize for identifying the grovellingest songs, gillymor.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 12:17 PM

Can't get much more obsequious than Gone Gone Gone.
From the last verse: If I knew where I could find her, I'd crawl there on my hands and knees...

And the ultimate (female) grovelling song by Cole Porter: [SO IN LOVE]

So beat me and hurt me,
Deceive me, desert me,
I'm yours 'til I die.
So in love, so in love,
With you am I.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 11:01 AM

" And your Mommy parallel is classic."

Thanks, Ron. Yes, it often seems to me that lovers in pop songs are often asking for the kind of selfless devotion which a normal mother grants to her baby. That kind of love is a beautiful thing, but it can't go on forever. In time, a person has to grow up, share responsibilities, and make any relationship a two-way street.


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Subject: Lyr Add: CHINA DOLL (Slim Whitman)
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:05 PM

Now where did it go? Oh well!

CHINA DOLL
Slim Whitman

I'm tired of cryin'
And all your lyin',
That's why I'm buyin'
A china doll.
Her eyes are bluer.
Her faults are fewer
Her lips are truer,
My china doll.

I'd rather have a doll of clay
That I could call my own,
Than someone else just like you
With a heart of stone.

She'll never leave me.
She'll not deceive me,
And never grieve me,
My china doll.

No tears of sorrow,
No sad tomorrow,
No one can borrow
My china doll.
Her eyes are bluer.
Her faults are fewer.
Her lips are truer,
My china doll.

I'd rather have a doll of clay
That I could call my own,
Than someone else just like you
With a heart of stone.

She'll never leave me.
She'll not deceive me,
And never grieve me,
My china doll.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:05 PM

Leeneia--

You actually listened to "Mandy" all the way through?   I just couldn't bring myself to make that sacrifice.   But at least you have now put it to good use--if that is what he says on that song, it certainly is a perfect fit for the topic.   And your Mommy parallel is classic.

Marty Robbins may be a doormat, but at least he is definitely not dealing wth Mommy.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 04:15 PM

And just to be fair, I'll mention an interminable two-note hit by Anne Murray, 'YOU NEEDED ME.'

I cried a tear, you wiped it dry
I was confused, you cleared my mind
I sold my soul, you bought it back for me
And held me up and gave me dignity
Somehow you needed me....

It's hard to picture the singer being that much of a nonentity, unless she was involved in (maybe) drug abuse plus prostitution, and "you" is her therapist, a truly dedicated therapist.

My examples are dated because in 1983 I quit listening to radio entirely.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 04:10 PM

I nominate the song "MANDY," by Barry Manilow. Utterly abject...

Oh, Mandy, won't you hold me and keep me from shaking,
cause I need you toda-ay...

One day it occurred to me that you could replace "Mandy" with "Mommy" and have a perfectly sensible song. The singer has the unabashed helplessness of a little child. And like a little child, he doesn't offer anything in return. In a child it's natural, but....


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Subject: Lyr Add: BEGGING TO YOU (Marty Robbins)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:41 AM

Don't think this one has been mentioned:


BEGGING TO YOU
Marty Robbins

I left you this morning--couldn't take any more
You laughed and you dared me to walk out the door
You said that I'd come back; you knew what I'd do
And you know you were right, 'cause I'm back here tonight beggin' to you.

I won't disappoint you; I'm beggin' to stay
But that's what you wanted to hear anyway
It must make you happy to make me so blue
What a pitiful sight I must be tonight beggin' to you

You don't want my lovin' but you let me stay 'round
I guess just to walk on, so you won't touch the ground
To you it don't matter what you cause me to do
As long as you keep me beggin' to you.


I think those are the lyrics. Pretty close anyway.

The whole song really wallows in it. It's great.

I think it was a big hit for him--also used fuzz pedal for one of the first times in pop music. And the fuzz pedal sounds weird.

But it's great fun to sing--especially real loud and sliding around like he does it.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GingerDave
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 11:28 AM

There was a very poignant piece on 'DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY' on Radio 4 the other day.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes were the first to record it and in 1982, frontman Teddy Pendergrass was involved in a car accident that left him paralysed from the chest down. He went on to help thousands of other quadriplegic people and devoted his life to it.

I have never really listened to it before, its a beautifully written song.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,eldergirl
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 06:18 AM

That song by Chicago:

oo oo OOO now baby please don't go

Blowed if I can recall title, but it hung around in the charts for yonks, back in the 70s.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 05:54 AM

Thanks for refreshing this interesting thread (presumably for a personal reason, Joe).

"Groveling" has been in the staple of love poetry as long as it exists. It is not considered detrimental to the narrators' reputation, since everybody assumes that they will become quite bossy as soon as their pleading has been answered. And does it work? Obviously, sometimes. Abjectness don't resonate, do it - unless it do.

