James McMurtry — Red Dress
Album: James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards - Live In Aught ThreeAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 679
Length: 4:53
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Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No on e there to tell us no
This time I'm gonna kill that bastard
This time I'm not gonna miss this time I'm not gonna miss
This time there ain't no doubt about it
Let me be quite clear on this
Out the back and down the alley
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still
Where'd you get that red dress
I don't know what you got going on
But You know I never seen you with that red dress on
Tell me where'd you get that red dress
Watching out the kitchen window
Right here in this old brown chair
Stack the empties on the table
Toss 'em down the basement stairs
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No on e there to tell us no
This time I'm gonna kill that bastard
This time I'm not gonna miss this time I'm not gonna miss
This time there ain't no doubt about it
Let me be quite clear on this
Out the back and down the alley
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still
Where'd you get that red dress
I don't know what you got going on
But You know I never seen you with that red dress on
Tell me where'd you get that red dress
Watching out the kitchen window
Right here in this old brown chair
Stack the empties on the table
Toss 'em down the basement stairs
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
Comments (86)add comment
jelgator wrote:
OK Karen.
Brutal.
c.
OK Karen.
c.
Great example of JM et al music. Changed from a 7 to 8. As usual the audio quality on RP is second to none.
alexandersmcmillan wrote:
America sets the bar lower every day - welcome to the sewer
When you consider what heights have been achieved in expressing the human condition - whether it be through literature, song, painting, whatever - the glorification of the drunken, smoking, womanizing barroom dude is as worn out as his boot heels surely are. I can't imagine the bar being set much lower, in fact. Can we once and for all do away with this crap and set our sights a little higher than getting wasted?
America sets the bar lower every day - welcome to the sewer
alexandersmcmillan wrote:
OK Karen.
When you consider what heights have been achieved in expressing the human condition - whether it be through literature, song, painting, whatever - the glorification of the drunken, smoking, womanizing barroom dude is as worn out as his boot heels surely are. I can't imagine the bar being set much lower, in fact. Can we once and for all do away with this crap and set our sights a little higher than getting wasted?
OK Karen.
When you consider what heights have been achieved in expressing the human condition - whether it be through literature, song, painting, whatever - the glorification of the drunken, smoking, womanizing barroom dude is as worn out as his boot heels surely are. I can't imagine the bar being set much lower, in fact. Can we once and for all do away with this crap and set our sights a little higher than getting wasted?
idiot_wind wrote:
Looks like Lennon and sounds like Lou Reed.
Confusing
Saw him last week. He's a pretty good performer and guitar player. Always nice to hear some "piss and vinegar" music from a singer song writer. Need more of this.
FYI: He kind of looks like John Lennon.
FYI: He kind of looks like John Lennon.
Looks like Lennon and sounds like Lou Reed.
Confusing
Love the guy. Choctaw bingo and We can't make it here anymore are great stories. And Lost in the backyard and lots of others. Get with it people
More McMurtry, please. 
This band needs a singer.
Ghiaap wrote:
not even close
Lou Reed ripoff?
not even close
handyrae wrote:
yup like ya'self
Dude, if she hasn't answered your question by the second time you've asked it, you should really just shut up.
yup like ya'self
Dude, if she hasn't answered your question by the second time you've asked it, you should really just shut up.
dplant wrote:
The "stolen" reference seems to be a fly on your comment. Originality in art is another topic but I would certainly consider this line more of a nod, rather than a rip off. This is of course because I understand that James ( son of Larry McMurtry) is well read, has no poverty of life experience and is a songwriter who pays diligent attention to nuances that pass many over. The opposite of lazy in my book. Sarcasm, and dry wit mixed with sincerity and a unique storytelling ability. I'll agree that this is not the best recording of his best song, so lets hear some more, eh Bill?
OK. If I never hear that again it will be too soon. And not too sure if it is offensive or just just lazy. The stolen Churchill quote is really the fly on this pile.
The "stolen" reference seems to be a fly on your comment. Originality in art is another topic but I would certainly consider this line more of a nod, rather than a rip off. This is of course because I understand that James ( son of Larry McMurtry) is well read, has no poverty of life experience and is a songwriter who pays diligent attention to nuances that pass many over. The opposite of lazy in my book. Sarcasm, and dry wit mixed with sincerity and a unique storytelling ability. I'll agree that this is not the best recording of his best song, so lets hear some more, eh Bill?
