Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity

19 Apr 00 - 04:48 PM (#214506)
Subject: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,John Evans

In many British / American folk songs, a man straying is (from a male point of view) seen as something to celebrate. There are also lots of songs where the interloper gets caught and punished (especially if he's a tailor)

There are lots of songs sung from the female view which suggest that men can't be trusted, that they'll cheat on you etc.

Can anyone come up with any songs where the man feels really guilty for cheating on a woman?

Interested in anything, not just trad stuff.

Thanks

John Evans

There

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19 Apr 00 - 04:51 PM (#214511)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: MMario

or actually feels not only guilt, but remorse and repentence? (Somehow I doubt there are many) (hey! men are geneticaly polygamists...or at least that's what they taught me in school. Handy excuse, ain't it?) (NOTE: JOKE!!)

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19 Apr 00 - 05:13 PM (#214523)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Gary T

Doggone it, John, I'm sure there are many country songs with that sentiment, but I can't recall any right now. I'll keep thinking on it.

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19 Apr 00 - 05:13 PM (#214524)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: SINSULL

Frankie and Johnny. She shot the SOB and he regretted it.

C&W (Jim Reeves) "There She Goes" .....If I hadn't cheated; If I hadn't lied, I'd be the one who walking by her side . I love her still etc.

I think Hank Williams has a few of these.

"Who's Sorry Now?"

Mario, What school did you attend?

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19 Apr 00 - 07:13 PM (#214603)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: MMario

Cornell

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19 Apr 00 - 07:40 PM (#214631)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Robo

How about Roy Orbison's "Careless Heart"?

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19 Apr 00 - 07:41 PM (#214633)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Robo

Another Orbison: "You're Not Alone Anymore."

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19 Apr 00 - 07:44 PM (#214640)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Amos

Check "Ms Henley's Revenge" in the Mudcat Songbook -- it covers enforced regret for dalliance and revenge by the cuckoldee.

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19 Apr 00 - 08:47 PM (#214702)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Callie

Elvis Costello/Burt Bacharach "Toledo"

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19 Apr 00 - 08:57 PM (#214707)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

People regret infidelity??? hmmmm. . . Mindboggling. . .

There are pretty many country songs about this, although I'm not much into country so couldn't tell what songs or who they're by. . .

--Keli

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19 Apr 00 - 09:46 PM (#214747)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

I do, K, and there's not that many I know...must be "old country" stuff.

--Mbo

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19 Apr 00 - 09:56 PM (#214752)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,JenEllen

How about old Cajun? Jo-El Sonnier does a great version of "Knock,Knock,Knock" ~Elle

Knock, knock, knock
Let me on in
I don't wanna be locked outside again
Won't you let me tell you where I've been?
Don't make me sleep in that old dog house again

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19 Apr 00 - 11:37 PM (#214804)
Subject: Lyr Add: HERE'S TO YOU ROUNDERS (Don Lange)^^^
From: Art Thieme

DON LANGE wrote a wonderful song called "HERE'S TO YOU ROUNDERS"
(It was on my first LP -- Kicking Mule 150---I recorded it even before Don did it on Flying Fish.)

chorus) Here's to you rounders and here's to you railroad bums,
Here's hopin' you make it home soon,
And here's to the womwn who married for love,
And lived with the man in the moon.

1)I never knew my grandad--he was always on the bum,
Every September he'd grab him an southbound and he'd ride,
Then along about Christmas me and my brother--we'd get some coins in the mail,
But we couldn't spend 'em----it was all he could send from the Mexico City jail.

2) Back in the thirties, when the going got tough, my grandad, he hit the road,
Mother was young then and only remembers his name,
Granny got work in the old canning factory and she took in some wash on the side,
She promised herself that she'd never forgive him,
A promise she kept 'til she died.

3) One time near the end he rolled into town--he was riding on the greyhound line,
O guess he got old and those boxcars got harder to climb,
He dropped his last dime in a call to my granny but "NO" was her only reply,
She hung up the phone and she cussed him in German---but I saw the pain in her eyes.

4) I never knew my grandad--he was always on the bum,
The Salvation Army sent us a note when he died,
Now me and my brother, we carry the memory of a face that we never did see,
Like some foreign coin layin' cold in the pocket of a young boy's faded blue jeans.

