Today’s post was written by Paul.
Of all the songs that I’ve written, I think this one “You Better Take My Heart” sounds the most like a standard country song, like something Gene Watson might have sung back in the 80’s or early 90’s.
I spent almost all day searching for the old cassette recording of the song before I finally found it. The good news is that, in the process, I found some recordings of Pap and Granny, including several short, informal parts of Christmas Carols. Lord willing, I will share them singing those Christmas songs this coming Christmas season.
When I first thought of doing the song, I was surprised to find that I couldn’t remember the second verse. I knew that it ends with “without a friend,” but I couldn’t remember the line before that. I Googled “words that rhyme with ‘friend,'” but I knew that the words that it came up with (“end, bend, fend, tend, send, lend,” etc.) were not what I had originally written.
I figured I would have to come up with a new verse, but then I got to thinking about how this song is about being stuck in a rut, seeing and hearing the same old stuff over and over. That’s when I remembered the “blue mood” part and realized that the rhyme was near rhyme (“in” and “friend”).
When I found and listened to the cassette, it confirmed that I had recalled the correct lyrics for the second verse.
I was surprised to hear how many guitar runs I made with the second guitar in that old recording. They were pretty much constant throughout the song. In part, I think that’s because I was just learning to overdub and was a bit over excited by the fact that I could do things that I wouldn’t have been able to execute while singing. The only guitar runs that I liked when I listed to the old recording this morning, were the runs that happen just before the chorus each time and that happen between the first and second verse. So, I used them in today’s video of the song.
It’s funny that I can remember how much I liked the extremely brief turnaround in between the verses, back then. It was my favorite part of the whole recording. You have to know that I was just learning to play guitar and didn’t know many chords.
To me, going down to the D position like that and coming back seemed groundbreaking at the time! 🙂 My singing in the old recording is more off key than it is on key. That was mainly because I was just learning to sing, but I think it’s also because I didn’t know how to select the best key back then, or for a long time thereafter for that matter. In that old recording, I think the song is in G. For today’s video, I did it in A, two frets higher, which made it much easier to sing.
Thankfully, I’ve never been in the situation described in this song, where I thought I would go crazy if I didn’t win the love of a particular woman. The impetus for the song was when I thought of the hook phrase, “You better take my heart, or I will lose my mind.” I then wrote the song around that phrase.
If I recall correctly, when Granny heard the song, she said something like, “That’s not how you say that.” I knew what she meant, that the phrase sounds like a command, rather than a request, but I didn’t change the song, because that was kind of the whole point, to express it in an unconventional way. The speaker is basically saying, there’s going to be a really bad outcome for me if we cannot be together. That isn’t to say that the speaker in the song is engaging in emotional blackmail or anything like that. Rather, he’s saying these words to himself while all alone in the bar, thinking, “Man, I’m done for if I can’t have you,” etc.
When I let Pap hear the song, he really liked it, but I was dreading letting him hear the second verse because it mentions drinking beer. However, Pap did not rebuke me for that line. When he didn’t mention it, I said, “I’m sorry about that part with the beer,” but I needed it to rhyme and make sense. Pap shrugged and said, “That’s just what’s happening in the song.” I really appreciated that he understood.
Pap drank when he was young and wild, but he knew that I never had and never would, so he didn’t care about that part of the song. And as he indicated, writers are not required to be the subject of their own writing.
Poe wrote multiple stories about murderers (in first person point of view), but that doesn’t mean that he did or ever contemplated doing anything like that. Anyway, I thought some of you might find it interesting that I was worried about revealing that part of the song to Pap. Thanks for watching!
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016).
The Wilson Brothers Words of Life Album released in the 70s.
This made me think of Don Gibson singing Old Lonesome Me.
Impressive that you wrote this song as a teen and performed it so well then! I liked both versions. Thanks for sharing them with us and telling us the back story.
Reading the description, I got the line in my head from a song written by the BeeGees (in the disco era, ick!),
” If I can’t have you, I don’t want nobody, baby”. Late 70’s. I’m not sure you were born yet!
It’s a universal theme,I guess!
Paul, good writing. I actually prefer the original with its slower pace and more lonesome sound in your voice befitting the subject. Always, I sure appreciate your talent!
That’s so cool that you wrote this song so young! I enjoyed both versions. Thanks for sharing! I love learning the history behind them. It was 82 here in my part of WV yesterday. This afternoon, it is a balmy 46. But the sun is shining bright on this beautiful Sunday.
You are good at what you do Paul, be it writing, strumming, hitting the keys, or singing. We all have to begin somewhere and as with all things, learning is by doing and it is a process, but we also can be our own worst critics. 🙂
You are so talented. Thanks for always sharing the backstories with us.
Yesterday at this time it was in the upper 70s. Right now it is 51! I think somebody left the frigerater door open.
in North Georgia might get down to the 30s tonight, I’ve been shivering today at 50°, God bless you
You might just be a bit too hard on yourself Paul. I can write that from experience as I have always been my own worse critic. I reckon that is because the truth in the details matters to me more than others. I have found they matter more to me than anyone else. I hope you did – and I sense you did – gain a greater appreciation for just how far you’ve come since you first wrote that song. Now you can play right along with Doyle Dykes! I’ve posted this before but you have more music ability and knowledge in one of your little fingers than I do entire. And I’m confident Pap wanted his kids to have their best life, as any good parent does. He and Granny had you all rooted and grounded and the rest would arise from that. Finally – I am impressed you did remember the correct wording. Every day that goes by now something will occur that involves forgetting.
I’ve never been alone in a bar! I’ve never been in a bar!
Woke up with a small skiff of snow here! It surprised me but should melt very fast.
I enjoyed that story about Pap and all that you’ve written here. Thanks for another very interesting post, Paul! God Bless!
Happy Sunday! That’s some song you wrote Paul. You always sound great in anything you sing.
When I was 17 years old, the 16 year old girl that would become my wife took my heart and kept it for almost 50 years and didn’t give it back to me when she died. Now I don’t have a heart for anyone else or much of any other thing. Like Paul, I have never had a need for drinking alcohol in my entire life and under no circumstances will I turn to it now for help with my sorrow.