Koko Taylor (September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009) was an American blues music… Read Full Bio ↴Koko Taylor (September 28, 1928 - June 3, 2009) was an American blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough and powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings.

Taylor was born as Cora Walton on a farm just outside Memphis, Tennessee. In 1954, Taylor left Memphis for Chicago with her husband, truck driver Robert "Pops" Taylor. In the late 1950s she began singing in Chicago blues clubs and was spotted by Willie Dixon in 1962, leading to wider performances and her first recording contract. In 1965, Taylor was signed by Chess Records, for which her single Wang Dang Doodle (written by Dixon, and a hit for Howlin' Wolf five years earlier) became a major hit, reaching number four on the R&B charts in 1966 and selling a million copies. Taylor recorded many versions of this Dixon-penned song over the past several decades and added more material, both original and covers, but never repeated that initial chart success.

National touring in the late 1960s and early 1970s improved her fan base, and she became accessible to a wider record-buying public when she signed with Alligator Records in 1975. Recording over a dozen albums for that label (many nominated for Grammy awards), she came to dominate the female blues singer ranks, winning 24 W. C. Handy Awards -- more than any other artist. After her recovery from a near-fatal car crash in 1989, the 1990s found Taylor in movies such as Blues Brothers 2000. She opened a blues club on Division St. in Chicago in 1994, but closed it in 1999. Taylor released a new album in 2007 called "Old School."

Koko Taylor influenced such musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman, and Susan Tedeschi.

Koko Taylor died on the afternoon of June 3rd 2009 (at the age of 80), while recovering from surgery to repair gastrointestinal bleeding. Koko Taylor is still referred to by fellow blues musicians and her fans as the "Queen of the Blues".

You Ain't Worth a Good Woman
Koko Taylor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You ain't worth a good woman
Cause you're sure ain't nothing of a man
All you do is lay around waiting
For something good to fall in your hands

You put 2 and 2 together, you finally come up with 4,
You might have no money, but baby I'm good to go.
I looked over my shoulder, guess who I see,

Another man waiting, like a man waiting for his shoes

You ain't worth a good woman
Cause you're sure ain't nothing of a man
All you do is lay around waiting
For something good to fall in your hands

It takes 2 and 2 to tangle, but you don't want to tangle with me
You sit there on your butt now, try to make a fool of me
Like a ship in the ocean, better come take a ride with me
I'm more than a notion, I'm more than the eyes can see

You ain't worth a good woman
Cause you're sure ain't nothing of a man
All you do is lay around waiting
For something good to fall in your hands

SOLO'S

It takes 2 and 2 to tangle, but you don't want to tangle with me
You sit there with your slap jaw, try to make a fool of me
Like a ship in the ocean, better come take a ride with me
I'm more than a notion, I'm more than the eyes can see

You ain't worth a good woman
Cause you're sure ain't nothing of a man

All you do is lay around waiting
For something good to fall in your hands

Overall Meaning

Koko Taylor's song "You Ain't Worth a Good Woman" is a powerful statement against men who do not value women. The chorus repeats the title phrase, emphasizing the message of the song that some men do not deserve to be with a good woman. The lyrics describe a lazy, entitled man who does nothing but wait for good things to come to him, and suggests that this type of man is not worthy of a good woman. The singer challenges this man, suggesting that she is better off without him and that he would not be able to handle her.

The song also includes some clever wordplay, such as in the line "It takes 2 and 2 to tangle, but you don't want to tangle with me", which combines the phrase "it takes two to tango" with the word "tangle" to create a new, slightly threatening meaning. This line, along with others in the song, empowers the singer and portrays her as confident and strong.

In addition to its message and wordplay, "You Ain't Worth a Good Woman" is notable for its raw, bluesy sound. Koko Taylor's gritty vocals and the blues-inflected guitar and harmonica create a powerful sense of emotion and energy. This song, along with many others in Taylor's repertoire, helped to establish her as a leading figure in the blues genre.

Line by Line Meaning

You ain't worth a good woman
You do not deserve a good woman.

Cause you're sure ain't nothing of a man
You are not even close to being a man.

All you do is lay around waiting
You just wait around doing nothing.

For something good to fall in your hands
You expect good things to come to you without any effort.

You put 2 and 2 together, you finally come up with 4,
You are not very smart.

You might have no money, but baby I'm good to go.
Even if you are broke, I do not want you.

I looked over my shoulder, guess who I see,
When I looked behind me, I saw someone else.

Another man waiting, like a man waiting for his shoes
There was another man waiting for me, but he was not very impressive either.

It takes 2 and 2 to tangle, but you don't want to tangle with me
It takes two people to argue, but you do not want to argue with me.

You sit there on your butt now, try to make a fool of me
You are trying to embarrass me by doing nothing.

Like a ship in the ocean, better come take a ride with me
I am a strong woman, and you should be with me.