Art Thieme

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19 Apr 00 - 11:59 PM (#214820)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

No no K, I meant "I do" listen to country music!

--Mbo

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20 Apr 00 - 12:16 AM (#214835)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

Sorry. It's early morning here in Cincinnati (or latenight. . .whatever). What WAS I thinking??? Country music all runs together in my mind, and I'm a bit muddled today anyway--excited, though. . .I got a new book 1850 new songs!!!

Peace--Bridget

I'm not crazy; I'm a princess!!

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20 Apr 00 - 12:55 AM (#214855)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

That's OK, K! I when bonkers last Thursday when I found a Dixieland Jazz songbook at my University music library! Woo hoo!

--Mbo

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20 Apr 00 - 12:59 AM (#214858)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

Nothing like new music to distract me from everything else important. That plus the college stuff I got from Glasgow yesterday.

Peace--Keli

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20 Apr 00 - 01:17 AM (#214866)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: TheOldMole

Ronnie Milsap, "That girl who waits on tables used to wait for me at home...patiently she waited, till all the love was gone"

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20 Apr 00 - 01:26 AM (#214871)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

WOW Old Mole! How'd ye know I ADORE Ronnie Milsap? YES!

--Mbo

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20 Apr 00 - 01:46 AM (#214887)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Davewilkes

Long Black Rifle

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20 Apr 00 - 02:05 AM (#214894)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Escamillo

One of the most beatiful songs I ever heard is Love Song from the movie Sanders of The River, circa 1930. It was recorded by Paul Robeson. I'm not sure that the subject is infidelity, cause I could never decipher the lyrics from that old record. If you want to see it partially, it is in a thread named Lyr Req: Love Song from Sanders of the River. Just put the word Sanders in "filter" and select 180 days, then it will appear. Un abrazo - Andres

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20 Apr 00 - 12:07 PM (#215039)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Sean Belt

It's not necessarily "folk", but there's a pretty good John Hiatt song I use in my sets called "The Most Unoriginal Sin" that speaks to this issue.
I actually learned it off of a Willie Nelson CD. Now I play it as a sort of blues number.

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20 Apr 00 - 12:13 PM (#215043)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mrr

I thought of Long Black Rifle too, but it doesn't regret the infidelity, the singer instead dies to protect the marriage of the one being unfaithful with him. And the other one I thought of, slightly off-kilter, is I Will Survive, where the singer is NOT regretting having thrown the unfaithful bum out. Maybe someone could write the song about how the thrown-out guy is watching her survive and wishing he were still along for the ride...

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20 Apr 00 - 12:29 PM (#215055)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

My best friend and I sing "I Will Survive" just about every time we see each other, plus at other times to annoy the people we hang out with who don't like disco. he he heh. . .

Peace--Keli

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20 Apr 00 - 01:24 PM (#215082)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU

Oh that's cool, K! I like bugging people with songs from ELO's disco-esque album, Shine A Little Love, and Last Train to London! Wooo!

--Mbo (Disco DOESN'T suck!)

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20 Apr 00 - 01:37 PM (#215090)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

Other songs we sing: The Scotsman, Please Kind Sir, Big Fuzzy Vikingman, just about anything by Weird Al Yankovic, The Devil and the Farmer's Wife, Maids When You're Young, and a lot of songs from Monty Python.

Personally, I prefer to sing more serious stuff, but fun stuff is always good. And annoying. . .

Peace--Keli

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20 Apr 00 - 02:33 PM (#215118)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: SINSULL

"Make the World Go Away" Another C&W song.

Mario, Cornell teaches that men are genetically polygamists? I thought they taught agriculture.

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20 Apr 00 - 04:13 PM (#215166)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mrr

What about Long Tall Sally? "Saw Uncle John with LTS, he saw Aunt Mary coming and he ducked back in the alley, ooh baby, baby, have some fun tonight" - At least he ran away, that shows regret, doesn't it? Or maybe just regret at getting caught?

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20 Apr 00 - 04:19 PM (#215171)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,John Evans

Thanks for all the suggestions

No one has yet come up with anything that expresses the pain in the pit of my stomach - or the constantly reccuring thought: 'why the hell did I do that?'

