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My Human Gets Me Blues Lyrics
I saw yuh baby dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress
I knew you were under duress
I knew you were under yer dress
Just keep comin' Jesus
Your the best dressed
You look dandy in the sky but you don't scare me
Cause I got you here in my eye
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
With yer jaw hangin' slack n' yer hair's curlin'
Like an ole navy fork stickin' in the sunset
The way you were dancin' I knew you'd never come back
You were strainin' t' keep yer
Old black cracked patent shoes
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
Well the way you'd been ole lady
I could see the fear in yer windows
Under yer furry crawlin' brow
Uh silver bow rings up in inches
You were afraid you'd be the devils red wife
But it's alright God dug yer dance
'n would have you young 'n in his harum
Dress you the way he wants cause he never had uh doll
Cause everybody made him uh boy
'n God didn't think t' ask his preference
You can bring yer dress 'n yer favorite dog
'n yer husbands cane
'n yer old spotted dog
Cause in this lifetime
You've got m'humangetsmeblues
I knew you were under duress
I knew you were under yer dress
Just keep comin' Jesus
Your the best dressed
You look dandy in the sky but you don't scare me
Cause I got you here in my eye
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
With yer jaw hangin' slack n' yer hair's curlin'
Like an ole navy fork stickin' in the sunset
The way you were dancin' I knew you'd never come back
You were strainin' t' keep yer
Old black cracked patent shoes
In this lifetime you got m'humangetsmeblues
Well the way you'd been ole lady
I could see the fear in yer windows
Under yer furry crawlin' brow
Uh silver bow rings up in inches
You were afraid you'd be the devils red wife
But it's alright God dug yer dance
'n would have you young 'n in his harum
Dress you the way he wants cause he never had uh doll
Cause everybody made him uh boy
'n God didn't think t' ask his preference
You can bring yer dress 'n yer favorite dog
'n yer husbands cane
'n yer old spotted dog
Cause in this lifetime
You've got m'humangetsmeblues
Song Info
Submitted by
screwjack On Feb 12, 2006
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One of the standout tracks from Trout Mask, and propbably from the whole back catalogue. I'd agree with the above posts that this song is about God's dissolutionment with the human race (I mean, we are pretty terrible, I wouldn't be surprised if we did give God the blues). The theme of disintegrating humanity and the wish to escape these horrors is reoccuring throughout the entire album (Frownland, Sweet Sweet Bulbs, Ant Man Bee etc.). It's hard not to agree with the Captain's sentiments.
I love this song. I love the little analysis about how everybody made God a boy - how it turns out that the real reason he wants to dress girls "the way he wants" is that he never had a doll.
I always thought the title "my human gets me blues" was Gods sadness about the cruelty of mankind. His human gets him blues so to speak.
@Prunesquallor I think it's Satan who has the gender issues: it was God who didn't think to double-check "his preference"
@Prunesquallor I think it's Satan who has the gender issues: it was God who didn't think to double-check "his preference"
According to John French, Van Vliet wrote the lyrics about him (Drumbo) as a way of poking fun. Some of the recording/transcribing sessions for the songs were brutal and took a physical and psychological toll on Drumbo - and Beefheart would tease him for it. I'm sure he'll mention it in his upcoming book. Also, John is a Christian, and Van Vliet was apparently very condescending about his religion (preferring Eastern religion himself) so a lot of religious imagery in the lyrics may be jabs - perhaps good natured jabs in Beefheart's own mind - towards Drumbo. Who knows.
Anyway, with that in mind, some of the lyrics do make a lot of sense: "i knew you were under duress", "jaw hanging slack", "fear in your windows (eyes)", etc. If Drumbo was physically and emotionally spent after some of these harrowing marathon sessions, he could have had his religion to fall back on and give him strength - which Van Vliet would of course know about (I don't think there were too many secrets in that house) and goad him for.
This is all speculation of course - from one man's own account (well, two men if you count Harkelroad's own book and interviews) of the TMR sessions. Still, I see no reason why he would make anything up. He is still very respectful and really complimentary about Don's genius and clearly wishes that they could have remained friends.
@Hawkeye2008 Well, pretty much everything you've said is in accordance with John's book
@Hawkeye2008 Well, pretty much everything you've said is in accordance with John's book
i read someone else's idea on a website a while ago - they thought that this song is about jesus, sung from judas' perspective. my human gets me blues = God being sad about being a human as Jesus, etc etc. what do you think?
In this lifetime you've got my human gets me blues: this is all about your soul being incarnated as a human but wanting to get back to the infinite.
God dug your dance: compare Krishna and the milkmaids.