Blues lyric question

[Larry Kart]

Last night a fragment from a blues lyric began to run through my head, and I couldn't recall where it came from -- a Joe Turner recording, perhaps?

The line begins with a statement of some sort, probably an excuse or a promise aimed at an angry, jealous woman, followed by the phrase "I'm a lie if I say I won't" -- "lie" presumably meaning "liar," though I've always thought the singer, whoever it is, did sing "lie" instead of "liar." If so, the use of "lie" for "liar" is/was the source of much of the lyric's poetic power for me. But who was it? I'm aware that there might more than few recordings in which that line was sung, but it has to be a recording that I owned and probably still do have, so if there are multiple answers, I probably can nail down the one that imprinted that line in my brain.

[jazztrain]

Billie Holiday sings the "I'm a liar if I say I won't" line in Billie's Blues. But you're looking for the line with "lie" instead of "liar?"

[Larry Kart]

Thanks -- that must be it, and I just misheard "liar" as "lie" all these years.

[jazztrain]

Larry:

If you search on the line "I'm a lie if I say I don't" you get a couple of hits to articles that may provide more information. Unfortunately, only a portion of the articles are provided. Some sort of registration is necessary to see the full articles.

See here: Article 1

and here: Article 2

Last night a fragment from a blues lyric began to run through my head, and I couldn't recall where it came from -- a Joe Turner recording, perhaps?

The line begins with a statement of some sort, probably an excuse or a promise aimed at an angry, jealous woman, followed by the phrase "I'm a lie if I say I won't" -- "lie" presumably meaning "liar," though I've always thought the singer, whoever it is, did sing "lie" instead of "liar." If so, the use of "lie" for "liar" is/was the source of much of the lyric's poetic power for me. But who was it? I'm aware that there might more than few recordings in which that line was sung, but it has to be a recording that I owned and probably still do have, so if there are multiple answers, I probably can nail down the one that imprinted that line in my brain.

[Larry Kart]

In a related vein, now that I've looked at the lyrics for "Billie's Blues," I have a question about the second stanza:

I've been your slave, baby

Ever since I've been your babe

I've been your slave

Ever since I've been your babe

But before I'll be your dog

I'll see you in your grave

What is the distinction between being his "slave" and his "dog," and why is the gulf between the former and the latter such that before she'll be his "dog" she'll see him "in his grave"?

[JSngry]

FWIW, in certain "Southern dialects" it not at all uncommon to "ghost" the last consonant sound of a word to leave the emphasis on the vowel sound. This would be one example, "liar" coming out as "lye(h)". It gives the word more punch, urgency, whatever you want to call it.

[Larry Kart]

FWIW, in certain "Southern dialects" it not at all uncommon to "ghost" the last consonant sound of a word to leave the emphasis on the vowel sound. This would be one example, "liar" coming out as "lye(h)". It gives the word more punch, urgency, whatever you want to call it.

That's what I thought probably was going on. Also -- and it may amount to the same thing -- "lye(h) if I say I won't" is much more flowing and linear rhythmically than "liar if I say I won't."

[JSngry]

In a related vein, now that I've looked at the lyrics for "Billie's Blues," I have a question about the second stanza:

I've been your slave, baby

Ever since I've been your babe

I've been your slave

Ever since I've been your babe

But before I'll be your dog

I'll see you in your grave

What is the distinction between being his "slave" and his "dog," and why is the gulf between the former and the latter such that before she'll be his "dog" she'll see him "in his grave"?

Substitute "bitch" for "dog"...

Dogs, that's another "Southern thing" too...they're more than just pets to a lot of people, they're objects of utility...lots of dog-based expressions, one of my favorites being "broke dick dog" which I guess is all "urban" now & everything, but hell, I've heard that one since I was a kid, and I did not grow up in "the city"...

I'd really recommend that anybody who hasn't spent enough time in the rural American South to get a feel for it to do so, but like the rest of America, it ain't nearly as provincial or un-self-conscious as it used to be.

[JSngry]

And I guess the main difference is that if you're somebody's "slave" in a relationship you do anything they want you to do, whereas if they dog you, treat you like a dog, you're expected to do everything they tell you to do.

It's like the expression "talked to them like a dog"... a level of engagement below human-to-human, even at the level of "slave".

[AllenLowe]

"I ain't gonna be your dog" is also extremely common in older, Delta, pre-War blues. I think whereas "slave" indicates a relationship that has some elements of co-dependence, "dog" just refers to being treated like crap. So therein, perhaps, lies the difference.

hence, of course, Iggy's "I Wanna Be Your Dog," a smart twist on the old saying.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It's forty-something years since I heard it, but doesn't "Ne me quitte pas" have a line in it that translates as something like, "I'll be the dog of your dog"?

MG

[aparxa]

Just its shadow!

"L'ombre de ton ombre

L'ombre de ta main

L'ombre de ton chien"

()

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Just its shadow!

"L'ombre de ton ombre

L'ombre de ta main

L'ombre de ton chien"

()

Ah, there you are. It's been a long time.

Thanks Aparxa.

MG