Jeeze, a lot of people down on this song. It's a live gig, and please note the name of the band? They are being gritty, and that guitar is hot.
Cool, I like this, 7.
I was reading the comments about Mcmutry's music. He sings about bar flies and the wrong side of town, tough people and tough circumstances he is definitely not a unicorns and butterflies type singer.
Lou Reed ripoff?
At K-mart.
Saw him last week. He's a pretty good performer and guitar player. Always nice to hear some "piss and vinegar" music from a singer song writer. Need more of this.
FYI: He kind of looks like John Lennon.
FYI: He kind of looks like John Lennon.
Dirge.
skipping....
slikr wrote:
HA! I read your comment when this song first came on and thought, "Wow! I might have stumbled on to a good song here based on this comment alone!" and then I saw the cumulative score was 5.7 I still like the song OK, but I prefer Choctaw Bingo.
'bumping it up a notch, this song gets better every time I hear it!
HA! I read your comment when this song first came on and thought, "Wow! I might have stumbled on to a good song here based on this comment alone!" and then I saw the cumulative score was 5.7 I still like the song OK, but I prefer Choctaw Bingo.
'bumping it up a notch, this song gets better every time I hear it!
Hey look, we're still listening to this asshole.
FlatCat wrote:
It's more of a quotation than a "rip-off". Millions of people know the source of that quote.
"Tomorrow I'll be sober and you'll still be ugly" is a ripoff from Winston Churchill.
It's more of a quotation than a "rip-off". Millions of people know the source of that quote.
maxjboxer wrote:
Get kind of sick of everyone being offended by everything.
Except of course if your a Misandrist. That's okay.
Toughen up people.
Great comment.
Though I can see how someone unfamiliar with McMurtry could hear this and jump to some conclusions about the man. I'm familiar with most all of his work, and of the opinion that he his one of the most insightful, witty and unapologetically honest songwriters I've heard. He writes about some tough things and I can see how some people would rather not think about them. It's not easy listening, feel good music. There's a truth in his art though that makes me feel more alive. That's why I love him. It's something real in a world that is full of fakers and phoneys.
Get kind of sick of everyone being offended by everything.
Except of course if your a Misandrist. That's okay.
Toughen up people.
Great comment.
Though I can see how someone unfamiliar with McMurtry could hear this and jump to some conclusions about the man. I'm familiar with most all of his work, and of the opinion that he his one of the most insightful, witty and unapologetically honest songwriters I've heard. He writes about some tough things and I can see how some people would rather not think about them. It's not easy listening, feel good music. There's a truth in his art though that makes me feel more alive. That's why I love him. It's something real in a world that is full of fakers and phoneys.
One of those rare songs that makes me turn off Radio Paradise. :^(
Totally non-PC, but I kinda liked this. Hadn't heard it before.
I can relate.
Rather; a 'me' from a few lifetimes ago can relate...
Rather; a 'me' from a few lifetimes ago can relate...
Shotoverplain wrote:
A really bad version of Lou Reed.
Rubbish..
A really bad version of Lou Reed.
Rubbish..
Getting a lot of dates with that line I bet
This is just a meaner version of "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town."
Nice guitar sound, but the voice is average and the lyrics... I'm not gonna go into the misogynist-gate going on on this page, but still... His lyrics are bad, in the first place, and not pleasant to hear (for me at least).
Go home James, you're drunk.
Go home James, you're drunk.
What a stupid whining song
never liked this kind of singing
rKokon wrote:
Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
Get kind of sick of everyone being offended by everything.
Except of course if your a Misandrist. That's okay.
Toughen up people.
Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
Get kind of sick of everyone being offended by everything.
Except of course if your a Misandrist. That's okay.
Toughen up people.
stegokitty wrote:
Agreed. It sounds like a million other songs. Utterly lackluster.
Yes, for example it sounds just like the preceding 3 songs by Kathleen Edwards, Rolling Stones, & Beck.
Agreed. It sounds like a million other songs. Utterly lackluster.
