Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - My Human Gets Me Blues Lyrics






I saw you baby, dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress
I knew you were under duress
I knew you were under your dress

Just keep comin' Jesus, you're 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 my-human-gets-me blues

With your jaw hangin' slack and your 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' to keep your old black cracked patent shoes

In this lifetime
You got my-human-gets-me blues

Well the way you'd been ol' lady, I could see the fear in your windows
Under your furry crawlin' brow, a silver bow
Rings up in inches
You were afraid you'd be the devil's red wife

But it's alright, God dug your dance
And would have you young and in his harem
Dress you the way he wants 'cause he never had a doll
'Cause everybody made him a boy
And God didn't think to ask his preference

You can bring yer dress and your favorite dog
And your husband's cane
And your old spotted hog

'Cause in this lifetime
You got my-human-gets-me blues





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Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band My Human Gets Me Blues Comments
  1. G.... S....

    1969!!!!!!

  2. C.... ....

    I'm leaving my old spotted hog at home.

  3. B.... B....

    Totally proto punk. This cut goes hard

  4. M.... S....

    Kinda reminds me of Gang of Four or the Pop Group. Like post-punk before post-punk.

    M.... S....

    Beefheart was post-punk before even punk existed.

  5. S.... S....

    Although no remastering sound there is in here, it deserve the music's zenith.

  6. F.... Q....

    Was playing this out loud at work and my colleague in the other room got sick and had to go lie down

    F.... Q....

    Audio assault

  7. C.... S....

    I used to try and drive to this album. I'd get lost frequently.

  8. B.... C....

    yo he said your favorite dress AND your favorite dog

  9. B.... M....

    And, I declare, what was there on the yonder bank of the stream that would be a river, parched on a limb of the olum, bolt downright, but the Gripes? And no doubt he was fit to be dried for why had he not been having the juice of his times?

  10. G.... F....

    this feels way longer than 3 minutes

  11. C.... ....

    Ooooo i like this one

  12. k.... b....

    It's like an aural "magic eye" you have to cross eared before it sorta forms an image, but it's still kind of hazey and gives you a headache.

  13. C.... S....

    I saw you 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, you're the best dressed
    You look dandy in the sky but you don't scare me
    'Cause I got you here in my eye

    [Refrain]
    In this lifetime you got my human gets me blues

    [Verse 2]
    With your jaw hangin' slack and your 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' to keep your
    Old black cracked patent shoes

    [Refrain]
    In this lifetime you got my human gets me blues

    [Verse 3]
    Well, the way you been, old lady
    I could see the fear in your windows
    Under your furry crawlin' brow
    A silver bow rings up in inches
    You were afraid you'd be the devil's red wife
    But it's all right, God dug your dance
    And would have you young and in his harem
    Dress you the way he wants cause he never had a doll
    'Cause everybody made him a boy
    And God didn't think to ask his preference
    You can bring your dress and your favorite dog
    And your husband's cane, and your old spotted hog

  14. P.... M....

    Devil's red wife, old spotted hog ?..dress you the way he want cause he never had a dog !

  15. M.... B....

    I dunno..Im rly tryin to get this music..And yes i love prog and dissonant music, KC and Gentle giant type of dissonant,but it seems this is a bit too much for my taste

    M.... B....

    I was the same... Struggled to get into it at first so I read the album lyrics without music as poetry which in my opinion they are poems. Veterans day poppy, human gets me blues, steal softly through snow, and many more are actually very subtle and full of emotion and empathy. The music hides this feeling like a child too shy to say I love you so instead beats on the one he loves. My opinion

  16. R.... G....

    Great version of this on the live album, Mersey Trout.

  17. Y.... M....

    Captain Beefheart is like if you fed a convolutional neural network some old blues records.

    Y.... M....

    You MacAndrew goddamn this is too accurate

    Y.... M....

    That would be too awesome if neural networks could do things like this anytime soon

    Y.... M....

    In this lifetime
    you've got
    My convolutional neural network gets me blues.

    Y.... M....

    @I Eat Garbage ...I'd listen to that.

    Y.... M....

    So the funny thing is I am working on a Generative Adversarial Neural Network and I fed it Captain Beefheart for training.

  18. T.... S....

    This is so bizarre.

  19. J.... S....

    This is so fucking abrasive

  20. Y.... G....

    Jesus is the best dress

    Y.... G....

    "Jesus is the best dressed" is what is spouted by the Captain

  21. M.... m....

    Tom Waits' wife Kathleen Brennan turned him on to CB just before he made Swordfish Trombones.

