My wife once asked me to write a song for her to sing so I obliged with this tune about a woman who wants to kill her husband. The theme came to me dressed in the stuff of dark, narrative, minor key country folk and I went willingly with it.
First nod is to Kris Kristofferson's silver tongued devil. The driving shuffle rhythm and form of this tune might come from something close to Nick Cave's murder ballads. Also, whistling... Shall we talk about whistling, and Ennio Moriconne? Another time perhaps.
Anyone who's listened to my ramblings on Mark McCreadie's radio show will know I'm a big fan of Glen Campbell and the songs he did with Jimmy Webb. While the internal monologue of the female protagonist unfurled in this song it struck me as very much the antithesis of the wistful and nostalgic meanderings in Campbell's 'The dreams of the everyday housewife'. I was amused to think this might be some sort of plot twist next step for the protagonist - a sequel, if you like. So, I gave it the working title above.
I've enjoyed playing this song solo for some time but as I'd written it for my wife to sing, the lyrics jarred a bit with all those first person female pronouns. Ben suggested I sing 'she' rather than 'I', so the pivot to third person happened. My wife has sung this a few times in her delicate Clackmannanshire accent, laced with a hint of her mother's Northern Irish lilt, so I hold the first person version in reserve for her.
I'd always meant to replace the working title of this song with a better one as the concept of 'housewife' seemed outdated and irrelevant (and it's not used in the actual song) but hey, some things just stick.
I've enjoyed playing this song solo for some time but as I'd written it for my wife to sing, the lyrics jarred a bit with all those first person female pronouns. Ben suggested I sing 'she' rather than 'I', so the pivot to third person happened. My wife has sung this a few times in her delicate Clackmannanshire accent, laced with a hint of her mother's Northern Irish lilt, so I hold the first person version in reserve for her.
I'd always meant to replace the working title of this song with a better one as the concept of 'housewife' seemed outdated and irrelevant (and it's not used in the actual song) but hey, some things just stick.
