Sitting In My Kitchen
'When Larry lived on his own, contemplating whether to leave Capitol and quit his band, he felt real freedom to seek a higher road and walk a deeper walk and ignore career pressures'. Written in 1968
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Version 1 is a full studio recording
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Version 2 is a twenty second snippet (with no vocals) of what appears to be a studio demo
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Essential Test Disc [See the CD tab on the singles page]
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Version 3 is the same recording as version 1, but extensively edited towards the end
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Version 4 is a live recording, performed solo with acoustic guitar during the UK Tourniquet tour in 2001
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LYRICS VERSION 1
I was sitting in my kitchen
Thinking about my life
And how some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men get discouraged
And young men go astray
And for every sinful thing we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
Well it’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I was saved in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I’ve made it through
I am free, I can see
And I’m who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah
Na na na na na na na na na na
Why does it take so long
Na na na na na na na na
To learn to stand and be strong
I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys that knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free, I can see
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Ah mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Oh yeah
I am free (mercy mercy), I can see (mercy mercy)
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me (yeah yeah), mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah, woh woh ah yeah oh
I am free (yeah yeah yeah), I can see
I'm who I wan’ to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Oh ah I’m free, I can see ah ah ah ah ah
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Yeah oh ah
I am free (oh oh), I can see (Ooh I can see)
And I'm who I want to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
(Woh ho ho oh ho ho oh)
(Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me) Mercy me now, mercy me, mercy me
Yeah, yeah, he's coming back again (Oh oh oh oh)
I am free, I can see
Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Ah mercy me ya-hey-hey-ah
Thinking about my life
And how some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men get discouraged
And young men go astray
And for every sinful thing we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
Well it’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I was saved in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I’ve made it through
I am free, I can see
And I’m who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah
Na na na na na na na na na na
Why does it take so long
Na na na na na na na na
To learn to stand and be strong
I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys that knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free, I can see
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Ah mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Oh yeah
I am free (mercy mercy), I can see (mercy mercy)
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me (yeah yeah), mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah, woh woh ah yeah oh
I am free (yeah yeah yeah), I can see
I'm who I wan’ to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Oh ah I’m free, I can see ah ah ah ah ah
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Yeah oh ah
I am free (oh oh), I can see (Ooh I can see)
And I'm who I want to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
(Woh ho ho oh ho ho oh)
(Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me) Mercy me now, mercy me, mercy me
Yeah, yeah, he's coming back again (Oh oh oh oh)
I am free, I can see
Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Ah mercy me ya-hey-hey-ah
LYRICS VERSION 3
I was sitting in my kitchen
Thinking about my life
And how some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men get discouraged
And young men go astray
And for every sinful thing we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
Well it’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I was saved in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I’ve made it through
I am free, I can see
And I’m who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah
Na na na na na na na na na na
Why does it take so long
Na na na na na na na na
To learn to stand and be strong
I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys that knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free (mercy mercy), I can see (mercy mercy)
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me (yeah yeah), mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah, woh woh ah yeah oh
I am free (yeah yeah yeah), I can see
I'm who I wan’ to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Oh ah I’m free, I can see ah ah ah ah ah
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
He's coming back again (Oh oh oh oh)
I am free, I can see
Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy
Thinking about my life
And how some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men get discouraged
And young men go astray
And for every sinful thing we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
Well it’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I was saved in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I’ve made it through
I am free, I can see
And I’m who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah
Na na na na na na na na na na
Why does it take so long
Na na na na na na na na
To learn to stand and be strong
I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys that knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free (mercy mercy), I can see (mercy mercy)
And I'm who I wanna be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy me, mercy me (yeah yeah), mercy me (Ooh)
Yeah, woh woh ah yeah oh
I am free (yeah yeah yeah), I can see
I'm who I wan’ to be (Ooh ooh ooh)
Oh ah I’m free, I can see ah ah ah ah ah
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
He's coming back again (Oh oh oh oh)
I am free, I can see
Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy (Ooh ooh ooh)
Mercy
lyrics version 4
I was sitting in my kitchen
Thinking about my life
How some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men can get discouraged
And young men can go astray
And for every single sin we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
It’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I got it back in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I made it through
Well I am free, I can see
And I’m who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Well I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they, they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys who knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free, I am free
And I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
I am free and I can see
That I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Thinking about my life
How some men end up all alone
Some men take a wife
How old men can get discouraged
And young men can go astray
And for every single sin we do
Somehow we will pay
I got up to get my bible
Some pages fell onto the floor
It’s an old one that my father had
And his father before
It’s been with me since my childhood
I got it back in '52
When I look back at my troubled life
I give thanks I made it through
Well I am free, I can see
And I’m who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
Well I grew up in San Francisco
In a real rough neighbourhood
Where they, they beat you bad if you were tough
And worse if you were good
But I came through those times
With a lot of love for those boys who knocked me down
And I pray some day I’ll see them
And we’ll be standing on sacred ground
I am free, I am free
And I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me
I am free and I can see
That I'm who I want to be
Mercy me, mercy me, mercy me