What Do Pretty Girls Do?

Written by Kirsty MacColl and Pete Glenister
Kirsty MacColl - What Do Pretty Girl Do

Chords

Chords for What Do Pretty Girls Do?, transcribed by akoustic.

Lyrics

She was a party girl, stayed up till the small hours
Now she’s embarrassing and everybody laughs
At the girl with the face that could drive her baby wild
Now wasn’t she the child with everything?

You should have seen her with her head held high
Now what do pretty girls do?

She used to be the apple of his eye
Now what do pretty girls do?
She went through such a lot
And never even learned
That even pretty girls can get their fingers burned

She’s got a cabin in a town upon the border
She gets in trouble with the local law and order
Everybody’s happy when she isn’t at the door
She sends out invitations to everyone
They don’t come

(And the phone ain’t ringing for her now)

You should have seen her with her head held high
Now what do pretty girls do?

She used to be the same as me or you
Now what do pretty girls do?
Well they get older just like everybody else
She never thought she’d have to take care of herself

You should have seen her with her head held high
Now what do pretty girls do?

She used to be the apple of his eye
Now what do pretty girls do?
Collecting all the records and the posters
Of the people that she knew
And they knew
That she’d get older just like everybody else
She never thought she’d have to take care of herself

Kirsty MacColl - What Do Pretty Girls Do? [BBC Session]

Tread Lightly

Written by Kirsty MacColl and Pete Glenister
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCHvPVni4B8

Chords

Chords for Tread Lightly, transcribed by John Meranda.

Lyrics

Another time, another day
Another baby on the way
A dreamboy for your nightmare nights
Who never shouts and never fights
Happy with your 2.2
What else is there for you to do
But turn and wet the baby’s head
And pray he will be happier than you or me?
That’s how it’s meant to be

It’s called a lifetime
At first you never notice
Then the years go flying by and I say
Tread lightly in your dreams
They might come true for you tomorrow

Say sorry to the boys and girls
You’re sorry for this bloody world
Sorry for the sick and old
And sorry for the lies you told
Sorry for the things I did
The things we should have left unsaid
And walked away and left instead of
Rubbing salt on all those open sores and wounds
We should have left to heal

I never knew just what to feel or to expect
I tried to stretch my mind but I’d just
Get my body wrecked and now I
Tread lightly in my dreams
They might come true tomorrow

And I don’t sleep at night in case
I don’t wake up tomorrow
I curse the day I met you
But I won’t forget you
Not in my lifetime

Another time, another day
You’d never give your heart away
You’d never think and never cry
You’d look the devil in the eye
And tell him to be gone, bye bye
He’ll never get you in this lifetime
He’d love to touch you but his hands are tied
So just tread lightly in your dreams
They might come true for you tomorrow

Tread lightly in your dreams
They might come true for you tomorrow
They might come true for you tomorrow
They might come true tomorrow

Recording

After we got the demo together Kirsty sang the first vocal on Tread Lightly, then said “Nah, lets leave it, the chorus doesn’t work” – I wanted to scream IT’S A GREAT SONG, but instead i took a deep breath and said “Yeah, the major/minor chorus sounds a bit clunky, but once the harmonies are on it i’m sure this one will be epic” – K “Really” – Me “Yes i’m sure”

Fortunately we continued with it and it became one of her best IMHO. Some weeks later in Townhouse studios, i helped Pino sort the bass part, then suggested to Mel that he play his classic snare crescendo at 2.07 – “You’d look the devil in the eye and tell him to be gone, bye bye he’ll never get you in this lifetime”

Kirsty was a truly amazing musician and i’m proud to have contributed even the most minor touches to her artistry.

Colin Stuart

Don’t Come the Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim!

Written by Kirsty MacColl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4eD4X9kkXE

Chords

Chords for Don’t Come the Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim!, transcribed by John Meranda.

Lyrics

Some boys with warm beds and cold, cold hearts
Can make you feel nothing at all
They’ll never remember and they’ll never mind
If you’re counting the cracks in the wall

They’re quick and they’re greedy
They never feel guilty
They don’t know the meaning of hurt
The boots just go back on
The socks that had stayed on
The next time they see you
They treat you like dirt
The next time they treat you like dirt

Now don’t come the cowboy with me Sonny Jim
I know lots of those and you’re not one of them
There’s a light in your eyes tells me somebody’s in
And you won’t come the cowboy with me

Don’t be too rough on my cold, cold heart
It’s all I’ve got left to me now
I fell out of favour with heaven somewhere
And I’m here for the hell of it now

Some girls play cowboys
And some boys play harder to get
But they’re got just the same
They smile and say cheese
They’re so eager to please
But they’ll never remember your name
The names and the places all change