    M.... m....

    you can hear the influence

  22. M.... ....

    I really like this album, the only thing that bothers me is the vocals, I feel like they always sound the same in every song

  23. A.... A....

    Fuck I thought the grateful dead were loose

  24. Z.... J....

    That guitar part from 0:52 to 0:56 is so great. Wish it had repeated a time or two.

    Z.... J....

    Listen to the end of Alice In Blunderland for some repetitions: https://youtu.be/3i0wU9HsCE0?t=219

  25. a.... c....

    I saw him in concert 4 times and each one was a profound religious experience... he stopped and spoke to me on two occasions and he New where I was coming from even seemed to know what I was thinking The man was a troubled Genius and his lyrics no matter where they came from were never without meaning and were most usually as profound as the best LSD trip The one time that I tripped too much I was listening to Trout Mask and I heard him speaking and at the time He was recording that he had been doing a dance with the devil and the room filled with an eerie dark cloud that I will never forget

    a.... c....

    nobody gives a shit about your acid trips

    a.... c....

    sinan166 : ) : >) -what do U care about ?

    a.... c....

    Pena is astonighingly dark, sick actually, to me. Think adrenochrome.
    Really hope I'm wrong. Doubt it.

    a.... c....

    Sound Gardener adrenochrome isnt a real thing?

  26. a.... c....

    His songs are all about the eternal struggle of right and wrong about God "and God didn't even think to ask his preference" Just keep coming Jesus you're the best dressed , Give me that old time religion don't give me your affliction" ON AND ON AND ON Anyone who believes in GOD and THE devil will have questions will be critical will satirize will be deep thinkers as is was Don

  27. a.... c....

    Any one that can even begin to say that Don wasn't religious should listen to his lyrics again If that man wasn't religious then neither is anyone

    a.... c....

    I totally agree.... All these songs come from the heart! I always seem to interprate them with a religious theme

  28. p.... ....

    You were afraid you'd be the devils red wife. Brilliant!

  29. N.... 2....

    If u call this song avant-garde, keep in mind that this song is the most relatively coherent on the entire record.

    N.... 2....

    Neel 2000 Outside of Moonlight on Vermont and Veteran's Day Poppy

    N.... 2....

    Neel 2000 Ella Guru

    N.... 2....

    this is actually about in the middle. still great

    N.... 2....

    Aphex❤❤❤❤

    N.... 2....

    Still it's avant-garde

  30. B.... B....

    I'm only passingly familiar with the Beef, but the basic groove of this song reminds me a lot of Ice Cream for Crow. Or...the other way 'round I guess. Which is probably quite intentional. These guitar parts sound like a blast to play.

  31. a.... b....

    insane imagery though

  32. a.... b....

    one of my faves for sure?

  33. T.... B....

    Captain Beefheart had more emotional and wrath-like delivery in the studio recording of "My Human Gets Me Blues" over his live performance of the same song. Much more human and less static, in my opinion.

    T.... B....

    It's because he hated playing live, also the fact that he never really knew how the lyrics were supposed to fit over the songs.

  34. P.... M....

    my human gets me blues, fo' sho'

  35. D.... J....

    A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous...GOT ME!!!!

    D.... J....

    Yeah, but you've got to wait until I say, "Also, a tin teardrop."

  36. s.... ....

    You can bring yer dress ‘n yer favorite dog
    ‘n yer husbands cane
    ‘n yer old spotted hog

  37. E.... D....

    Delightfully Mad !!!

  38. A.... X....

    Give me lack of people.... :p

  39. D.... H....

    In John French's biography (drummer) he recounts a brutal beating the band forced on him led by Don Van Vliet (Beefheart). This was one of the only physical beatings the band had to do, and in fact, it lasted about 48 hours. At this point they had John in a corner and Don requested someone to start audio recording. The lyrics of this song are in a sense directed to John French much of the same way "Bills Corpse" is directed to Bill Hackleroad.
    (I got this info from around page 450 if anyone wants to check me)

    D.... H....

    +R Rod the lyrics as I understand them are making fun of Drumbo's strong religious faith and commitment, as well as accusing him of being poorly groomed (see pictures of him at the time) and feminine. The line about "old cracked black patent shoes" is possibly a reference to Drumbo's background in dance, which gave Don more ammunition RE femininity.

    D.... H....

    was Beefheart an evil maniac?

    D.... H....

    An ego maniac.

    D.... H....

    Yes, he was undeniably an evil maniac.

    D.... H....

    Are you guys saying there was a lot of physical abuse in this band?

  40. R.... R....

    your husband's Cain

    R.... R....

    AND YOUR FAVORITE DOAG

    R.... R....

    Good point.

  41. b.... d....

