I Got It Bad
Adam Rafferty Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Though folks with good intentions
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him

Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good

My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good

But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some

He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good




Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good

Overall Meaning

In Adam Rafferty's "I Got It Bad," the singer expresses how much she loves a man who doesn't treat her the way she deserves, and how she can't live without him despite her friends telling her to move on. The lyrics depict a woman who is constantly pining for a man who does not reciprocate her love and leaves her feeling heartbroken. The line "though folks with good intentions tell me to save my tears" suggests that the singer has been told before to stop crying for a man who doesn't deserve her affection.


The lines "never treats me sweet and gentle, the way he should" and "he don't love me like I love him, the way he should" emphasize how the man is not fulfilling his role in the relationship. However, the singer admits that she is sentimental and can't help feeling the way she does. The line "my poor heart is so sentimental, not made of wood" shows how vulnerable she is to her emotions and how difficult it is for her to move on.


The last verse speaks to the ups and downs of their relationship. The singer and her man have moments of joy and prayer but also moments of sin, suggesting that their relationship may be unstable. However, despite all of this, the singer still loves this man deeply and can't help the way she feels. The song overall portrays the singer's pain and heartache, while also highlighting the complicated nature of relationships.


Line by Line Meaning

Though folks with good intentions Tell me to save my tears Well I'm so mad about him I can't live without him
Despite well-meaning advice to move on, I am deeply in love and cannot imagine life without him


Never treats me sweet and gentle The way he should I've got it bad And that ain't good
He does not treat me with the kindness and tenderness I deserve, and it pains me deeply


My poor heart is so sentimental Not made of wood I've got it so bad And that ain't good
My heart is easily moved and deeply affected by my emotions, and my love for him is all-encompassing


But when the fish are jumpin' And Friday rolls around My man an' I, we gin some We pray some, and sin some
Despite our troubles, we find solace and joy in each other's company when we spend time together


He don't love me like I love him The way he should I've got it bad And that ain't good
It pains me that he does not love me in the same way that I love him, and it makes me feel helpless and unhappy


Yes I've got it bad And that ain't good
Overall, my love for him is consuming and overwhelming, and it causes me a great deal of pain and sadness




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@adamrafferty

Hey Peter! I have a video called "My Weird Technique" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RekQZwb824 where I explain it a bit.

here is a blog post I wrote about it: https://www.adamrafferty.com/2012/03/19/guitar-right-hand-technique-nails-vs-flesh/

Here goes - why I use no nails:

1) Tone - on an amplified steel string coming through a PA I feel nails would be too sharp / thin.

2) Time - I can place the notes better rhythmically even though they are less "clear"

3) Maintenance - I had nails, and boy I don't miss em. I don't want a moving target, or a nail breaking before a gig. Oh, and touring? Always getting nails done or gluing them? No thanks.

2 of my fave players - Wes Montgomery and Tommy Emmanuel have made a ton of music no nails - and in Wes' case, no pick.

In the end, I like it better and I was willing to forgo what nails could do so that I could embrace everything else.

Tooka few years to get used to it 🙂
I hope this helps.



@richardturbine1769

Thanks Adam. By chance, I noticed the other day that a well-known guitar You Tuber was picking with very hooked fingers. It looked so weird that I tried to do just out of curiosity and I couldn't. It was dead awkward. I then noticed that you are actively bending the second joint of your fingers to get most of the movement, whereas I don't, I use 75% bottom joint with the fingers just slightly bent, as do many classical players, so I tried you method and found it did not work for me. I can do it, but only slowly, as it is not natural or comfortable.
I can do a Pami tremolo at ca. 700 notes per minute using my method (some good classical players can get over a 1000), but struggle to do 350 with yours. We are all different, I guess.

An exercise I do now - forget where I got it from - involves playing an Em natural scale up and down on bass strings with thumb, while adding picking patterns thus

pami
pima
pimami
paim
piam
piamia
etc.

The first is easy, the second not quite so, in fact it is quite a bit harder, furthermore one finds that unless you can do a pattern in your sleep and even if you can do it fairly well with thumb ascending, it is likely to fall apart on the descent for some reason unless you are really comfortable.

I have been doing these exercises for about 3 months and they have improved my picking agility considerably. I do them all everyday, necessarily, one does not have to as doing the first three gets one a long way.



@adamrafferty

RIchard I love your replies! Great insights.

Let's break something down...what is your measuring stick? This comes up often with classical players. Sounds like you are striving for clarity, speed and a good tremolo.

I love classical and spent many hours on RECUERDOS myself in my teens, as well as countless flatpicking excercises. So I know where you are coming from.

In my current fingerstyle concept, have abandoned speed as a measuring stick - for my repertroire it is not needed... so right there we will have different preferences and aims.

When I did play fast, of course one needs a stiffer technique so one can get in and out of the note fast.

The techniuqe I am doing here is heavily influenced my classical, but more along the lines of when great players to ths big buttery rest strokes, and now I am trying to emulate that as a free stroke.

I'm much more along the lines of a jazzy electric bass than "guitar" technique wise.

Off to read your other comments - let's keep the dialogue going!



All comments from YouTube:

@diegoruizguitar

Great lesson Adam, i still remember that day in early 2009 when i discovered Tommy Emmanuel videos and later yours: great players playing great music without nails solo acoustic fingerstyle guitar, inspired me a lot

@adamrafferty

Thank you Diego!

@billgartner9156

Thanks Adam, great message. I took my first lesson with a classically trained fingerstyle instructor 2 years ago. I came to the lesson with a song I prepared, all worried about my chord formations and switching.. he watched me play and shocked me by saying "all of your problems are in your right hand"... and proceeded to explain exactly what you said... hard habit to break but really critical.

@adamrafferty

Best advice I ever heard - make changes in baby steps. Lean into suggestions from a teacher. Big changes usually result in an imbalance. Go for YOUR version of groove, tone and comfort.

@cooghoublaga7555

All good sound advice, i had a few years classical training and i'm very thankful for it.

@Youtubemademeaddahandle

I want to add that I had just searched many fingerstyle versions of "Isn't She Lovely" and your playing was clearly the most musical and tonally pleasing. I expect to be hear a while if just for the song selections which are also clearly more to my liking than other channels.

@adamrafferty

Thank You so much!!!

@EmilioLanzaMusic

Amazing lesson as usual! Thank you Adam!

@CanukSpyder

Thanks Adam. I just took a look and I am most of the way to this. The "keeping the fingers airborne" is a great tip. I still have nails on that hand but have been gradually making them shorter and shorter which I am liking more all the time. The next thing is losing the thumb pick.... cheers mate!!

@adamrafferty

Thumbpick and nails are all fine! As long as you like your tone. The follow through is something classical players do with nails also. Critical is that you don't hook and pull :-)

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