[delb0y]

I quite liked the idea of having each verse in a blues repeating the same idea, so I rustled up this set of lyrics, this afternoon. YouTube tells me it's a copyright infringement of a Clyde McPhatter and a Chubby Checker tune - the middle eight, as it turns out. Well, yes. I know it as standard melody # 2, and it's been used thousands of times. Interesting that Chubby and Clyde have secured the monetisation rights on that bridge.

Anyway, because of this I guess I can't really do anything with this. but here tis anyway:

Down On My Heels

I’m down on my heels and I’m down on my luck
I’m so far down I don’t know which way’s up
I’m down on my knees praying for a sign
I’m down in the hole and sinking all of the time

I ran out of money, and I ran out of track
I ran out of destinations and I can’t turn back
I ran out of good luck  and I ran out of friends
I ran out of options and I ran out on you again

Nevertheless…
Give me a loan, won’t you lend me some time
Lend me some good luck, lend me some wine
Lend me your keys and some clean air to breathe
Lend me some space in which I can be free

I wore out my welcome and I wore out my shoes
I wore out my credit and paid none of my dues
I wore out all my excuses and all of my lies
I wore out your trust and the light that shone in your eyes

Give me a loan, won’t you lend me some time
Lend me some good luck, lend me some wine
Lend me your reputation and lend me your name
Then I’ll walk out the door and you’ll never see me again

I’m on the wrong side of fifty and the wrong side of town
The wrong side of some people whom you shouldn’t let down
I got out the wrong side of bed, and hit my head on the wall
I’m on the wrong side of Heaven and the wrong side of the law

Give me a loan, won’t you lend me some time
Lend me some good luck, lend me some wine
Lend me your faith and lend me some hope
And if you can’t do that then lend me some rope

I lied to my friends and I lied to my enemies, too
I lied to the priest and I lied to you
I lied to the judge and to this day I swear
I’ll lie to St. Peter if I ever get there

Cheers
Derek

[pompeyjazz]

Great to see you back on the forum @delb0y I read your previous post with interest. It's great that you've been doing stripped back acoustic gigs with your original songs. I've done a few in the same vein recently and found the whole experience of playing live with just vocals, acoustic and cajon very liberating. Like you, I'm past the days of humping pa's and amps up and down rickety flights of stairs.

Anyway, onto the song... Neat little blues number that does exactly what it says on the tin. Your vocals are absolutely excellent and some lovely little guitar fills.The guitar sound that you've got is really meaty. Just right for the genre and I'm sure that Chubby and Clyde won't mind 

Just fabulous to see you back. Excellent stuff

[CaliaMoko]

I enjoyed watching three of you playing guitar! "Wrong side of fifty." Yeah, I remember going over to the wrong side of fifty. I got very depressed. It eventually passed. This comes across like a folk classic. It wouldn't surprise me if the verses kept on going and going. Catchy and makes me want to sing along.

[delb0y]

Thanks both. Still a work in progress. I wonder if a more bluesy version might end up being a bit better in terms of supporting the lyrics?

[delb0y]

Still tweaking this. Hopefully get it moved to the finished section sometime. I wasn't happy with one of the lyrics - I'd used "luck"in verse 1, "good luck" in verse 2, and "good luck" in the bridge. So I've replaced the v2 line with "favours".

Also wasn't happy with how I came out of the bridge back into the verse, it sort of forced me to  change the melody. So I'm currently experimenting with holding onto the V chord after the bridge to give me the vocal break I need.

I think I like the bluesy resonator approach best. It has a sort of hypnotic effect that the best resonator tunes have (this is a long way from being one of those, though!). It lends itself nicely to some laid back solos, too.

Anyway, still in development, but edging slowly forward.

Derek