Yes, for example it sounds just like the preceding 3 songs by Kathleen Edwards, Rolling Stones, & Beck.
shakylegs wrote:
Agreed. It sounds like a million other songs. Utterly lackluster.
Awful. Just. Fucking. Awful.
Agreed. It sounds like a million other songs. Utterly lackluster.
Awful. Just. Fucking. Awful.
rKokon wrote:
You might be overthinking it a bit.
Lyrics to this nicely formatted at a Web site you can connect to from "Lyrics" above: Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
This time I'm gonna kill that bastard
This time I'm not gonna miss~~this time I'm not gonna miss This time there ain't no doubt about it
Let me be quite clear on this
Out the back and down the alley
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still
Where'd you get that red dress I don't know what you got going on
But you know I never seen you with that red dress on
Tell me where'd you get that red dress
Watching out the kitchen window
Right here in this old brown chair
Stack the empties on the table
Toss 'em down the basement stairs Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
This time I'm gonna kill that bastard
This time I'm not gonna miss~~this time I'm not gonna miss This time there ain't no doubt about it
Let me be quite clear on this
Out the back and down the alley
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still
Where'd you get that red dress I don't know what you got going on
But you know I never seen you with that red dress on
Tell me where'd you get that red dress
Watching out the kitchen window
Right here in this old brown chair
Stack the empties on the table
Toss 'em down the basement stairs Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
You might be overthinking it a bit.
cool guitar sound!!!
"Tomorrow I'll be sober and you'll still be ugly" is a ripoff from Winston Churchill.
rKokon wrote:
Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
"But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—More like the narrator is drunk, has a hardon inspired by how she looks in the red dress, and wants to get laid. He doesn't like the woman but thinks that she's there for the same thing, like they did in the past:
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like
Mysogynistic? Yeah. Violent? No. He's lookin' to scratch an itch.
Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
"But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"—More like the narrator is drunk, has a hardon inspired by how she looks in the red dress, and wants to get laid. He doesn't like the woman but thinks that she's there for the same thing, like they did in the past:
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like
Mysogynistic? Yeah. Violent? No. He's lookin' to scratch an itch.
Nasty bit of courtship banter...I think it's kind of funny.
Lyrics to this nicely formatted at a Web site you can connect to from "Lyrics" above:
Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
This time I'm gonna kill that bastard
This time I'm not gonna miss~~this time I'm not gonna miss
This time there ain't no doubt about it
Let me be quite clear on this
Out the back and down the alley
Gone to get your bucket spiked
Come back when you think you need me
Come back any time you like
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still
Where'd you get that red dress
I don't know what you got going on
But you know I never seen you with that red dress on
Tell me where'd you get that red dress
Watching out the kitchen window
Right here in this old brown chair
Stack the empties on the table
Toss 'em down the basement stairs
Where'd you get that red dress
Where'd you get that red dress
Remember when we'd get together
Burn the candle don't you know
Smoke and drink and live forever
No one there to tell us no
Comment on comment on my comment: To call a woman ugly whom the singer is also menacing with possible physical aggression is what I meant by "misogynistic."
This phrase smacks of the control freak, too, and it entails a hinted threat: "But you know I never seen you with that red dress on"--translation: "I will punish you for having any independence or being interested in someone else besides me." If he just called her ugly and left her alone and refrained from commenting on a common past that she might want to forget, she wouldn't be in danger.
My definition of misogynism is speech and actions that treat women as objects, as less than human, as less worthy of respect than men, as the just objects of men's will and ill treatment.
Dorothy Parker may have been acerbic, but the man whom the quip is attributed too went beyond the acrid to the insulting.
Have I made my viewpoint clear enough?
I recently discovered this guy's music. Could you play his version of 'Out Here in the Middle' or 'We Can't Make it Here anymore'?
His songs really tells it like it is.
"Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly
Tell you one thing yes I will
Tomorrow morning I'll be sober
You'll be just as ugly still "
wasn't that on a t-shirt?
sold right along side the "I may be fat, but you're ugly and i can go on a diet" shirt sold at most fine flea market outlets in the southern united states circa 1980.
perfect song to follow Lucinda Williams' Joy....
they are both terrible...