Thanks anyway,

John

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20 Apr 00 - 06:22 PM (#215235)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Margaret V

John, perhaps you could write your own song. It might help you find answers to the question you've asked of yourself. I had to write one when I found myself perilously on the brink; it was about fidelity and infidelity at the same time; and it helped me assess what the heck was going on in my life. Hang in there, learn. Margaret

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20 Apr 00 - 07:24 PM (#215274)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Little Neophyte

Art those are very sad and truthful lyrics.
It would have been interesting to hear Grandad's telling of the story.

Bonnie

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22 Apr 00 - 07:29 PM (#216239)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,flattop

I don't think anyone regretted spending time with Long Tall Sally, Mrrrrr

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22 Apr 00 - 08:47 PM (#216263)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Frankie

There is Gone, Gone, Gone a favorite of bluegrassers that start's out:

She said if I ever decieved her,
She'd leave before I could count to ten.
etc.

I've heard excellent versions by Carl Jackson and Brownie Ford.

F

PS You guys are talking about Long Black Rifle are you refering to Long Black Veil?

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22 Apr 00 - 09:07 PM (#216270)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

Frankie, is that "She's gone gone gone, gone gone gone--crying won't bring her back...the more that I cry, the faster her plane flies out across the sky..."? Glen Campbell sang that really good!

--Mbo

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22 Apr 00 - 09:13 PM (#216273)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Amos

John,

I am sorry there is no song among these responses which can speak for you; I know it would help. But I think you really should consider Margaret's advice about speaking for yourself, in your own song. I know that would help, too.

A

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22 Apr 00 - 09:24 PM (#216280)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: harpgirl

...John , type in @infidelity in the DT search box and see if any of those songs express what you are feeling...harpgirl

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22 Apr 00 - 09:40 PM (#216286)
Subject: Lyr Add: SHE'S GONE GONE GONE (from Brownie Ford)
From: GUEST,Frankie

It sounds like we're talking about the same one, Mbo. The way I learned it goes like this:

She's Gone, Gone, Gone

She said if I ever decieved her,
She'd leave before I could count to ten.
I guess I just did not believe her,
Now look at the trouble I'm in.

CHORUS

'cause she's gone,gone, gone,
Gone, gone, gone,
And the crying won't bring her back.
The more that I cry,
the faster that train,
Justs flies her right on down the track.

I lost every right to be happy,
I lost the new love that I found,
She said that she would and she left me,
Before my first tear hit the ground.

CHORUS

If I knew where I could find her,
I'd crawl there on my hands and knees.
Each tick of the clock just reminds me,
That she's one second farther from me.

CHORUS

Remorseful enough for you John ?(smile) The version by Brownie Ford includes some great backup guitar by David Doucet and a solo that was so perfect that I had to learn it note for note.

Frankie

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22 Apr 00 - 09:45 PM (#216287)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mbo

That's it Frankie! I guess Glen kinda updated it a little, eh? **BG**

--Mbo

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23 Apr 00 - 12:23 AM (#216346)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Kelida

I just remembered--I wrote an apology poem to my ex-fiancee when I cheated on him (disgraceful, I know, but I was too young--15--and in a relationship that I wasn't mature enough for), and it could maybe be set to music. I certainly don't need it anymore, so anyone who wants to could do what they will with it--except record or sell it. . .

Never

Bridget McKinney, 1998

I never meant to fall in love,
Especially so soon,
You're all I ever dream of,
Nighttime or afternoon.
You're all that I could ever want,
And all I'll ever need again
You're my lover and my confidant
My pain and hurt and my best friend.

Never--never--never again
Never will I forget the pain--
The pain I caused to you

I never thought that we would last,
But this time I was wrong
I thought that you'd be in the past,
By this point in the song
I wish you were still here to hear
Exactly how sorry I am
Please forgive me soon, my dear,
Please realise just how lost I am (without you)

Never--never--never before
Has one of our fights evolved to a war
Why did I start it now?

I've never been in love 'till now
I never expected or wanted to be
Sometimes these things happen, but how
Oh how I could do that, I'll just never see
I suppose I thought you wouldn't know,
I didn't think that I'd get caught
I surely didn't think you'd go,
But mostly I just don't think I thought.

