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Post subject: Lyrics.
Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:40 pm
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Guys, can someone help me. I'm looking for some of the lyrics of the song "Going to Chicago" from T-Bone Walker.From my research, I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere on the net. So I got what I could by listening to the song, but as English is not my mother tongue, I am struggling with some parts of the song. I need those lyrics because I want to sing the song in a jam band where I go to every now and then. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Claude.


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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:14 am
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Hi Claude,I have gotten song lyrics that I was looking for from http://www.chordie.com they have thousands of lyrics (as well as chords etc.) to just about any song that you could think of.These lyrics most likely are free: http://www.metrolyrics.com http://www.elyrics.net Hopefully you should find the lyrics among these.

Since you are only allowed to post a max. of 3 urls,here are some more that you can attach the proper prefix and suffix to: lyricsmania lyricsfreak lyricsdepot lyrster lyricsplanet lyrics.wikia Cheers.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 6:17 am
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Thanks Derek, I'll check that.


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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:54 am
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I am pretty good at googles and could not find the lyrics for that song anywhere. However there is a youtube of it live and perhaps someone can make out the lyrics for you from that. I tried and was able to make some of them out but not enough. I have a great ear for music but with lyrics I always have problems...I know some people are really good at that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGk72L652K4


The vid is great BTW...such authentic blues where it almost seems as if he is ad libbing and improvising. As I notice with most authentic blues the lyrics are kind of silly and nonsensical but it is all in the delivery. He also has such an odd playing technique where he plays his solos with the guitar horizontal like a lap guitar.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 12:39 pm
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Using the youtube vid.....

Sometimes I wonder, why she don't write to me
Sometimes I wonder, why she don't write to me
If I'd been a bad lover baby,?? it's not just me ??
*She's at home with her Mama*, but my baby's on my mind
*She's at home with her Mama*, but my baby's on my mind
Everytime I see my baby, just can't keep from cryin

Want my baby, rock ????????????????steady roll
Well I want my woman, rock me with rock and steady roll
If you can't rock me baby, please do something to satisfy my soul
Well I'm goin to Chicago, baby but I can't take you
Well I'm goin to Chicago, but baby I can't take you
Ain't nothing in Chicago baby, a monkey woman can do

Best I can do Claude, maybe someone will correct it and fill in the blanks
* She's at home with Obama * :?


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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:06 pm
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Back in the day before lyrics became so easy to find on the internet I used to transcribe lyrics from recordings and the best tip I can give for that process is to first listen to the whole song a couple of times to get as clear an idea as possible of what the song is about. That way when you come across a line that you can't make out you will have some kind of context within which to narrow down the possibilities. I have not hear this particular T-Bone song before but listening to it I get the picture of him being on the road, possibly riding a bus, travelling to gigs and trying to maintain contact with his woman back home via correspondence. With that in mind I gave the song a couple listens and here's what I think might be a likely set of lyrics for the song:


Sometimes I wonder why don’t she write to me
Sometimes I wonder why don’t she write to me
If I been a bad feller baby, and didn't I tend to be

She’s at home with her mama but my baby’s on my mind
She’s at home with her mama but my baby’s on my mind
Every time I see my baby just can’t keep from cryin’

Wrote my baby writing it with one steady road
Well I wrote my woman, Rock me with one steady road
If you can’t rock me baby please do something to satisfy my soul

Well I’m going to Chicago baby but I can’t take you
Well I’m going to Chicago baby but I can’t take you
Ain’t nothing in Chicago baby a mundane woman can do


Not sure about the word mundane. It isn't exactly fitting but I can't think of anything else he might be saying. Perhaps others can figure out that word better than I. Also not entirely convinced about the first line in the third verse .... but the context, which I think I have correctly identified should help narrow down the alternatives. The good thing about having a YouTube video is that in addition to the audio track you also have a picture and can study what his mouth is doing to narrow down some of the fuzzy syllables.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:06 pm
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ripitup beat me to it

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:19 pm
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I think were both close but no cigar BM, I think my last line might be the one though, a version by Joe Williams I came across, ( though not the same lyrics) has him explaining what a monkey woman was before going into the song, sound's like whatever my ears picked out.


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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:35 pm
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I was thinking monkey at first too but it didn't seem to fit.
Maybe there's something to it.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:25 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
I was thinking monkey at first too but it didn't seem to fit.
Maybe there's something to it.

I am pretty sure in a Lou Rawls reworking of it, where he opens with the last verse, he sings
Monkey as well. (to my ear could also be Monday I suppose.)
His version isn't an exact cover, more reworking jumping off from the last verse (common practice in old style blues,) but here's the lyrics to his version:


Goin' to Chicago, sorry but I can't take you.
Goin' to Chicago, baby, but I just can't take you.
There ain't nothin' in Chicago that a monkey woman like you can do.

When you see me comin' baby, raise your window high.
When you see me comin' baby, raise your window high.
And when I pass by, baby, hang your head down and cry.

You're losin' a good man, baby, I've done so much for you.
You're losin' a good man, baby, I've done so much for you.
But thats all over, there's no more that I'm going to do.

Look out Chicago, here I come.

There's no need to cry, baby, I won't be back no more.
There ain't no need to cry, mama, 'cause your daddy won't be back no more.
You made me feel so lonely. I'm walking right out that door.

Good bye bye baby. I hope you make it alright.
Good bye bye baby I hope you make it alright.


In fact every single reworking of it I have found has the Monkey Woman lyric in it (except the one's sang by women, who just sing "a man like you" ). seemingly it is the one verse common to all of the songs "sung to women", so it must be considered important.

Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, Joe Williams (solo and with Count Basie.)

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 2:38 pm
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here's the original:
Count Basie Jimmy Rushing, 1958
(edit--haha my bad, original singer Jimmy Rushing, but with Benny Goodman, not Count Basie)


Seems T-Bone was the one who did the major reworking.
I've seen "Momkey woman used to refer to a woman with a heroin addiction, which was de rigueur at the time.
The heroin reference really fits given the other swing band material of the time.

Here's the actual original:

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:20 pm
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Last edited by ebaysux on Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:45 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 3:36 pm
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ebaysux wrote:
BMW-KTM wrote:
Back in the day before lyrics became so easy to find on the internet I used to transcribe lyrics from recordings and the best tip I can give for that process is to first listen to the whole song a couple of times to get as clear an idea as possible of what the song is about. That way when you come across a line that you can't make out you will have some kind of context within which to narrow down the possibilities. I have not hear this particular T-Bone song before but listening to it I get the picture of him being on the road, possibly riding a bus, travelling to gigs and trying to maintain contact with his woman back home via correspondence. With that in mind I gave the song a couple listens and here's what I think might be a likely set of lyrics for the song:


Sometimes I wonder why don’t she write to me
Sometimes I wonder why don’t she write to me
If I been a bad feller baby, and didn't I tend to be

She’s at home with her mama but my baby’s on my mind
She’s at home with her mama but my baby’s on my mind
Every time I see my baby just can’t keep from cryin’

Wrote my baby writing it with one steady road
Well I wrote my woman, Rock me with one steady road
If you can’t rock me baby please do something to satisfy my soul

Well I’m going to Chicago baby but I can’t take you
Well I’m going to Chicago baby but I can’t take you
Ain’t nothing in Chicago baby a mundane woman can do


Not sure about the word mundane. It isn't exactly fitting but I can't think of anything else he might be saying. Perhaps others can figure out that word better than I. Also not entirely convinced about the first line in the third verse .... but the context, which I think I have correctly identified should help narrow down the alternatives. The good thing about having a YouTube video is that in addition to the audio track you also have a picture and can study what his mouth is doing to narrow down some of the fuzzy syllables.


I think you pretty much nailed it but there is question to the "mundane"..it does sound to me like he is saying "monkey woman" which does make little sense however it seems was used in another version where it is clear.

I did the same thing with the youtube vid and tried to watch his mouth but I still could not make out a few verses for the life of me. Which is why I will stick to transcribing music... and not lyrics.

As far as what the lyrics mean as I stated earlier it seems on these old blues songs including artists such as Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters that I used to listen to day and night....the lyrics were sometimes nonsensical but the delivery made it work. The Beatles were notorious for this in their latter songs and openly admit it did not even matter what the lyrics meant...as long as it fit the phrasing. I think it worked either way but when I found out that George Harrison said most of it was "rubbish"...I have to wonder if there was not a degree of bitterness there.

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:03 pm
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Twelvebar wrote:
I've seen "Monkey woman used to refer to a woman with a heroin addiction, which was de rigueur at the time.

Yes - I think having "a monkey on your back" was jazz era slang for a heroin addiction.

Though this thread has also had me wracking my memory, because I know I've come across the phrase "monkey man" or "monkey woman" elsewhere in early jazz and blues music, and been unsure from context whether the meaning was sexual or drug related or racial.

So I've been doing a bit of light research, and though I've failed to find a certain answer I did stumble upon this hilarious discussion of the use of the phrase in the Rolling Stones' song, Monkey Man:

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=526

I just offer that link for its entertainment value. It's always funny watching people completely miss the point of a song and get very snotty with one another while they're at it.

Meantime, to Claude: I believe the assembled brains of the Forum have nailed it for you and given you some useful alternate options into the bargain. Remember, it's the blues: you're allowed to change it around a bit to suit your own requirements if you wish.

Nice work, Forumites. :)

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Lyrics.
Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:11 pm
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Ceri wrote:
Twelvebar wrote:
I've seen "Monkey woman used to refer to a woman with a heroin addiction, which was de rigueur at the time.

Yes - I think having "a monkey on your back" was jazz era slang for a heroin addiction.

Though this thread has also had me wracking my memory, because I know I've come across the phrase "monkey man" or "monkey woman" elsewhere in early jazz and blues music, and been unsure from context whether the meaning was sexual or drug related or racial.

So I've been doing a bit of light research, and though I've failed to find a certain answer I did come across this hilarious discussion of the use of the phrase in the Rolling Stones' song, Monkey Man:

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=526

I just offer that link for its entertainment value. It's always funny watching people completely miss the point of a song and get very snotty with one another while they're at it.

Meantime, to Claude: I believe the assembled brains of the Forum have nailed it for you and given you some useful alternate options into the bargain. Remember, it's the blues: you're allowed to change it around a bit to suit your own requirements if you wish.

Nice work, forumites. :)

Cheers - C



I had always wondered if "back door man" by Willie Dixon (of course covered by the Doors and others) was metaphorical for something else I can not get into detail about here..

But yes it seems in this "Going back to Chicago" song it was meant to say monkey woman. Now if that meant heroin addiction or something else to the original writer of the song we may never know for sure. They kept us out of the loop. The term "monkey on your back" to describe drug addiction is still common today yet I have never heard once in my life a single person ever refer to a drug addicted female as a "monkey woman". And being from places like NYC and Los Angeles I think I would have heard that term at one time or another if it applied :twisted: For all we know the term could have meant to mean something much more innocent.

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Last edited by ebaysux on Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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