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Ball and Chain Lyrics

Yeah! Alright!

Sittin' down by my window,
Honey, lookin' out at the rain.
Lord, Lord, Lord, sittin' down by my window,
Baby, lookin' out at the rain.
Somethin' came along, grabbed a hold of me,
And it felt just like a ball and chain.
Honey, that's exactly what it felt like,
Honey, just dragging me down.

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now hon', tell me why,
Why does every single little tiny thing I hold on goes wrong ?
Yeah it all goes wrong, yeah.
And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now babe, tell me why,
Why does every thing, every thing.
Hey, here you gone today, I wanted to love you,
Honey, I just wanted to hold you, I said, for so long,
Yeah! Alright! Hey!

Love's got a hold on me, baby,
Feels just like a ball and chain.
Now, love's just draggin' me down, baby, yeah,
Feels like a ball and chain.
I hope there's someone out there who could tell me
Why the man I love wanna leave me in so much pain.
Yeah, maybe, maybe you could help me, come on, help me!

And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now hon', tell me why,
Now tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me why, yeah.
And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, when I ask you,
When I need to know why, c'mon tell me why, hey hey hey,
Here you've gone today,
I wanted to love you and hold you
Till the day I die.
I said whoa, whoa, whoa!!

And I say oh, whoa, whoa, no honey
It ain't fair, daddy it ain't fair what you do,
I see what you're doin' to me and you know it ain't fair.
And I say oh, whoa whoa now baby
It ain't fair, now, now, now, what you do
I said hon' it ain't fair what, hon' it ain't fair what you do.
Oh, here you gone today and all I ever wanted to do
Was to love you
Honey an' I think there can be nothing wrong with that,
Only it ain't wrong, no, no, no, no, no.

Sittin' down by my window,
Lookin' at the rain.
Lord, Lord, Lord, sittin' down by my window,
Lookin' at the rain, see the rain.
Somethin' came along, grabbed a hold of me,
And it felt like a ball and chain.
Oh this can't be in vain
And I'm gonna tell you one just more time, yeah, yeah!

And I say oh, whoa whoa, now baby
This can't be, no this can't be in vain,
And I say no no no no no no no no, whoa!
And I say whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Now now now now now now now now now no no not in vain
Hey, hope there is someone that could tell me
Hon', tell me why,
Hon', tell me why love is like
Just like a ball
Just like a ball
Baaaaaaalllll
Oh daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy
And a chain.
Yeah!
Song Info
Submitted by
annazoff On Sep 10, 2009
16 Meanings

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Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Heh! We're here, anakwill, and.. We don't understand, how come, She's gone, man?

When a beautiful creature destroys herself with drugs, and leaves us alone, we all ask deep questions.

Janis had many ways of looking at love. Ball and Chain was one of the most pessimistic, laying out how lost love can be sooooo bad in the heart. We've all been there, even old farts like me can still get fucked-up over a woman. The band's discovery on the train, "There is no tomorrow, man, It's all the same fucking day..." blows apart the good day / bad day thing. Moments, NOW, life; do it or regret not doing it. Janis feared sleep; in case she "...missed a party, man," : Gurdjieff wrote, "Sleep little without regret.". This song is not about regret, it's about what we feel.

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Where are the rest of you people? This is Janis. This is life!

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

I think this song is about being in love with someone that doesnt love you and you love them so much that it drags you down.HA! I'm probably wrong.

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Where is the rest of this song? I mean what happens if it's gone? I mean what happens if half the world is still crying, when the other half is still crying too?

Say you want to acount for 365 days. You aint got 365 days. You got it for one day man. That one day had better be your life! You can cry about the other 364, but you're gonna lose that one day. You gotta call that love. Thats all you got. You got it for one day, man. And it's all the same fucking day!

What more can I say?

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

This song was originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton.

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

there is SOO much damn emotion in this song! especially the live version- janis is the lady robert plant! she rocks hard

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

just a geat song and janis sings it soooo powerfully and emotionally she's the greatest woman in rock and blues 4ever : )

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

This is Big Brother & The Holding Company. It's the last track on Cheap Thrills. Fucking awesome song!!! And, technically, Robert Plant is the male Janis Joplin.

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

anyone know if she ever recorded this in a studio? i have like 4 different versions of it all live.

Cover art for Ball and Chain lyrics by Big Brother & The Holding Company

Personally, my favorite the Woodstock version.

Also, it's funny to me to think that someone ELSE compared her to Robert Plant, or Robert Plant to Janis Joplin, depending on what perspective you take.

 
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