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Friday, May 6, 2011

He Thought He'd Die Laughing (Murder MP3)



Bobby Helms - He Thought He'd Die Laughing (2:34)

Without a doubt, it's a hell of a long way from Jingle Bell rock to a cold-blooded murder song like He Thought He'd Die Laughing. Helms recorded this one in 1967 for the Little Darlin' label in Nashville, propelled by Lloyd Green's jarring steel guitar work. It rose to #46 on the Billboard Country charts before it ran out of steam.

I have a question, though. Can someone with better ears than mine tell me what the song's second line is? Despite having heard this tune about 200 times, I still have no idea what Helms sings immediately after "His mind was numbed with alcohol."

4 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's how I hear it...

His mind was numbed by alcoholic beverages,
And his courage, twice what it should be,
But he just happened to pick the wrong old boy to brag to:
He didn't know the home he was wrecking belonged to me.
Well he bought a round and related all his good times
With my wife and all the places where they hid.
But when he bragged about his plan to take my children,
He said he thought he'd die laughing, and he did.

The sudden shock of realization when I told him who I was
Brought a sobering look of fear into his eyes.
I struck so quick that he had no indication.
He was tried, convicted, sentenced by my own hand.
He wasn't the only guilty party, not by a long shot.
I remember now the countless times when she left the kids.
But he was one man who really had the last laugh on me.
He said he thought he'd die laughing, and he did.

Good one!

Greg G said...

> His mind was numbed by alcoholic beverages

Mystery solved.

For some reason, I had it in my mind that the first line ended with "alcohol" rather than "alcoholic beverages" so it's now clear that I was seriously mistaken. Having misheard the line to begin with, no wonder I couldn't make any sense of what I thought I was hearing.

Greg G said...

Oh, yeah....thanks!

Timmy said...

The determined binge of analyzation brings out the harshest in some...

add