from: Christian Korbanka, Cologne, Germany lyrics and chords of:Sulky Girl by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
Suggestions and corrections are always welcome!
---: Original in D-Major
She wears a wedding ring
Her sister lent to throw them off the scent
Just let them guess, is what they expect
Who in the world has bitten her neck?
She4s discovered wearing last night4s dress
The carnal and cunning, she couldn4t express
Who do you think she4s trying to impress?
I think you4d better hold your tongue
Although you4ve never been that strong
I4m sorry to say that I knew all along
You were no match for that sulky girl
She left her European town
Before she let that family down
She couldn4t stand the Massacre game
She dyed her hair and adopted another name
With the evidence of passing out
Stamped on her hand, she glows in the dark
He thinks she4s from another planet, oh
I think you4d better hold your tongue
Although you4ve never been that strong
I4m sorry to say that I knew all along
You were no match for that sulky girl
Sulky girl, I4m sure you look a picture when you cry
But threatening the silent treatment doesn4t qualify
It4s like money in the bank
Your expression is blank
But while the chance appears
You4ll be nearer to tears
Sulky girl
Sulky girl
He said "Hello, my pretty flower,"
Just trying out his tycoon power
Avoiding the mirror, her pitying stare
She said, "You4re mistaken, your money4s no good in here."
Just some stupid little know-it-all
Who thought she looked easy; he4s not that astute
He4ll pay for the distance between cruelty and beauty
I think you4d better hold your tongue
Although you4ve never been that strong
I4m sorry to say that I knew all along
You were no match for that sulky girl
I won4t tell you again, what do you gain
By blackening her name?
She4s smarter than you, oh, isn4t it a shame
You4re going to lose that sulky girl
Sulky girl, I saw you practicing your blackmail faces
Suddenly, your talking lika a duchess, but you4re still a waitress
I saw through your pretence
But in my defence
There are a few events
I think we4ll spare the censor
Sulky girl
Sulky girl
Sulky girl
Sulky Girl from Brutal Youth
This is my first posting of chords, please be gentle. :) Really, though, if you would like to debate any of my decisions, any input is appreciated.
SULKY GIRL
VERSES:
She wears a wedding ring her sister lent
To throw them off the scent
Just let them guess, it's what they expect
Who in the world has bitten her neck?
She's discovered wearing last night's dress
The carnal and cunning, she couldn't express
Who do you think she's trying to impress?
CHORUS:
I think you'd better hold your tongue
Although you've never been that strong
I'm sorry to say that I knew all along
You were no match for that sulky girl (?)
VERSE 2 - see verse 1
CHORUS
BRIDGE 1
Sulky girl
I'm sure you look a picture when you cry
But threatening the silent treatment doesn't qualify
It's like money in the bank (hold G) F C F G Your expression is blank (hold G) F C F G But while the chance appears (you get the idea) F C F D You'll be nearer to tears (still D) Sulky girl (2x)
VERSE 3
CHORUS
BRIDGE 2 - same as bridge 1 except fade out on
Sulky girl
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20% Amnesiac "Albatross!" Middle Class Twit ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EC loves to take a regular chord and play it with the third in the bass instead of the root-like a D with an F# on the bottom. I once read an interview with Paul McCartney where they asked him what it was about Brian Wilson's Pet Sounds that he drew on for inspiration during his Sgt. Pepper period, and he said "Brian would take a C chord and play a G in the bass." You can find these "5th in the bass" chords all through the songs of McCartney and Brian Wilson. I haven't transcribed that much EC yet, but I know he likes the 3rd and 7th quite a bit. Steely Dan & Co. take the whole thing even farther by putting notes in the bass which aren't even in the chord at all, like an F chord with a G in the bass going to a G chord with a C in the bass. Or an A chord with a G in the bass.
But I digress! The chord is Sulky Girl is a D chord, but with an F# in the bass. At the beginning of the Bridge he sings: "Sul...ky Girl" and right on "Girl" he plays the D/F# chord. So D IS the right chord, but putting that F# in the bass is what makes it sound so cool. Then he does it again on "cry" in "when you cry". What happens after that is wild, and I'm not sure what the guitar is doing, but the bass is going C C E C F E C. I think the guitar is just playing C to F to C, switching to F when the bass does.
What a great song-and as with most great songs, the bassline is a melody, not just a bunch of chord roots. The next part is great.
It's like money in the bank (bass: C E C F E C) Your expression is blank (bass: C C E F E C) But while the chance appears (bass: C C F C F)
I think your chords are right, except maybe it goes C F C instead of F C F-my mail program has everything so mixed up that I can't tell what goes with what anyway.
But I digress-when it goes to the little vamp on sulky girl, the bass player does the third in the bass trick again, this time on the C chord. The bass goes: G G F F E D C, with the E hitting right when the C chord comes in.
Earlier in the song, on the chorus there's another hint of 3rd in the bass. On "hold your tongue" the bass plays F# D G.
The hardest part for me to hear is "never been that strong". The bass here is just wicked! My trick for picking out hard basslines is to record the cd onto a 2 speed tape deck at the slow speed and then listen to it at the fast speed. This makes Mssr. Costello sound like Alvin the Chipmunk, but it also brings the bassline up exactly one octave into the guitar's range and makes the pitches very clear. The only problem is when the bass starts playing really fast, like he's playing here.
Oh-wait-there's the McCartney chord! On the "though" of "although" the bass is running up off of an E, so at the moment the guitar hits A, the bass is on E, the fifth.
Here's another trick: rest your finger on pause and hit it right after he says "although" and let the sound of it roll around in your head in the ensuing silence. God I love Elvis Costello! Have you ever heard that song that Prince wrote called "I Love You More Than I Did When You Were Mine"?. It was covered by Cindy Lauper on her first album. Not that I'm a giant CL fan, mind you, but what she said "I know" in "I know....that you're goin' with another guy..." it killed me. I love that song. Anyway, "I know" is the exact same rhythm, notes and rhyme as "Although" in this song, but EC takes it a step further by putting the E in bass.
But I digress. On "never been that strong" the bass player, I think, goes D D C B A G, so we've got D, D/C, G/B, and then he runs down to the root of the G.
This is that 7th in the bass I was talking about. A D chord with a C in the bass. This kind of chord loves to have the bass go down one fret to a chord with the third in the bass: D/C to G/B. EC loves this progression and does all sorts of exceedingly clever things with it.
But i digress-there's one more third in the bass chord right at the end of the chorus. When he sings "I'm sorry to say that you knew all along" the chords are like you have them, G A D G, but after the 2nd G chord comes the D/F# again, on its way down to Emi A Emi F#mi.
But wait! If anyone has actually read this far, HOW WOULD YOU INTERPRET THE LYRICS???
p.s. If you listen to Pony Street -"If you're going out tonight..." then on "How can you be" is the McCartney chord again, G/D. Then on "When you lay our pretty pal" (is that the words?) he goes to Ami with E in the bass. Two McCartney chords in a row!-I haven't heard that since Pet Sounds. Try singing that part of the song with just regular G and Ami-it just doesn't make it. So-maybe elvis has been listening to the Beach Boys! God-I hope he doesn't listen to the words!!!
