Mama Didn't Give Whoopins

Mama Didn't Give Whoopins (poor demo) - MP3

Lyrics

mama di'n't give whoopins
she'd say that's what daddy's for
and she'd make sure that i learned it
on the nights i'd gone and earned it
she'd have me wait by the door

she'd have me hold whichever belt 
he hadn't worn to work so i 
could feel the leather up against my skin
she'd show me where to stand so he
would see me and the belt and know 
exactly what to do when he came in

mamma di'n't give whoopins
she'd say that was daddy's job
i would watch that door and wait
and pray that he was working late
keep my eyes glued to the knob

i'd hear each footstep hit the ground
i'd hear him pulling his keys out 
i'd hear the wind a-whipping though the leaves
he'd open up the door and see 
me standing there and sigh and shake
his head and he'd start rolling up his sleeves

SOLO

he'd never ask me what i'd done
he'd tell me mama was the girl
he'd married and that mama deserved more  
he'd tell me not to disappoint his wife
i'd wait until he'd left 
the room before i'd get up off the floor

mama di'n't give whoopins
even when i wished she would
even if i begged and pleaded
she would get me what i needed
what she cou'dn't provide
she made sure daddy could
mama didn't give whoopins
she made sure i got it good

Music

Chords

(My guitar might be way out of tune, but there are the fingerings I was playing) Eb f Bb7 End: Eb f Bb7 g Ab Bb Eb

Structure

A B A B A(inst.) B'

Comments

Here's another country song for the pile. This one is a step down from my recent entries, I feel, and the main reason is that when I write lyrics away from the guitar they get all wordy. I wrote almost all the words here before I had a melody, so it's very lyrics-centric. Which is OK, but only if they're good, which I'm not sure they are. There's some interesting stuff in here. I like the things that are inferred about the family in question, about what their relationships with one another were like. I like that the noises the boy hears while listening sound violent to him given the context (it's probably too subtle, but I tried to do this with "hit", "pull ...out", and "a-whipping"). I like how the focus is on what the father is saying, not on what he's doing while he says it. But I don't think I've nailed this one, really. For one thing it's too gosh darn long. I should figure out what I want to say and then say it in less words than this.

An alternate last stanza, just for kicks:

mama di'n't give whoopins
she'd say just you wait until
daddy gets home and you'll get
a whoopin you won't soon forget
she was right i never will

That version conveyed some lasting effects of this treatment, which I like, but not in a very interesting way, and not in a grammatically unambiguous way. I think the one I went with gives more information and keeps the focus on the mother character, where it should be.

Also: Mini drum set! Its first appearance on the wiki, I believe.

Gabemcelwain 22:01, 4 May 2009 (PDT)