Ball And Chain
Big Mama Mae Thornton Lyrics


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S-sitting down by my window,
Oh, looking at the rain.
S-sitting down by my window now now,
All around I felt it,
All I could see was the rain.
Something grabbed a hold of me, honey,
Felt to me honey like, lord, a ball and chain.
Yeah! hey! you know what I mean,
But its way too heavy for you,
You cant hold it tomorrow.

Say, whoa, whoa, honey, it cant be
Just because I got to want your love
Please please please please, whoa please, please.
Whoa, honey it cant be
Just because I got to need you daddy.
Please don't you let me down, no, please, lord!
Here you gone today, but I wanted to love you,
I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die,
Till the day, till the day,
Yeah! hey! hey! all right!

Say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
Not anything I ever wanted from you daddy
Tell me now, now, now, now, oh, tell me now, yeah.
I say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah yeah, hey!
And I want someone that could tell me, tell me why
Just because I got to want your love
Honey, just because I got to need, need, need your love
I said I don't understand, honey, but I wanna chance to try
Try, try, try, try try try try
Honey when everybody in the world wants the same damn thing
When everybody in the world will need the same lonely thing
When I wanna work for your love, daddy.
When I wanna try for your love, daddy.

I don't understand how come you're gone, man. I don't understand why half the
World is still crying, man, when the other half of the world is still
Crying too, man, I cant get it together. I
If you got a cat for one day, man I mean, if you, say, say, if you want a
Cat for 365 days, right you ain't got him for 365 days, you got him for one
Day, man. well I tell you that one da
N, better be your life, man. because, you know, you can say, oh man, you
Can cry about the other 364, man, but you're gonna lose that one day, man,
And that's all you've got. you gotta call that man.
That's what it is, man. if you got it today you don't want it
Tomorrow, man, cause you don't need it, cause as a matter of fact, as we
Discovered in the train, tomorrow never happens, m
Ts all the same fucking day, man.

So you gotta, when you wanna hold a sigh,
You gotta hold him like its the last minute in your life, baby.
You gotta hold, whoa, whoa, hold him
'Cause someday some weights gonna come on your shoulders, babe,
Its gonna feel too heavy, its gonna weigh on you,




Its gonna feel just like a ball, ball, ball, oh daddy,
And a chain.

Overall Meaning

In "Ball 'N' Chain," Big Mama Thornton sings about feeling trapped and weighed down by love. She begins the song by sitting by her window, looking at the rain, which could symbolize the sadness and pain she feels. She feels something grab a hold of her, which she compares to a ball and chain, making it difficult to move on from the one she loves. She pleads with him not to let her down and to understand her desire for his love, even though she doesn't fully comprehend why she feels this way.


The second half of the song includes a spoken-word section where Big Mama Thornton reflects on the fleeting nature of life and love, emphasizing the importance of cherishing the moments we have. She concludes that holding onto someone you love is vital, regardless of the potential difficulties and pain that may come with it.


Line by Line Meaning

S-sitting down by my window,
I was sitting next to my window


Oh, looking at the rain.
And observing the rain


All around I felt it,
The feeling was coming from all corners


All I could see was the rain.
My vision was blurred by the rain


Something grabbed a hold of me, honey,
Suddenly I was overwhelmed by something


Felt to me honey like, lord, a ball and chain.
It's like being trapped with an emotional burden


Yeah! hey! you know what I mean,
You understand what I'm saying


But its way too heavy for you,
It's too challenging for you


You cant hold it tomorrow.
It's not something that you can endure for an extended duration


Say, whoa, whoa, honey, it can't be
Hey, I disagree that this is happening


Just because I got to want your love
It can't be happening because I want your love


Please please please please, whoa please, please.
I'm really begging you not to do this to me


Here you gone today, but I wanted to love you,
You're gone now, but I desired to love you


I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die,
I wanted to embrace you for the rest of my life


Say, whoa, whoa, honey this cant be
This cannot happen


No, no, no, no, no, no, no, yeah yeah, hey!
I'm entirely against it


I said I don't understand, honey, but I wanna chance to try
I'm confused, but I'm willing to give it a shot


Honey when everybody in the world wants the same damn thing
Everyone in the world desires the same thing


When I wanna work for your love, daddy.
I want to earn your affection


I don't understand how come you're gone, man.
I don't know why you left


I don't understand why half the world is still crying, man, when the other half of the world is still Crying too, man, I can't get it together.
I don't grasp why some people are still unhappy when others are too, and it's affecting me negatively


If you got a cat for one day, man I mean, if you, say, say, if you want a Cat for 365 days, right you ain't got him for 365 days, you got him for one Day, man.
If you owned a cat for one day or 365, it would only be with you for a limited time


You gotta hold, whoa, whoa, hold him
You must cherish it


Someday some weights gonna come on your shoulders, babe, Its gonna feel too heavy, its gonna weigh on you, Its gonna feel just like a ball, ball, ball, oh daddy, And a chain.
There will come a time when you'll be burdened, and it will be overwhelming




Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC
Written by: WILLIE MAE THORNTON

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

TheFoolinthe rainn

@Pulsonar yep. That's what I'm trying to get across. Why you're not hearing Mama Thornton's original recording of this in the USA

And that's why singers like Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, The Stones, even Willie Nelson were important in bringing this music to the general public

If you go to Europe, you can still see & hear their influence. That's where the music is now. Not North America

One of my favorite videos and footage of Janis is when she's in Frankfurt, those kids didn't know how to dance - very depressed culture. Germany 25 years after world war II ended

She brings them up on stage and shows them how it's done. And there's more footage of his Frankfurt concert

-enjoy!