Never--never--never again,
Will I hurt you the way that I hurt you then
The question now is: Will you forgive me?

I don't know if anyone else here has ever felt that way, and I've put that in the past myself, but this is what I felt at the time.

Peace--Bridget

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23 Apr 00 - 07:49 PM (#216743)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Robin Greenstein

what came to my mind immediately: "Long Black Veil" The ultimate remorse:

the guy dies for a murder he didn't commit because he was "in the arms of my best friend's wife"

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23 Apr 00 - 07:56 PM (#216746)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Amos

Kelida,

Beautiful. If I needed one for the same reason, I would be taping yours!! Love it.

A

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25 Apr 00 - 03:19 PM (#217780)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mrr

OOPS - I was THINKING Long Black Veil when I answered the comment about Long Black Rifle, you're right. In Long Black Rifle, the singer deeply regrets killing his unfaithful love, no? Rather than the infidelity itself?

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25 Apr 00 - 03:52 PM (#217800)
Subject: Lyr Add: INTO TEMPTATION (from Crowded House)
From: Ed Pellow

As a commentary on the unfaithful 'one night stand' I think Neil Finn's (Crowded House) song, 'Into temptation' would be hard to beat:

you opened up your door
I couldn't believe my luck
you in your new blue dress
taking away my breath
the cradle is soft and warm
couldn't do me no harm
you're showing me how to give
into temptation
knowing full well the earth will rebel
into temptation

a muddle of nervous words
could never amount to betrayal
the sentence is all my own
the price is to watch it fail
as I turn to go
you looked at me for half a second
with an open invitation for me to go

into temptation
knowing full well the earth will rebel
into temptation
safe in the wide open arms of hell

we can go sailing in
climb down, lose yourself when you linger long
into temptation
right where you belong

the guilty get no sleep
in the last slow hours of morning
experience is cheap
I should've listened to the warning
but the cradle is soft and warm

into temptation
knowing full well the earth will rebel
into your wide open arms
no way to break the spell
don't tell

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25 Apr 00 - 04:00 PM (#217808)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,NancAurelia

How about Matty Groves? The husband kills his wife and her lover at the end. Of course, they don't live long enough to regret their infidelity, but it might be a lesson to some.

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26 Apr 00 - 12:15 PM (#218314)
Subject: Lyr Add: ALL THESE YEARS ^^
From: Mbo

Try this great song by Sawyer Brown, "All These Years"

She likes adventure with security
And more than one man can provide
She planned adventure feeling sure that he
Would not be home 'til after five
He turned on the lights and turned them off again
And said the one thing he could say

All these years
where have I been
I've been down the road to work and home again
But I'm still here
And until I'm gone
Don't you rub it in too hard that Ive been wrong
All these years

She said,'You're not the man you used to be'
And he said,'Neither is this guy'
She said,'There's some things you refuse to see
But I guess sometimes so do I'
She made no excuse why she was laying there
She said the one thing she could say

All these years
What have I done
I made your supper and your daughter and your son
I'm still here
And still confused
But I can finally see how much I stand to lose
All these years


--Mbo

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26 Apr 00 - 04:42 PM (#218469)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Jim Krause

John, my friend, may I gently suggest that perhaps it is time to write your own song? I've sung other writer's I've been cheated on songs, but somehow they never sounded quite right. So I wrote a few of my own. Makes be feel better when I get in that I-wonder-what-she's-doing-now mood.

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26 Apr 00 - 06:16 PM (#218522)
Subject: Lyr Add: The Weakness in Me^^
From: Tim Salt

Yup Peg, that the one I was thinking about:


The Weakness In Me

Joan Armatrading


I'm not the sort of person who falls in and quickly out of love
But to you I gave my affection right from the start
I have a lover who loves me, how could I break such a heart
Yet still you gained my attention

Chorus:

Why do you come here when you know I've got trouble enough
Why do you call me when you know I can't answer the phone
You make me lie and I don't want to
You make someone else some kind of unknowing fool
You make me stay when I should not
Are you so strong or is all the weakness in me


Why do you come here and pretend to be just passing by
But I need to see you
And I need to hold you, tightly
Feeling guilty, worried, waking from tormented sleep
This old love has me bound but the new love cuts deep
if I choose now, I'll lose out, one of you has to fall
But I need you, and you.


