Blue Shoes White
ALSO RELEASED ON: The Norman Invasion, The Cottage Tapes Book Two
Version 1 is an unpolished studio recording
Note that on Street Level Illegal Noise CD and on Survivor, the last spoken line ("Or do we have enough tape") is removed |
Version 3 is the same basic recording as version 1, but with the spoken introduction and chatter at the end removed, and mixed differently. It has a reversed stereo image and has been remastered such that it sounds much clearer
For an example of mixing differences, listen to the guitar at the stop shortly after the "ambulance" lyric and how on this version the guitar solo continues through the two verses following the guitar solo |
Version 4 is a live recording, performed solo with acoustic guitar during a 1972 concert in New York
|
lyrics version 1
Rolling on Blue Shoes White take one
One two three ten [Spoken]
One two three four
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance, dance, dance, dance, wo-oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope
No place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it’s time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with broken laces I’m tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said, why don’t we sit down and talk
He said, how ‘bout a new soul
I uh-ah, no chance
I’m going to put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-oo-bop bea-bow-ow
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you’re steppin’ though life, then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles re-heeled
And if ya, ya huh, you wanna give your feet a treat
Honey, get ready to walk down the golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don’t waste your time on the rhythm and blues, ooh
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He makes your wrong feet go right
He turns your black soul white, that’s right
He turns blue shoes white, c’mon man
He turns blu-oo-ooh shoes white
????? white
White like a light, light
He turns blue-ue-ue-ue-ue shoes
Go on shine ‘em up, come on, come on, tie ‘em right, tie ‘em right
Keep it going, come on, get my feet moving, come on
Tell me what
Let's try one more time. Or do we have enough tape? [Spoken]
One two three ten [Spoken]
One two three four
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance, dance, dance, dance, wo-oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope
No place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it’s time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with broken laces I’m tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said, why don’t we sit down and talk
He said, how ‘bout a new soul
I uh-ah, no chance
I’m going to put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-oo-bop bea-bow-ow
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you’re steppin’ though life, then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles re-heeled
And if ya, ya huh, you wanna give your feet a treat
Honey, get ready to walk down the golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don’t waste your time on the rhythm and blues, ooh
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He makes your wrong feet go right
He turns your black soul white, that’s right
He turns blue shoes white, c’mon man
He turns blu-oo-ooh shoes white
????? white
White like a light, light
He turns blue-ue-ue-ue-ue shoes
Go on shine ‘em up, come on, come on, tie ‘em right, tie ‘em right
Keep it going, come on, get my feet moving, come on
Tell me what
Let's try one more time. Or do we have enough tape? [Spoken]
lyrics version 2
How I love to dance [Spoken]
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance dance dance dance wo oh oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope, no place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it's time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with a broken laces I'm tripping out, out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said why don't we sit down and talk
He said how 'bout a new soul
I said huh, no chance, I'm gonna put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-u-bap, be-u-bap, woo
Ba-da-da ba-ba-ba-ba na-na-na-na ba-ba-oh
La-la-ba ra-pa-pa ba-ra-pa-ba–pa ba-pa-ba-pa
Woo-ah
Aah-ah-ah-ah-ah
How I love to dance
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you're steppin' through life then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles reheeled
And if you wanna give your feet a treat
Then get ready to walk down that golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don't waste your time on the rhythm and blues
Ow
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue blue blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
Ba da ba ba ba
Ba da ba ba ba a-ha ah ha
Thank you [Spoken]
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance dance dance dance wo oh oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope, no place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it's time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with a broken laces I'm tripping out, out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said why don't we sit down and talk
He said how 'bout a new soul
I said huh, no chance, I'm gonna put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-u-bap, be-u-bap, woo
Ba-da-da ba-ba-ba-ba na-na-na-na ba-ba-oh
La-la-ba ra-pa-pa ba-ra-pa-ba–pa ba-pa-ba-pa
Woo-ah
Aah-ah-ah-ah-ah
How I love to dance
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you're steppin' through life then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles reheeled
And if you wanna give your feet a treat
Then get ready to walk down that golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don't waste your time on the rhythm and blues
Ow
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue blue blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