IMHO, of course!
Saw James and the Bastards on Saturday night. Outstanding show at the Palms Playhouse and when they did this song I remember thinking "Damn, I love this song!".
Question: So calling a woman ugly now means that you're a misogynist? PC-speak at it's finest!
Saw James McMurtry last week here in SLO, he put on a great show. Love his lyrics, nice and cynical.
This guy is no Winston Churchill, but he does sort of quote him. Overall, he'll be sober in the morning, but his lyrics will still stink.
catmaven wrote:
Like the music and instrumentation (I would call it good country blues) . . . but I do abhor the misogynistic lyrics, which seem menacing. I guess that means this piece is a success.
Amen to that, in many ways the song rocks and is clever, but that type of sentiment deserves a requiem not a eulogy...
I'm a sucker for sludge rock.
Brad_Eleven wrote:
I'm sorry, but "is" is a superstition. There is no "is". . . .
"That all depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."
--William Jefferson Clinton, 1998
sterson wrote:
i'm sorry, but this song sucks.
I'm sorry, but "is" is a superstition. There is no "is". There are your interpretations of reality, which are expressed in language as things that exist--but they really don't exist.
The trap here is that if you see something and think, "That sucks," then later you're likely to forget that you're the one who said it (or agreed with it) and wonder why it has to suck.
Try "I don't like this song." That way, you can take personal responsibility for your opinions.
Like the music and instrumentation (I would call it good country blues) . . . but I do abhor the misogynistic lyrics, which seem menacing. I guess that means this piece is a success.
Sounds like someone knocked over the pyramid of beer cans
I don't like this song... the lyrics are kinda sicko... ick! 
nuggler wrote:
Who'd ever have thought that a Winston Churchill quote would make it into a hick blues tune? Who'da THUNK it.....?
Gets a +1 on the rating for the Churchill quote.
willie, if youre going to play country, can this crap give us some waylon jennings or something.
Who'd ever have thought that a Winston Churchill quote would make it into a hick blues tune? Who'da THUNK it.....?
i'm sorry, but this song sucks.
I saw McMurtry do this song in Saratoga a few weeks ago. He's an impressive performer. The band was a trio; him plus bass and drums. He did a nice job doing rhythm and lead together. The songs were relentlessly downtempo though. We really wanted him to turn the rock-out knob up. He made it to 7 for Choctaw Bingo and a couple others, but this speed seemed to be his comfort zone.
God, I am glad I don't have a red dress.
Ass kicker live CD.
A Roy Buchanan clone that didn't quite turn out right...
Bill Clinton's version is very much the same...'cept it was a blue dress.
/NOT startin' a political flamewar. Just funnin'. Please, have a cigar and relax.
porcupinemeat wrote:
Lifted from Winston Churchill:
Woman: "Sir, you are drunk; very, very drunk."
Churchill: "Madame, you are ugly; very, very ugly. I shall be sober in the morning."
not quite
WC: And you madam, are very ugly. In the morning, however, I will be sober whereas you will still be ugly
Leslie wrote:
Perfect song to follow Lucinda Williams' "Joy."
Way to go Bill 
Exactly what I was thinking. Perfect bookends.
"where'd you get that red dress..."
is he shopping for a red dress for himself, or what?
big_sb wrote:
Would like to see a stripper dance to this
Or just about anything else. Just about.
Yes....never heard of him....an ear opener
Sings better than his dad writes!
Hooray! Something besides "Choctaw Bingo". Love McMurtry!
I'm scared.
Would like to see a stripper dance to this
Perfect song to follow Lucinda Williams' "Joy."
Way to go Bill
Godlike
A lyrical genius!!! even if borrowed,
"its all been said before" I think thats been said beforelowelltr wrote:
"Yes, I'm drunk, but, damn, you're ugly" ! 
Lifted from Winston Churchill:
Woman: "Sir, you are drunk; very, very drunk."
Churchill: "Madame, you are ugly; very, very ugly. I shall be sober in the morning."
"Yes, I'm drunk, but, damn, you're ugly" !
Bumper sticker lyrics. Feh.
OOH! Another one from the live album. Nice.
*note to self: upload Lights of Cheyenne*
c.