Repeat chorus


The John Wright Band recorded a good version of it on the album "Other Roads" and as the sleeve notes say " I really admire a songwriter who can clearly and without fuss describe "real life situations". Joan Armartrading's song achieves this brilliantly. " ..... you make me lie, I don't want to". How many of us have been there?"

Couldn't have put it better myself!

Tim

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26 Apr 00 - 06:36 PM (#218533)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE WEAKNESS IN ME^^ (Joan Armatrading)
From: Tim Salt

I got a bit carried away with my line breaks. This is what I meant to put:

THE WEAKNESS IN ME
Joan Armatrading


I'm not the sort of person who falls in and quickly out of love
But to you I gave my affection right from the start
I have a lover who loves me, how could I break such a heart
Yet still you gained my attention

Chorus:

Why do you come here when you know I've got trouble enough
Why do you call me when you know I can't answer the phone
You make me lie and I don't want to
You make someone else some kind of unknowing fool
You make me stay when I should not
Are you so strong or is all the weakness in me
Why do you come here and pretend to be just passing by
But I need to see you
And I need to hold you, tightly

Feeling guilty, worried, waking from tormented sleep
This old love has me bound but the new love cuts deep
If I choose now, I'll lose out, one of you has to fall
But I need you, and you.....

Repeat chorus

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27 Apr 00 - 10:04 AM (#218880)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: jofield

Moe Bandy:

Well I drove through the park,
Lord, I looked in all the bars,
Where I made out with love too many times.
It was always so easy
To find an unhappy woman
'Till I started looking for mine.

Webb Pierce, "Back Street Afair". (Or was that Hank Locklin?)

Hank Snow, "90 miles an hour down a dead-end street".

Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" is a cute commentary on regret.

James in Bristol, RI

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27 Apr 00 - 10:12 AM (#218881)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Hyperabid

What about the one that goes "I wish Bobbitt hadn't lobbed it in the mincer the other night"...

*Grinning*

More seriously So Lonely - The Police starts with the lines:-

"Somebody told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just don't care
You look as if you're going nowhere
But I just can't convince myself
I just can't live with no-one else
So I just have to play my part
And sit and nurse my broken heart

So lonely etc..."

Sounds like a pretty regretful bloke to me...

Hyp

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27 Apr 00 - 01:36 PM (#218998)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Peter T.

Thought of one -- The Mavericks: "I Should Have Been True". Great song. "I shouldn't wonder why you've gone, I should have known that it was wrong, I should have been true"
yours, Peter

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27 Apr 00 - 06:40 PM (#219193)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST

What about the song "Cruel Willie"? I mean the man lost his life over a fair maiden at the hands of her sister - Is that not regret or what????

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30 Apr 00 - 02:25 PM (#220428)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: TheOldMole

How about Ferlin Husky?

I was wrong Broke your heart Now you're gone

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30 Apr 00 - 03:55 PM (#220448)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Syd

There is also Bob Dylan's. 'I Threw it All Away' from the album 'Nashville Skyline'.

Syd

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19 May 00 - 01:18 AM (#230347)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Syd, Ottawa

And Robert Johnson's "When You Got a Good Friend". Johnson doesn't specifically mention infidelity. He talks about mistreating his baby. But that may fit your bill. Syd

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19 May 00 - 09:52 AM (#230485)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Jim the Bart

There's a great old C&W song called "Almost Persuaded" where the guy catches himself just in time. I believe Don Gibson wrote it.

