FENDER TUCKER'S
NIGHTSONGS
June 21, 2006
Lyrics by Jim Weiler
Jim, in a fit of creativity about five years back, wrote a bunch of doggerel and I've kept printouts of them in a folder -- for the right time. After last night's debacle of a NightSong I decided to go with a real song, however slapdash it may be. So I dredged out "Papa Cried", and apparently it's a juicy C&W revenge song. I played the first chords on the keyboard that came to mind as I hummed through the lyrics and came up with a melody and phrasing that I thought Jim might have been thinking of when he wrote the words. Then I added a couple of acoustic-like guitar tracks and the two vocal tracks. Of course I added some chorusing effects on the voices with Cool Edit Pro -- I can't stand the sound of my voice all by itself.
The comment I hear most about my songs is, "What are you saying? I can't understand the words." So here are the lyrics.
Papa Cried
(c)Dugym Qycfyl, 2004
I remember how he held us
The night that mama died
And how he useta belt us
When we would fight... or lie.
But my memories of papa
The ones that hurt inside
Are the memories of papa's pain
And the way that papa cried.
We'd load up in the pickup
And go to see a race
And when we'd ask for candy
He'd slap us in our face.
But then he'd hold us tight
And he'd apologize a lot
And the tears would start a-flowin'
And nothin'd make 'em stop.
Chorus
Papa cried (sustain)
When our lives were full of pain
Papa cried
When the weather'd turn to rain
Papa cried
He was like to go insane.
Bad times was even worse
when papa cried.
The lickin's kept a comin'
Through bad times an' through worse
And when he'd been out drinkin'
He'd lash out more... and curse.
We knew we din't deserve it
But we also knew his pain.
We'd come to the conclusion
That our papa was insane.
The county wouldn't help us
'Cause our need was not that great
If we wanted to get out
We'd simply have to sit and wait.
By and by we'd turn 18
And then we all could leave.
But pop kept gettin' meaner
With each beatin' we'd receive.
Chorus
Papa cried (sustain)
When our lives were full of pain
Papa cried
When the weather'd turn to rain
Papa cried
He was like to go insane.
Bad times was even worse
when papa cried.
(Near tears)
One night I couldn't take no more
And I cut him with a knife
You should'a seen him cryin'
As he begged me for his life.
But I never showed no mercy
Like he never even tried
As I stabbed that S.O.B. to death...
(Dramatic pause)
And I never felt so good when papa cried.
Chorus
Papa cried (sustain)
When our lives were full of pain
Papa cried
When the weather'd turn to rain
Papa cried
He was like to go insane.
Bad times was even worse
when papa cried.