Ba da ba ba ba
Ba da ba ba ba a-ha ah ha
Thank you [Spoken]
lyrics version 3
One two three four
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance, dance, dance, dance, wo-oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope
No place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it’s time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with broken laces I’m tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said, why don’t we sit down and talk
He said, how ‘bout a new soul
I uh-ah, no chance
I’m going to put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-oo-bop bea-bow-ow
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you’re steppin’ though life, then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles re-heeled
And if ya, ya huh, you wanna give your feet a treat
Honey, get ready to walk down the golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don’t waste your time on the rhythm and blues, ooh
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He makes your wrong feet go right
He turns your black soul white, that’s right
He turns blue shoes white, c’mon man
He turns blu-oo-ooh shoes white
????? white
White like a light, light
He turns blue-ue-ue-ue-ue shoes
Go on shine ‘em up, come on, come on, tie ‘em right, tie ‘em right
Keep it going, come on, get my feet moving, come on
Tell me what
I had the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
The blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance, dance, dance, dance, wo-oh
My life began to slip and slide
And I had no hope
No place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it’s time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why I walk this way
My soles half worn and my tongue hung about
And with broken laces I’m tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said, why don’t we sit down and talk
He said, how ‘bout a new soul
I uh-ah, no chance
I’m going to put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-oo-bop bea-bow-ow
He reached right out and touched my toes
Everybody knows how the rest of the story goes
If you’re steppin’ though life, then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles re-heeled
And if ya, ya huh, you wanna give your feet a treat
Honey, get ready to walk down the golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don’t waste your time on the rhythm and blues, ooh
He turns blue shoes white
He turns blue shoes white
He makes your wrong feet go right
He turns your black soul white, that’s right
He turns blue shoes white, c’mon man
He turns blu-oo-ooh shoes white
????? white
White like a light, light
He turns blue-ue-ue-ue-ue shoes
Go on shine ‘em up, come on, come on, tie ‘em right, tie ‘em right
Keep it going, come on, get my feet moving, come on
Tell me what
lyrics version 4
I have the rhythm of living in my shoes
Along come the rhythm and blues
Blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance
My life began to slip and slide
I had no hope, no place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it's time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why walk this way
I said my soles half worn, my tongue hung out
And with broken laces I'm tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said why don't we sit down and talk
He said how 'bout a new soul
I said uh-uh, no chance, I'm gonna put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-u-bap, be-u-bap, ooh
Ba-la-ba ba-ba-ba-a la-na-dow-lown
Da-na-la-la-boop-bow-de-ah-da-loo boop-ba-de-ah-da-doo-bow
Well he reached right out and he touched my toes
I bet you can guess how the rest of the story goes
So if you're slopping through life then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles reheeled
And if you wanna give your feet a treat
Then get ready to walk down that golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don't waste your life on the rhythm and blues
You can rock and roll for Jesus if you wanna [Spoken]
But don't waste your life on the rhythm and blues
And he turn ya, your blue shoes white
Yes he does, if you got blue shoes he'll turn 'em white
He'll make your wrong feet walk fine
Make you, day out of the night
He'll make ya, he'll make your blacks so white
That's right, he's turn your blues shoes white
'Cause he does ya
Woo
He'll make you feel alright
La la la la la
La la la la la
Wo-ooh wo-ooh wo-ooh wo-ooh
Along come the rhythm and blues
Blues caught up and put me in a trance
And my shoes refused to dance
My life began to slip and slide
I had no hope, no place to hide
I borrowed a gun, I had nothing to lose
I figured it's time to hang up my shoes
He came along that very day
He asked me why walk this way
I said my soles half worn, my tongue hung out
And with broken laces I'm tripping out
He said to me, get up and walk
And I said why don't we sit down and talk
He said how 'bout a new soul
I said uh-uh, no chance, I'm gonna put these shoes in an ambulance
Be-u-bap, be-u-bap, ooh
Ba-la-ba ba-ba-ba-a la-na-dow-lown
Da-na-la-la-boop-bow-de-ah-da-loo boop-ba-de-ah-da-doo-bow
Well he reached right out and he touched my toes
I bet you can guess how the rest of the story goes
So if you're slopping through life then my appeal
Is to follow in his footsteps and get your soles reheeled
And if you wanna give your feet a treat
Then get ready to walk down that golden street
But be careful how you use your shoes
And don't waste your life on the rhythm and blues
You can rock and roll for Jesus if you wanna [Spoken]
But don't waste your life on the rhythm and blues
And he turn ya, your blue shoes white
Yes he does, if you got blue shoes he'll turn 'em white
He'll make your wrong feet walk fine
Make you, day out of the night
He'll make ya, he'll make your blacks so white
That's right, he's turn your blues shoes white
'Cause he does ya
Woo
He'll make you feel alright
La la la la la
La la la la la
Wo-ooh wo-ooh wo-ooh wo-ooh