Johnny Cash's "Beans for Breakfast" quoted above: quite clever; we all know similar relationships, which may be called symbiotic.

"Sylvia's mother": pleading to the cruel mother; a different topic, more resembling classical tragedies.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Mo the caller
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 05:18 AM

Yes, London Danny
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=55505#864472

Now the next puzzle. When I use linkmaker in IE i can put words instead of link. In Chrome it looks as if I have, but when I preview they've gone????


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: akenaton
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:55 AM

LONDON DANNY? (RiP)


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Mo the caller
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:34 AM

Ever worse than grovelling to the girl, this one grovels behind her back to the bloke he knows she'd rather be with. (Why can't he just let her go?)

I think it's called London Jimmy (but I can't find it in the DT so I may have his name wrong)

Pleeeeease don't take her from me
London Jimmy


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: akenaton
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:22 AM

Joe.....are you psychic????


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Jul 13 - 03:16 AM

I think this thread needs to be refreshed, just because...


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 07:31 PM

"MOVE IT ON OVER" by Hank Williams may qualify:


Remember pup, before you whine
That side's yours and this side's mine
So shove it on over (move it on over)
Sweep it on over (move it on over)
Move over cold dog cause a hot dog's moving in


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: alanabit
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 02:45 PM

Jenny O, that's a Shel Silverstein song - and you must always expect the knife to be close at hand when his songs get a bit too grovelling!


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 12:45 PM

And that WICHITA LINEMAN's still on the lineeeeeee!

I have to confess to preferring a good murder ballad!

Only say that you'll be mine!
Oh, what the f**k!
My knife must have slipped!

Charley Noble


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 09:44 AM

...and nobody mentioned "GREENSLEEVES"


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: JJ
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 08:24 AM

The late Warren Z's "POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME."


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Peter T.
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 08:14 AM

Certainly "RUBY, DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE TO TOWN" has the whiniest male voice ever. yours, Peter T.


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Subject: Lyr Add: SYLVIA'S MOTHER (Shel Silverstein)
From: JennyO
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 07:28 AM

I've always thought this guy was pretty pathetic -

Sylvia's Mother, recorded by Dr Hook.

SYLVIA'S MOTHER
(Shel Silverstein)


Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's busy, too busy to come to the phone
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's trying, to start a new life of her own
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's happy, so why don't you leave her alone
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS:

Please Mrs. Avery I just got to talk to her
I'll only keep her a while
Please Mrs. Avery I just want to tell her
Goodbye

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's packing, she's going be leaving today
Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's marrying, a fellow down Galveston-way
Sylvia's mother says Please don't say nothing, to make her start crying and stay
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS

Sylvia's mother says Sylvia's hurrying, she's catching the nine o'clock train
Sylvia's mother says Take your umbrella, cause Sylvia it's starting to rain
And Sylvia's mother says Thank you for calling and sir won't you come back again
And the operator says Forty cents more, for the next three minutes

CHORUS

Tell her goodbye
Please, tell her goodbye
Goodbye

    Note from Joe Offer (30 July 2013): songfile.com says that this song was written by Shel Silverstein, so I added the attribution above. This is an exact transcription of the Dr. Hook recording.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 07:14 AM

How about THE MASOCHISM TANGO?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Gurney
Date: 15 Oct 03 - 05:25 AM

As the thread is drifting to wa**ers...

'Paper Doll'. I always thought he needed his backside kicked, as he wanted a paper girlfriend who wouldn't leave him.

Even more pathetic today, with so many splendid rubber ones....


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'D DO ANYTHING (from 'Oliver')
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 10:15 PM

I'D DO ANYTHING - from the musical, Oliver (these words copied and pasted...not sure of completeness)

I'll do anything
For you dear anything
For you mean everything to me.

I know that
I'll go anywhere
For your smile, anywhere --
For your smile, ev'rywhere --
I'd see.

Would you climb a hill?

Anything!

Wear a daffodil?

Anything!

Leave me all your will?

Anything!

Even fight my Bill?

What? Fisticuffs?

I'd risk everything
For one kiss -- everything
Yes, I'd do anything...

Anything?!

Anything for you!!


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Joybell
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 08:43 PM

"The Wee One" is pretty pathetic.
"...she goes out and she leaves me and truly she grieves me, and leaves me with a baby that's none of my own.."
Pretty much like the above mentioned "Liverpool Lou" but with an extra twist.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: nancyjo
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 08:25 PM

And then there's the Stones/Temps AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG. And the Spinner's version (more than Frankie Valli's) of WORKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: nancyjo
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:57 PM

To me grovelling means not just a sad I'm-so-lonely song, like Hanks Lovesick Blues. I love the song, but it doesn't have that begging element. A good begging song is Little Anthony and the Imperials "TAKE ME BACK". The chorus:

Take me back I'm begging please
Take me back I'm on my knees
For you to scold me, hurt me, hold me
Darling take me back


nancyjo


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: darkriver
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:21 PM

I hope I'm not missing the point, but what about "HIT THE ROAD, JACK"?

