Forums » Gillian Welch and David Rawlings "Lyrics"
Lawman
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hi all,
attempted writing out the lyrics to Lawman - almost there I believe but one bit eludes us. "I have to keep an eye on…" what? help, comments, improvements much appreciated. thanks.
LAWMAN – Gillian Welch
The sun was high and so was I
When Billy ran in the room
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Saying: I´ve looked all over town for you
Ain´t you heard the news
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Marshal came in on the train
He swore he´d take my life
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Grabbed his old revolver
and went back down to fight
Ooooh-ooh-oooh
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
Now if I had known just another song
This is how it´ll go
Oooh-oooh-oooh
We coulda made a pretty good run
Down to Mexico
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
I guess I´ll have to keep an eye on ??????????????????
I hate to think of sleeping out in the cold wind
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
Lawman gonna kill my honey dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqV8wDrlnw -
to elaborate a bit... we do this song with our band - to fill in the gap, our singer thought of 'keep an eye on the little grey canvas tent' so as not to sleep out in the cold wind.
Maybe it is about a horse? or a dog? she hates for it to sleep out in the cold wind.
But what is the word she is singing? heetokee or something???
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It sounds to me like "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on the little grey he took in." Since I don't know what "grey" would mean in that context, I'd offere "babe" or "stray" as other possibilities, but it really sounds and looks like she sings "grey."
I also think she sings "If I had known just an hour or so this is how it would go" and not "another song this is how it'll go."
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ianf said:
It sounds to me like "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on the little grey he took in." Since I don't know what "grey" would mean in that context, I'd offere "babe" or "stray" as other possibilities, but it really sounds and looks like she sings "grey."
I also think she sings "If I had known just an hour or so this is how it would go" and not "another song this is how it'll go."
thanks ianf! those both make sense to me. 'He took in' fits the storyline. This is getting close - not knowing who or what 'grey' is doesn't break the story. Still, ideas welcome!
And 'an hour ago' certainly makes more sense than 'another song'.
So this is what what will be singing:
The sun was high and so was I
When Billy ran in the room
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Saying: I´ve looked all over town for you
Ain´t you heard the news
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Marshal came in on the train
He swore he´d take my life
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Grabbed his old revolver
and went back down to fight
Ooooh-ooh-oooh
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
Now if I had known just an hour or so
This is how it would go
Oooh-oooh-oooh
We coulda made a pretty good run
Down to Mexico
Oooh-oooh-oooh
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
I guess I´ll have to keep an eye on the little grey he took in
I hate to think of it sleeping out in the cold wind
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey dead
Lawman´s gonna kill my honey yeah
Lawman gonna kill my honey dead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDqV8wDrlnw -
ianf said:
It sounds to me like "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on the little grey he took in." Since I don't know what "grey" would mean in that context, I'd offere "babe" or "stray" as other possibilities, but it really sounds and looks like she sings "grey."
... we have decided to go with 'stray'. Even if that is not what I hear it fits nicely and adds some depth to the drama - her soon-to-be-ex-honey apparently has a good heart ...
thank you ianf!
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we recorded some songs last sunday - this is what we made of Lawman ... pump organ works nicely imo :)