Boogie Woman

Don't you just love boogie woogie piano? That constant left hand grinding out the rhythm. I've had a fascination for this music ever since I was a kid and heard my Uncle Cliff play. He was a welder at Swan Hunter shipyards in Wallsend during the day, but also played piano at local pubs in the evenings. In fact, he was very popular and used to joke that he was "world famous in Byker".

Some weekends he'd visit and I'd hear him hammering out boogie woogie and rock and roll on a battered old upright piano we had in the living room. I can't profess to be a great boogie woogie piano player, but I love to try. I wrote this song as a sort of tribute to my Uncle Cliff. The left hand pattern on this track is actually the first riff he ever taught me.

There's a bit of controversy over where the phrase 'boogie woogie' came from. Some say it's a euphemism for another rhythmic activity we all like to do. In that case, if you like a boogie woogie piano, you'll love a boogie woogie woman.

Well, I used to have a woman

Must have had a heart of stone

She never used to love me

Never used to come on home

I said "If you don't wanna boogie

Better just to leave me alone"

I want a boogie woman

Who's never gonna do me wrong

I want a boogie woman

To tell me I'm the only one

I want a boogie woogie woman

To boogie woogie all night long

Well, I used to have a woman

Always used to bring me down

Never gave me nothing

Treated me like dirt on the ground

I said, "If you don't wanna boogie

Well, baby, I'm not hanging around"

I want a boogie woman

Who's never gonna do me wrong

I want a boogie woman

To tell me I'm the only one

I want a boogie woogie woman

To boogie woogie all night long