"O baby O baby don't cha be so mean--
You the meanest woman I ever seen"


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: HuwG
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 07:12 PM

BAD DOG, NO BISCUIT


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Subject: Lyr Add: YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME BY MY NAME
From: GUEST,pdq
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:39 PM

Here is a Steve Goodman masterpiece (not to be taken at face at face value!).



YOU DON'T EVEN CALL ME BY MY NAME
(Steve Goodman)
C G
It was all that I could do
C
to keep from cryin'
F C
sometimes it seems so useless to remain
F C
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
G C
You never even call me by my name.
C G C
You don't have to call me Waylon Jennings
C G C
And you don't have to call me Charlie Pride.
F C Am
You don't have to call me Merle Haggard, anymore.
D G
Even though your on my fightin' side.
CHORUS
F C
And I'll hang around as long as you will let me
G
And I never minded standin' in the rain.
F C
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
G C
You never even call me by my name.
I've heard my name a few times in your phone book
I've seen it on signs where I've laid
But the only time I know, I'll hear David Allan Coe
Is when Jesus has his final judgement day.
(enter now the Steve Goodman story. The first half is played
with a background of C and G. Just before Steve writes back
with the perfect Country and Western song, it is just a straight
background C chord.)
Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison.
And I went to pick her up in the rain.
But, before I could get to the station in my pickup truck
She got runned over by a damned old train.
So I'll hang around as long as you will let me
And I never minded standin' in the rain. No,
You don't have to call me darlin', darlin'
C G F C
You never even call me, I wonder why you don't call me
F C G C F C
Why don't you ever call me by my name.
Performed by: David Allan Coe
@country
filename[ DARLDARL
SX
Apr98


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Subject: Lyr Add: LOVESICK BLUES (Hank Williams)
From: Desdemona
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:31 PM

Willie Nelson also wrote, "CRAZY", an EXCELLENT "abject in love" song, albeit the definitive version was recorded by Patsy Cline!

I'm also thinking about some that Hank Williams sang (my dad's a big hillbilly/country fan)..."I'M SO LONESOME I COULD CRY" is pretty mournful, and "Lovesick Blues" is another great one...and Patsy Cline recorded that one, too:


Lovesick Blues

I got a feeling called the blues oh lord
Since my baby said goodbye.
Hey lord I don't know what I'll do.
All I do is sit and sigh oh lord.

The last long day she said goodbye, Lord I thought I would cry.
She'll do me, she'll do you, she's got that kind of lovin'.
Lord I love to hear her when she calls me sweet daddy.
Such a beautiful dream.

I hate to think it's all over; I lost my heart it seems.
I've grown so used to you somehow,
But I'm nobody's sugar daddy now.
And I'm lonesome, I got the lovesick blues.

Yeah I'm in love, I'm in love with a beautiful girl,
That's what's the matter with me.
Yeah I'm in love, I'm in love with a beautiful girl,
But she don't care about me.

And lord I tried and tried to keep her satisfied,
But that girl wouldn't stay.
And now that she is leavin' this is all I can say.
I got a feeling called the blues...

Hank sang it best, though!

D.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Joybell
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:17 PM

"I Didn't Know God Made Honky Tonk Angels". [WILD SIDE OF LIFE]

"THE HEART THAT YOU OWN" - about a guy who lives inside himself - (boy is that weird!) - and pays rent to his gone-girl.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Ebbie
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 06:04 PM

Reading these songs is fun!


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 05:57 PM

Well, there's:

RUBY, DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE TO TOWN

For a different take there's Kate Wolf's":

AMAZED TO FIND (THAT YOU'RE STILL ON MY MIND)

Then's there's any number of blues songs. I always liked the verse:

I'm gonna lay my head on some lonesome railroad line,
Let that 219 pacify my mind.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble


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Subject: Lyr Add: BEANS FOR BREAKFAST (Johnny Cash)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 01:58 PM

Johnny Cash's "Beans for Breakfast" is pretty self-deprecatory. An interesting difference is whereas Brel's character, paints himself as groveling in a romantic way, Cash's just reminds the departed lady how gross he is - including the great line "Wish you'd come back and wash the dishes, I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man":


BEANS FOR BREAKFAST
Words and music by Johnny Cash
As recorded by Johnny Cash on "The Mystery of Life" (1991)

I couldn't hear you for the TV.
I didn't know you said goodbye.
I saw your canceled check for the airfare.
Didn't know flyin' got so high.
Beans for breakfast once again.
Hard to eat 'em from the can.
I've run out of clean utensils.
I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.