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19 May 00 - 10:17 AM (#230493)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

"Gonna catch you with your britches down" is a ?Ida Cox?Ma Rainey?Victoria Spivey?Sippie Wallace [you know what my memory's like!] song warning what will happen if the man is unfaithful. He'd certainly regret it!
RtS

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19 May 00 - 02:55 PM (#230663)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mimosa@work

What about Connie Francis'(trying my first blue clicky thing) I'm Sorry It's a more general regret, but it would apply. mimosa

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19 May 00 - 03:03 PM (#230670)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,Mimosa@work

Rats. http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho/html/lyrics/i/im_sorry_i_made_you_cry.txt

I'M SORRY I MADE YOU CRY Connie Francis

I'm sorry dear, so sorry dear I'm sorry I made you cry Won't you forget, won't you forgive Don't let us say goodbye One little word, one little smile One little kiss won't you try It breaks my heart to hear you sigh I'm sorry I made you cry

One little word, one little smile One little kiss won't you try It breaks my heart to hear you sigh I'm sorry I made you cry

TRANSCRIBED BY LOU ANN

From the website referenced. I guess I need to go to the HTML practice thread for this.

Mimosa

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19 May 00 - 04:52 PM (#230710)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: SINSULL

Thank you Mole,
I have been trying to remember that Ferlin Husky song for weeks. Losing sleep at night with "Now you've go onnnn" ringing in my ears. It was used on Martian Melody in the 50s. God am I old.

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19 May 00 - 05:30 PM (#230741)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: dick greenhaus

Innaresting. Has anyone noticed that Trad. songs (might I say REAL folksongs) do not tend to be morbidly introspective? Or particularly sentimental. The classic regret for infidelity, I guess, is The House Carpenter (Daemon Lover), but the regret is implicit and not dewlled upon.

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04 Jun 00 - 11:47 PM (#238298)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: TheOldMole

Just thought of another one... "Little Darlin'," by the Gladiolas:

I love-a I was wrong-a to try to love two a hoo hah hoo hah hoo hah hoo hah hoo hah

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05 Jun 00 - 09:56 PM (#238640)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: SINSULL

DAMNIT Mole. It wasn't the the Gladiolas and now I'll be up all night thinking of the name of the group.

Nevermind - it was the Diamonds.

O OHNLYYYY ou oo oo.

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05 Jun 00 - 11:15 PM (#238694)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: keltcgrasshoppper

What about "the Tennesee Waltz"...KGH

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06 Jun 00 - 11:48 AM (#238947)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: TheOldMole

Sinsull -- the Diamonds covered the Gladiolas' original version. The Gladiolas were led by Maurice Williams, who later became famous for "Stay (Just a Little Bit Longer)."

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06 Jun 00 - 11:50 AM (#238949)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: TheOldMole

KGH - but the original idea of this thread was songs that regret one's own infidelity (a far-fetched concept, to be sure) -- in Tennessee Waltz, she regrets her partner's (and her friend's) infidelity.

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06 Jun 00 - 01:07 PM (#238974)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: SINSULL

Mole - I didn't know that. Thank you.

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06 Jun 00 - 05:03 PM (#239076)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Mister Dressup

I don't know if this song is about infidelity specifically but it is a very well-known song. Fleetwood Mac's "Never Goin' Back Again" may be a good song.

"Been down one time been down two time OOOO Never goin back again"

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07 Jun 00 - 06:27 AM (#239280)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GeorgeH

Franke's "Hard Love" comes to mind, although not DIRECTLY "as asked for".

However, to meet the original requirement, there's the song June Tabor sings as "Lisbon" (NOT the song under that title in the database); from memory it starts:

The Earl of Arboyne to Lisbon is gone
And taken his nobles with him
Better he should have stayed at home
Or taken his lady with him

(I guess I may have that fourth line wrong); it's a really powerful song of foolish love and foolish pride. Perhaps I'll have to transcribe it.

G.

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07 Jun 00 - 04:49 PM (#239545)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST,fergus

The best of all is an old irish song called "as I roved out" christy moore its in the mudcat song book, as i roved out on a bright may morning to view the meadows and the flowers gay check it out slán fergus

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07 Jun 00 - 08:44 PM (#239652)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: McGrath of Harlow

You're right, there aren't many:

24 Hours from Tulsa.

From Clare to Here (well, it's a different kind of desertion maybe)

Down in the Sally Gardens (But that's more regrets rather than remorse.)

But that's all I can think of, and only one of them fits the bill, and that's by a long way the least of the songs.

I once wrote a song with the rather lengthy chorus:

So he lied through his teeth
and that's the living proof
that he loved her too much
to always tell the truth.
He loved her too much to never tell a lie
and that's the reason why at times
he used to look her in the eye:
"I'll swear once again, the way I always do,
I'd never tell a lie to you.
Would I ever tell a lie to you,
have I ever told a lie to you?"

