Men of Good Fortune

[hkmartin]

I was fortunate to have a few hours in the Lincoln Center Library in New York two days ago to listen to a bit of the Lou Reed archives. It was my second time there. See my thread from last time: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=145696

I decided to transcribe the lyrics of two songs from the Reed/Cale 1965 demos: Men of Good Fortune and the Buttercup Song (Never Get Emotionally Involved with a Man, Woman, Beast, or Child).

I haven't gotten around to typing up Buttercup yet, but here are the lyrics to Men of Good Fortune, which is a completely different song from the song of the same name on Berlin. I'm sure I made a mistake here and there (I scribbled quickly into a notebook), but this is pretty close.

My dear mother told me an old maid I'd be
Unless men of good fortune came courting for me
A doctor, a lawyer, a minister's bride
But I was to marry or all alone I would die

An old maid, old maid, old maid I'd be
Unless men of good fortune came courting for me

When I was 14 she repeated again
Unfaithful and ugly are the ways of all men
But a woman's no better than the last man she's known
And if you don't marry, you'll die all alone

An old maid, old maid, old maid I'd be
Unless men of good fortune came courting for me

So I learned how to cook and I learned how to sew
I made pretty red dresses with pretty red bows
I learned how to smile and curtsey and spin
My soul was pure and I was free from sin

When I was 15 my mother died
With her heart nearly broken as I was no man's bride
But men of good fortune, they had not appeared
Just town boys and drunkards who made me feel scared

An old maid, old maid, old maid I'd be
Unless men of good fortune came courting for me

God willing I know the time will still arrive
When a man of good fortune will stand by my side
With fine carriage and manners for around me to see
A man of good fortune will come to see me.

[MJG196]

Fantastic. Thank you!!

[Mark]

Wow. Wonder if this was written for Electrah to sing?

[threechordwonder]

Lou's homage to European minstrelsy and broadside ballads. Most wonderful indeed.

[hkmartin]

Interestingly, "Men of Good Fortune" appears to be one of the un-bootlegged songs from the 1966 Factory Rehearsals. Olivier believes this to be the Berlin song, but, unless he's heard it, I think it's more likely to be the same song as the 1965 demo.

See:
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/li ... f6566.html
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/an ... songs.html

[iaredatsun]

Interestingly, "Men of Good Fortune" appears to be one of the un-bootlegged songs from the 1966 Factory Rehearsals. Olivier believes this to be the Berlin song, but, unless he's heard it, I think it's more likely to be the same song as the 1965 demo.

See:
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/li ... f6566.html
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/an ... songs.html

I guess Olivier wrote that entry before anyone knew what was in the archive. I really wonder why the song was not in the Factory recording bootleg - or rather why it was not a part of the package that was generously released to members of this forum all that time ago, before the bootleg appeared.

Anyway, fantastic work on going back to the library and doing these transcriptions.

I really hope we get a commercial release of the material this year.

[fletchercjohnson]

hkmartin, I have a question about visiting the archive. I saw that they are currently requiring you to book appointments in advance and, not only that, they have first asked me a book a phone call with someone before I even book the appointment to justify my reasons for this visit. Am I doing this wrong? Pre-Covid I believe you could just walk in and take a listen. Did you go through this same process before your visit?

[hkmartin]

hkmartin, I have a question about visiting the archive. I saw that they are currently requiring you to book appointments in advance and, not only that, they have first asked me a book a phone call with someone before I even book the appointment to justify my reasons for this visit. Am I doing this wrong? Pre-Covid I believe you could just walk in and take a listen. Did you go through this same process before your visit?

I just posted a response in my older thread, which I thought was the more appropriate place. Let me know if you have any questions.

[radiofreesimulacrum]

Those lyrics are very similar to a 19th century Fench Folk song " La Vieille Fille" . Out of curiousity did the instrumental part sound a bit like Venus in Furs ?

[hkmartin]

Out of curiousity did the instrumental part sound a bit like Venus in Furs ?

Not at all. Song is very folksy. If anything, the music reminded me slightly of "Dark as a Dungeon" by Merle Travis. I think there was a Dylanesque harmonica break in there. Nothing that really sounded like the VU. I got the impression that Cale had little (if anything) to do with most of these early songs.