The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".
Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas. That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander. (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.
Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.
Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.
Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.".
Short Haired Woman
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I don't want no w'man,
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's a-comin' to go have some fun"
one from a burnin' barn
I just don't want, want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's comin' to go have some fun"
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
one from a burnin' barn
I say, I don't want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
You know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Lightnin' Hopkins' song "Short Haired Woman" is a blues tune that speaks to the idea that a man doesn't want a woman if her hair isn't naturally hers. Throughout the song, Hopkins sings about how he doesn't want a woman if her hair isn't "longer 'an mine," which implies that he wants a woman who has real hair, not a wig or hair extensions. The reason for this is that he sees women with fake hair as being troublemakers, someone who will keep you "buyin' rats all the time." Rats were a common problem that people dealt with in their homes, and Hopkins uses this reference to indicate that being with a woman who wears wigs will, in the end, cause you more trouble than it's worth.
The lyrics also speak to the idea of trust between men and women, as Hopkins tells the story of how he got on the "good side" of his woman by telling her that he was going to have some fun. However, when he tried to make her "swing out," a rat fell from her head, indicating that she was wearing a wig. This moment of deception, where the woman is not who she appears to be, causes Hopkins to reaffirm his belief that he doesn't want a woman if her hair isn't natural. Overall, the song is an exploration of the idea that people should be true to themselves and not try to deceive others with fake appearances.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't want no wom'n, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I don't want a woman whose hair is no longer under my control
I don't want no w'man, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I don't want a woman whose hair is no longer mine to dictate
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
You know, that kind of woman only brings trouble
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
You'll always be spending money on rat poison if you deal with that kind of woman
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman, I told her, "Darlin', I's a-comin' to go have some fun"
I managed to convince my woman to let me go out and have some fun
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like, one from a burnin' barn
When I tried to dance with her, a rat fell out of her wig
I just don't want, want no woman, boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I simply don't want a woman whose hair I can't control
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble
You know that kind of woman only causes problems
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
You'll be spending a lot of money on rat poison if you get involved with her
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed
You know that rats and wigs can be dangerous and deadly
I say, I don't want no woman, boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I'm telling you, I don't want a woman whose hair I can't control
You know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
That kind of woman is trouble, you know that, right?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
You'll always be spending money on rat poison if you deal with that kind of woman
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: SAM HOPKINS, MACK MCCORMICK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@luccasbraz4466
I don't want no wom'n,
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I don't want no w'man,
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's a-comin' to go have some fun"
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
one from a burnin' barn
I just don't want, want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's comin' to go have some fun"
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
one from a burnin' barn
I say, I don't want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
You know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
@frederickmorris2218
Lightning Hopkins had the most expressive voice in Blues. He could squeeze the emotion of a whole song out of a single line. No one else came close.
@caselldavis3731
Talk that talk Lightnin!!!
@xmeangreenx1
My favorite blues song
@benrichardson683
9/11/19
@sandnfoam9845
anyone with lyrics would be highly welcome...
@luccasbraz4466
I don't want no wom'n,
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
I don't want no w'man,
if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's a-comin' to go have some fun"
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
one from a burnin' barn
I just don't want, want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed
Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin', I's comin' to go have some fun"
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
one from a burnin' barn
I say, I don't want no woman,
boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine
You know she ain't no good for nothin' but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin' rats all the time
@sandnfoam9845
@@luccasbraz4466 Thanks Luccas
@barnman420
I love Lightning. His playing and singing is tramendis. But I dont get the lyrics with all the double negatives: "I dont want no woman who's hair ain't no longer then mine." So does he want a short or long haired girl?
@rodsimmons9337
He doesn't want a woman with hair shorter than his.
@BluesforJ
Essentially the song is him expressing that he doesn’t want a woman with her hair shorter than his because when they go out on a date she will ask him to buy her a fancy wig. In the song he uses local AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) colloquialisms such as “rat” an old time sort of slang for a wig. His songs have so much rich history engrained in them & even the language he uses is a time capsule into the rich history of Texas Blues! Hope this helped!