https://youtu.be/I2x1yo8Ztdw?feature=shared



johnny zell

Sitting down by my window
Honey, looking out at the rain
Sitting down by my window, looking out at the rain
All around that I felt it
All I can see was the rain
Something grabbed a hold of me
Feel to me, oh, like a ball and chain
Hey, you know what I mean that's exactly what it felt like
But that's way too heavy for you, you can't hold them all
And I say, oh, whoa, whoa, oh, that cannot be
Just because I got oh, your love, please
Why does every
Oh, this can't be just because I got to need you, daddy
Please don't you knock it down now, please
Here you've gone today
What I wanted to love you and I wanted to hold you, yeah, till the day I die
Yes, I did, yes, I did, yeah, hey, hey, alright
Say, whoa, whoa, whoa, honey
This can't be anything I've ever wanted from your daddy tell me now
Oh, tell me, baby
Oh, say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, honey
This can't be, no, no, no, no, no
Yeah, yeah
I hope there's someone out there who could tell me
Tell me why just because I got to want your love
Honey, just because I got to need, need, need, need your love
I said I understand
Honey, what I'm wanna trying to say hi
Trying, try, try, try, try, try, try
Honey, everybody in the world, also same, baby
When everybody in the world what needs, seem lonely
What I wanted work for your love, daddy
What I wanted trust your love, daddy
I din't understand how come you're gone
I don't understand why half the world is still crying, man
And the other half of the world is still crying too, man
I can't get it together
I mean if you go to ? Oneday, man
I mean, so baby, you want ? Three and sixty five days, right
You ain't gonna within sixty five days, you gonna for one day, man
I tell you, that one day, man, better be your life, man
Because you know, you can stay oh man, you can cry about the other three and sixty four, man I said whoa, whoa, whoa
But you gonna lose that one day, man
That's all you got, you got to call it love, man
That's what it is, man
If you got today, you don't worry about tomorrow, man
Because you don't need it
Because the matter of the fact, as we discovered tat's rain, tomorrow never happens, man
It's all the same fucking day, man
So you gotta when you want to hold someone
You gotta hold them like it's the last minutes of your life
You gotta hold, hold, hold and I say, oh, whoa, whoa, now babe, tell me why
Hold, baby, 'cause some come on your shoulder, baby
It's gonna feel too heavy, it's gonna weigh on you why does every thing, every thing
It's gonna feel just like a ball
Oh, daddy and a chain



David Pahlka

This is a little different than the way Janis does it, but both are good, well, better than good.
With Big Mama's version, it's like she's sitting around moping watching the rain on her window by herself.
With Janis' version she's moping around but asking all her friends why love is like a "Ball and Chain".
With great artists both made it work despite the differences.
Big Mama was cheated by that run of the mill record company who didn't release it. She had no
bitterness that Janis made it popular because Janis offered her something for it and Big Mama refused.
How Janis became familiar with the song, no one knows. Maybe Janis heard Big Mama sing it live.
All I know is before Janis Joplin and Big Brother recorded their first album, everyone at the concerts
kept on yelling for "Ball and Chain", which was the last song of the gig. I don't think the bands rehearsed
before they came on and twice I was disappointed at a live performance. One I guess was because Janis
didn't have the right emotion that night and the other was because the sound system at the ant-war protest
was bad. At Monterey Pop, even David Crosby remarked how good it was. In their first record, it was not as
good as seeing her live although I think the song took up one whole side of the album..
Hearing Big Mama sing, she would have been well worth watching by herself. The background band are
good, better than Sam Andrews of Big Brother.



All comments from YouTube:

Pulsonar

Janis made her name with a stunning performance of this song at Monterey 1967. I hear Big Mama singing this for the first time and it’s like Ive been born again. I’m left wondering how on earth did Big Mama not earn the recognition she clearly deserved?

Nate F

race

Edson Francisco

Destruidor ou construtor de carreiras : mídia, indústria, imprensa, pode crer!!!

TheFoolinthe rainn

Black female singers actually had to go to Europe to get venues. They became popular in the USA because Americans wanted everything French from food to fashion to music.

They had to go overseas to get recognition in order to get venues within their own country.

Yep.

Pulsonar

@TheFoolinthe rainn Yep, I don't doubt it, not just the women like Big Mama, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, but men too like Paul Robeson, Jimi Hendrix, and legions of black entertainers, like Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, ..., the English loved them all. The famous 1920s dancer Josephine Baker and legendary singer Paul Robeson were amongst the first to try the foreign soil path to fame and recognition in the 1920s and 1930s for other talented black artists to follow. They got famous outside the US before Americans even knew who they were, its a damned shame how back then talented black folks needed to get praised on foreign soil before white America started taking them seriously on their own soil.

TheFoolinthe rainn

@Pulsonar yep. That's what I'm trying to get across. Why you're not hearing Mama Thornton's original recording of this in the USA

And that's why singers like Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, The Stones, even Willie Nelson were important in bringing this music to the general public

If you go to Europe, you can still see & hear their influence. That's where the music is now. Not North America

One of my favorite videos and footage of Janis is when she's in Frankfurt, those kids didn't know how to dance - very depressed culture. Germany 25 years after world war II ended

She brings them up on stage and shows them how it's done. And there's more footage of his Frankfurt concert

-enjoy!

https://youtu.be/I2x1yo8Ztdw?feature=shared

7 More Replies...

John the Human

i don't have to pick between Janis and Big Mama, I can love 'em both.

*****************

Janis loved Big Mama and took her chance to do her own version. She helped bring fame to Big Mama again.

um22w22

*************** pretty sure Janis got paid more fairly than Big Mama. Read about the withheld royalties of this unreleased version until Joplin sang it. Broke my heart.

willie Clark

I love them both

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