    This has always been one of my faves on TMR. It has such a strong structure and is so very slammin!

  42. 3.... ....

    "...through his perfumed bottle atomizer air bulb invention...."

  43. v.... ....

    This song really covers a lot of ground in under 3 minutes. One of my faves on trout Mask Replica

    v.... ....

    For real

    v.... ....

    virbius1 some of the weirdest licks and transitions I have ever heard like wtf

    v.... ....

    I think this is the Trout Mask Replicaest song on the album that also 'worked out' as a great composition. If someone wants to know what the album is about on only three minutes, this is the song to play. Frownland is too weird. Moonlight on Vermont isn't weird enough. Hair Pie is great, but it's instrumental. Orange Claw Hammer has great lyrics, but no music. This is the sweet spot.

    v.... ....

    @Daníel Sigurðsson but the jumble of styles and sounds is one of the best things about this album imo

    v.... ....

    @nakedfordinner I can't disagree with you

  44. L.... G....

    ....Stupid songs  --  but  wait   -  .ya  we'll  hmmmmmm ... yeah, okay  you win   - we'll call it music  (harumpffff cough cough ....[clears throat  ]  )

    L.... G....

    pleb pride worldwide

    L.... G....

    gotta stop spamming these videos

    L.... G....

    +Luke Gibson I am SO SORRY that the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT HAS FAILED YOU.

    L.... G....

    You're not a very clever troll, brah.

    There's plenty of music more "out there" than what you come across on Trout Mask Replica. And this song isn't even that difficult whether one likes it or not.

    L.... G....

    So is Tom Waits not "music," either? Because the Beefheart influence on the renowned singer/songwriter is undeniable by his own admission. Without this record, there is no Rain Dogs.

  45. k.... ....

    so fucking avant-garde

    k.... ....

    Jazz Blues and Psyche Rock thrown into a blender lol

    k.... ....

    Matt Top Like...Jazz, Blues, Funk all having an orgy with Psy Rock!

  46. K.... ....

    I think it's more about homosexuality within the society and the family.  God is the father and he doesn't think to ask sonny if he'd rather play with dolls.

    K.... ....

    I don't think anything on this record means anything, it's anti-art, dada.

    K.... ....

    Mal Cronin no true no true everything on this Album so very much meaning we just don’t know exactly what it means all the time but it’s one of those things the more you listen to it U start to see meaning in it then There is meaning within the meaning So U start all over and think Just maybe U have it

  47. M.... ....

    No matter how hilarious this song may be, it's also probably brilliant.

    My interpretation of the lyrics are that Van Vliet was satirizing the fact that society is sexist, in that it tends to automatically think of God as a male.

    M.... ....

    @MinamuTV I can see how you think that, but this song's lyrics are known to stem from Van Vliet criticizing drummer John French for being religious, Beefheart was not religious. He also was calling French feminine as an insult, John also practiced tap dancing, they were his "old black cracked patent shoes". An amazing song definitely and I'm sure he branched out into other topics with the lyrics, but this is known from different accounts to be the source of the words. I would also like to add that anyone who would argue that god is a woman is completely missing the whole idea of how ridiculous it is to think that a singular god would need to have gender. There are many things on this planet that are asexual, bisexuality evolved later.

    M.... ....

    +Blok Is Love Very interesting about the lyrics, thanks!

    M.... ....

    +Blok Is Love Did French continue to be religious? was he christian or something else? how did this alleged 48-hour assault end for him? I wanna know more!

    M.... ....

    +R Rod John French is still a Christian, he says his Faith is what got him through his Trout House ordeal. the 48 hour ordeal (which started with Don accusing him of sabotaging the album by not practicing the drum parts enough) ended with John "apologising" and offering to leave the band as to not continue to "sabotage" the music. Because John knew all the music and was Don's only hope of teaching the band, the ordeal ended and John was forbidden from leaving the house until the drum parts were perfected.

  48. a.... n....

    This song is horrifying (topic wise).

    a.... n....

    I think it's about how petty and shallow the Captain felt the Abrahamic God is. :But's it's alright, God dug your dance. And would have you, young, and in His...harem". It's a statement of the pains of being human/just existing as a human.

    a.... n....

    I always thought it was about a transgender person.

    a.... n....

    @Christa Cartwright I thought so too. "Cause everybody made him a boy and God didn't think to ask his preference..."

  49. j.... ....

    This song is nirvana

  50. E.... t....

    this song is hilarious

    E.... t....

    EB, the Composer & GFA If U mean that then U could be lost in the dark

    E.... t....

    It’s so very deep and I’m stuck down here trying to figure how I got here