But that's more an excuse song, as is "You always hurt the one you love."

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07 Jun 00 - 11:20 PM (#239724)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Margaret V

"We'll Sweep Out the Ashes" done by Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris (written by someone else, I think) is a good one, more perhaps about guilt than actual regret (same goes for "Dark End of the Street"). And Richard Thompson's "Keep Your Distance" is such a good song; more about making a commitment NOT to stray again by recognizing that one would still be tempted to do so and, therefore, avoiding the source of temptation. Margaret

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09 Jun 00 - 06:57 AM (#240294)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GeorgeH

OK, ignore my earlier comment . . I'm getting Lisbon and The Earl of Aboyne confused (they are adjacent tracks on June Tabor's Ashes and Diamonds CD). And having transcribed the words for the this thread I then discover it's Child 235, so it's here anyway . .

Certainly fits the bill - have a look!

G.

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09 Jun 00 - 07:10 AM (#240296)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GeorgeH

Unfortunately Mudcat doesn't have this indexed as Child, so you need to search on "Aboyne".

Also there are a number of mistakes in the transcription (it's also taken from June's singing) - not generally significant, but I may get round to posting the corrected version).

It's a slightly anglicised version of one of the Child texts, but includes some material not in any of the Child versions I checked (but I only looked at the main entry and not for any subsequent addenda).

The recording is "Ashes and Diamonds" which is still available. And this track includes wonderful guitar from Nic Jones ..

Enjoy . .

G.

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28 May 04 - 03:19 PM (#1196122)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Jim Dixon

I think this qualifies:

THE HARD WAY by Pat Donohue.

There's only one line that suggests it's about infidelity, though: "How it hurts to be untrue."

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28 May 04 - 06:56 PM (#1196264)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Joe_F

"The Ladies" by Rudyard Kipling:

I've taken my fun where I've found it,
An' now I must pay for my fun,
For the more you 'ave known of the others
The less you will settle to one;
An' the end of it's sittin' and thinkin',
An' dreamin' Hell-fires to see;
So be warned by my lot (which I know you will not),
An' learn about women from me!

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28 May 04 - 07:09 PM (#1196285)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: emjay

There's a very old country song called "Don't Rob Another Man's Castle." (Woman as a possession, ugh.) It ends with the line "I robbed another man's castle, now someone just stole her from me." I haven't tried to find the lyrics, but I've found just about every other song I've tried to find on the internet.

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28 May 04 - 07:23 PM (#1196299)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Georgiansilver

Billy Fury...Lost without you!

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29 May 04 - 01:57 PM (#1196571)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: dick greenhaus

"Spanish is the Loving Tongue"
and the modern "Your Time's Comin'"

And there's always Shel Silverstein's "Three Legged Man"

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06 Dec 10 - 03:00 PM (#3047624)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: GUEST

bittersweet fantasia, the reason hoobastank, boulevard of broken dreams greenday,

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06 Dec 10 - 05:12 PM (#3047709)
Subject: Lyr Add: HIGHWAY OF SORROW (Bill Monroe)
From: Mark Clark

Highway of Sorrow
Bill Monroe

I once had a darlin' wife, kind true and sweet,
Life was so bright and gay, everything complete,
But I fell for another who led my life astray,
Now I'll live in sorrow 'til my dyin' day.

    Refrain:
    Down the highway of sorrow I'm travelin' alone,
    I've lost all my true friends, I've lost a happy home,
    I'm headed for destruction, I'm on the wrong track,
    Down the highway of sorrow there's no turning back.

I went back to my darlin' and fell down on my knees,
I begged her with tear dimmed eyes to give my poor heart ease,
But she was hurt so deeply she could not forgive,
Now I'll live in sorrow as long as I live.

    (Refrain)

      - Mark

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06 Dec 10 - 06:25 PM (#3047760)
Subject: RE: Wanted: Songs that regret infidelity
From: Jack Campin

Clerk Colven?

Cheat with a mermaid, get a social disease that makes your head explode within hours, and you really regret it.

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