But don’t come the cowboy with me Sonny Jim
I know lots of those and you’re not one of them
There’s a light in your eyes tells me somebody’s in
And you won’t come the cowboy with me

Did somebody tell you I’m lonely as hell?
I didn’t expect you to know me so well
If I learned a lesson it’s how to bounce back again
Sometimes I bounce off the wall
And sometimes my head hits the floor

So don’t come the cowboy with me Sonny Jim
I know lots of those and you’re not one of them
There’s a light in your eyes tells me somebody’s in
And you won’t come the cowboy

Oh don’t come the cowboy with me Sonny Jim
I know lots of those and you’re not one of them
There’s a light in your eyes tells me somebody’s in
And you won’t come the cowboy with me

Cover Versions

Kelly Willlis - Don't Come The Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim

Kelly Willis is based in Austin, Texas. On her 2002 CD ‘Easy’, she covers ‘Cowboy’. It’s a song she had wanted to record for a long time, as she told Billboard. “I love her music. I was drawn to it because she was so strong and confident, playing all those instruments. When Kirsty died, it was a renewed inspiration to record that song. I had to think twice about doing this because of her death. I really wanted to do it justice, I had been biding my time until I thought I was mature enough to do it.”

Halvsøstra (2009 / 2019)

Halvsøstra plays Kirsty MacColl in Norwegian, retitled ‘Solveig fra Gjende’.

Glimpses from concert in Norway.

Halvsostra med Kirsty MacColl

Now available for streaming.

Fifteen Minutes

Written by Kirsty MacColl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSQrH3JUQ2s

Chords

Chords for Fifteen Minutes, transcribed by akoustic.

Lyrics

Seven times in seven days
I’ve sat and wished my life away
I know the greyness comes and goes
But the sun don’t shine
And the snow don’t snow

There’s Suzy-Ann with her tits and curls
Where mediocrity excels
For those vicious boys and their boring girls
You know it makes me sick but it’s a bozo’s world

Then there’s always the cash
Selling yourself for some trash
Smiling at people that you cannot stand
You’re in demand
Your fifteen minutes start now

City banker looks are in
The heartless heart, the chinless chin
And you’d spill your beans for just a pint of gin
How you got so holy
And became so thin

In Sunday papers every week
The silly words you love to speak
The tacky photos and the phoney smiles
Well it’s a bozo’s world
And you’re a bozo’s child

Then there’s always the cash
Selling yourself for some trash
Smiling at people that you cannot stand
You’re in demand
Your fifteen minutes start now

Then there’s always the fame!
Autographs now and again
People who saw you on Blankety Blank
Or in the bank
Your fifteen minutes start now

Recording Notes

A decade after being schoolmates, I ran into Steve and he asked me to remix a Talking Heads track (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObyHbqmD3zw). The break with Kirsty’s harmonies and Johnny’s jangly 12 string blew me away!

Halfway thru mixing, Kirsty burst into the studio with a guitar, exclaiming “I’ve written a song” (Her long period of writer’s block having apparently just ended) Handing me her Gibson she said “Colin you can play guitar can’t you?” (We’d first met briefly earlier that day) – 15 minutes later, we’d recorded ‘Fifteen minutes’.

Colin Stuart

Cover Versions

Cerys Matthews was the lead singer with Catatonia. She appeared on a BBC TV tribute programme for Kirsty in March 2001.

Halvsøstra (2009)

Halvsøstra plays Kirsty MacColl in norwegian. Glimpses from concert in Norway.

Halvsostra med Kirsty MacColl

Bethany Jean Conroy (2011)

We like this a lot.

Bethany Jean Conroy - 15 minutes (Kirsty MacColl cover)

No Victims

Written by Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl - No Victims

Chords

Chords for No Victims, transcribed by John Meranda.

Lyrics

I must have been driving all day
But I’m getting no further away
All these towns look the same in the night
And the rain is falling in my eyes

Take me away
See all my friends for a day
It’s strange but it’s true
I’m no longer hurting without you

I’m no victim to pity and cry for
And you’re not someone I’d lay down and die for
I was seeing the world through your eyes
There was not much left not to despise

It’s a shame but it’s true
I started to feel things like you do
But I’m not tearing my heart out for you dear
And when you wake up I won’t even be here
Sod all your funny little ways

They don’t make me laugh these days any more
I’m no victim to pity and cry for
Or some sad lonely encounter the night before

I’m no victim to pity and cry for
From some sad desperate collision the night before
No I’m not tearing my heart out for you dear
And when you wake up I’ll be miles away from here
Baby I know