I heard the crows outside m' window.
Guess it's me they're talkin' about.
The fire you lit has burnt to cinders.
Ever' good thing's fizzled out.
Beans for breakfast once again.
Hard to eat 'em from the can.
Wish you'd come back and wash the dishes.
I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.

Caught a cold with the windows open.
Crow droppings on my windowsill.
Prob'bly got histoplasmosis.
Got no gun or I would kill--them crows.
Beans for breakfast once again.
Hard to eat 'em from the can.
Plastic forks are a dime a dozen.
I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.

Fin'lly made it to the mailbox.
Felt so bad I thought I'd die.
All I got was a bill from a doctor.
Well, I guess flyin' ain't so high.
Beans for breakfast once again.
Hard to eat 'em from the can.
Blue-tick mattress cold and greasy.
I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.

The house burnt down from the fire that I built
In your closet by mistake after I took all them pills,
But I got out safe in my Duck Head overalls.
Beans for breakfast once again.
I'm a hungry nasty lonesome man.
Hummmm


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: JenEllen
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 01:31 PM

LOL Ebbie! Kinda like "LIGHT MY FIRE" and "I want you"--annoying and repetitious, the two hallmarks of male groveling.

Um, there's always "Try Me", or "I'll give you back (when you belong to me)", but who could deny James Brown or Raul Malo? There's also Johnny Horton's "ALL FOR THE LOVE OF A GIRL", yikes....and "I CAN'T HELP IT (IF I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU)" (for a truly torturous version, you should hear Freddy Fender do it).

There's also "THE DOGS, THEY REALLY MISS YOU", to which the scholars are divided. It can't really be about the dogs, can it?


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 01:27 PM

Riley Puckett's version of "SHORT LIFE OF TROUBLE"

Last verse & the chorus

Sitting alone, talking to you
Gazing into your eyes
I'd give this world and half my life
If you would be my bride

Short life of trouble, little girl
A few more words, then part
Short life of trouble, little girl
For a boy with a broken heart


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Grab
Date: 14 Oct 03 - 08:40 AM

Leonard Cohen's "I'M YOUR MAN", for one.

I think most tend to be murder ballads though, of the "if I can't have you then no-one will" form.

Graham.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Amos
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 10:47 PM

I wish to the Lord, I'd never seen yore face
I'm sorry you ever were born....


Not quite what you were askin' for, though... Ah, well, it was close, kinda... It's not that we don't get in the pickle, it's more that we are SO disinclined to admit it!! :>)) Kinda like asking directions or going to the doctor.

A


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Subject: Lyr Add: ONCE MORE
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 10:09 PM

ONCE MORE
As sung by George Jones & Melba Montgomery

Once more to be with you dear
Just for tonight, to hold you tight
Once more. I'd give a fortune
If I could see you once more

Forget the past, this hurt can't last
Oh, I don't want it to keep us apart
Your love I crave, I'll be your slave
If you'll just give me all of your heart


Abjectness don't resonate, do it. With an attitude like that, no wonder she left him!


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Subject: Lyr Add: ALL OF ME (Simons, Marks)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 06:42 PM

Looks like this hasn't been posted here before:


ALL OF ME
Words: Seymour Simons. Music: Gerald Marks. ©1931.
As sung by Ruth Etting, 1931.

VERSE: You took my kisses and you took my love.
You taught me how to care.
Am I to be just a remnant of
A one-sided love affair?
All you took I gladly gave.
There's nothing left for me to save.

CHORUS: All of me, why not take all of me?
Can't you see I'm no good without you?
Take my lips; I want to lose them.
Take my arms; I'll never use them.
Your goodbye left me with eyes that cry.
How can I go on, dear, without you?
You took the part that once was my heart,
So why not why not take all of me?


This is a jazz standard and has been recorded by just about every famous jazz singer, both genders included (but usually without the verse). Also Willie Nelson. But it's undoubtedly a groveling song.


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 12:06 PM

Or "LIVERPOOL LOU".


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Subject: RE: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: mack/misophist
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 11:56 AM

How about PEGGY GORDON?


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Subject: Grovelling Songs (Male?)
From: Peter T.
Date: 13 Oct 03 - 11:52 AM

In the Jacques Brel thread, in reference to the original "NE ME QUITTE PAS", he sings, "I would be the shadow of your shadow....I would be the shadow of your dog -- Don't Leave ME!" I was wondering if English-speaking male singers would grovel in the same way (I am in favour of the song and the sentiment under the right circumstances, have been there). Can anyone think of any good grovelling songs? Obviously there are lots of women grovelling before men ("YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME (Just Be Close At Hand)"), but any really good ones of pitiful men?

yours,

Peter


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