FAWM: "Gloves"

Gloves

6 days ago by @berni1954

Skirmish: Gloves (@hmstreetteam)

Gloves

berni1954

00:00

Liner Notes

I was a bit late for this one. I saw the theme as I rushed to the supermarket in a break in the 100km+ winds we had had all day and last night.

While there, my brain was feverishly working out the basics of this story. I rushed home and dumped the groceries and skipped up to my "studio" (upstairs bedroom to my other half).

Usual procedure - rough draft of the lyrics first. Then attempts to come up with a tune on a concert ukulele. Then editing the lyrics and pruning them to fit the scansion of the song.

#fuc #poisonerchallenge

Lyrics

Intro: (Eb) (F) (Gm)

(Gm) It had been the perfect murder There would (F) be no DNA Those ex(Gm)pensive gloves were worth it, he thought As he (F) made his get away He could (Eb) prove he was in Leicester When she was (Gm) strangled by some thief Thirty (F) years of nagging was over (Eb) He felt (F) such a re(Gm)lief

(Gm) She'd given him some whisky for Christmas It was (F) time to celebrate A (Gm) generous measure of the tipple Went (F) down smooth, it was great But in the (Eb) night the aching hit him He felt (Gm) feverish and weak His (F) throat constricted his breathing Till at (Eb) last he (F) couldn't (Gm) speak

The (Gm) Acacia cleaning staff found him Half-(F)on-half off his bed At (Gm) least there was no blood this time But their (F) guest was definitely dead The for(Eb)ensics found plastic gloves At the (Gm) bottom of the bathroom bin He'd for(F)gotten to empty the rubbish To the (Eb) lab they were (F) taken (Gm) in

(Gm) The detectives made the connection To a (F) break-in in Stoke-on-Trent The (Gm) plastic gloves tied him to it An (F) outcome he'd tried to prevent It was (Eb) in all the papers next morning But (Gm) interest soon would drop I picked (F) those expensive gloves up cheap When they (Eb) landed in a (F) charity (Gm) shop

Comments

@ambroise 1d

Splendid murder ballad. Love the finger picking style and hammer and pull-offs! Very in the tradition... Splendid idea for the glove skirmish! I love how it introducts the story and concludes it. I also dig the symetry of the story. Is there an idiomatic expression in english as well that uses gloves as metaphor for turning somthing the other way around? If not, well your story have a special flavor for french speakers.

@berni1954 21h

You are right Ambrose... When I remember what it is,I will tell you. De quell part du France venez vous?

@ambroise 13h

No hurries. I used this metaphor in my take on the glove skirmish. It was just surprising that it could be seen in your song too! I live in Poitiers. I think you told me you lived in Catalonia, possibly Barcelona?

@kahlo2013 6d

What a wonderfully developed murder ballad in the aisles of a supermarket no less! Great creative story telling! I love the details like the name of the cleaning company and the location… and great setting as that is where the university where Alec Jeffries used DNA RFLP testing for the first time to prove a person innocent and then the identify the murdered and rapist of the two girls killed in the region.

@berni1954 5d

Wow! I never knew that. Was that Leicester UK?

@coolparadisoMod 6d

Oh yeh a good ol MB. what a well done circular story!

@drumblanket 6d

Its like a cross between a bards tale and 1940s country western music. Its awesome!

@berni1954 6d

Ah gee shucks. Thanks!

@y6nh 6d

Aah, a good old murder ballad. I'm not clear whether each verse is a separate murder, or if it's all connected, but the lyrics are fun. Excellent work for an hour.

@berni1954 6d

He murdered her. But she had planned to murder him with poisoned whisky. But he kept it to celebrate her murder. Karma is a bitch! Except my Carme, she's lovely 😉

@marthie 6d

Wow! How neat you added the chords. That is A plus for effort! Loooove the short form detective story! This is perfect as a movie all in one. Love the surprise ending. Fav line: but the guest was definitely dead! Lol

@berni1954 6d

I always take time to add the chords - it's faster than having to learn the song, that's for sure. I did try a few times to only put the chords in the first verse (and chorus - if there is one), but glancing up at the first verse to remember which chords come next while reading off the next verse's lyrics led to too many takes.

@hmstreetteam 6d

That’s quite a story for a pair of gloves. I like the lesson in the way that the murderers did everything perfectly according to plan, yet still reached a bad outcome. A song tgat listeners will remember.