I'VE BEEN BAILED OUT A TIME OR THREE BEFORE ON THIS SITE, AND CAN ONLY HOPE I HAVEN'T OUTLIVED YOUR TOLERANCE FOR THIS SORT OF CODE-BUSTING.....

This is a tune written and recorded in 1938 by Jabbo Smith. Beside his leading trumpet, he performs vocally. But two lines in the lyrics are undescernible -- to me. To wit:

The opening stanza consists of four separate sentences. The first three I can make out OK; it's the 4th line that's slurred (it immediately follows the sentence "But I refused when I got the news").

The next (and last) slurred sentence occurs just before the final sentence in the song, which is "And wasting all those little arrows on me."

Hopefully there's a kind soul out there with 20/20 hearing (or better yet -- 10/10), who can decipher the diction.

Google up "Jabbo Smith -- How Can Cupid Be So Stupid -- You Tube

With thanks!


Tony

A lot of the verse is unintelligible to me! LOL I just woke up and can't function yet... maybe later!

I think that the first part sounds like:

Now I refused when I got the news to let his planning go through free.

You're half-way there, guys. Don't give up yet!

I'm not as certain about the second phrase - to me it sounds like:

He would find he's losing tie in wasting all his little arrows on me.

But "tie" doesn't make sense to me. Perhaps he slurred away an "m" and it was supposed to be "time". Not sure.

Here's a link for anyone else who wants to give Jabbo a listen: How can cupid be so stupid? (1938)

laughland,
Believe you have solved the lyric problem. I copied the mp3 file into my music editor and got much better clarity
and it's definitely 'He would find he's losing time in wasting all his little arrows on me'.

Don...

Great work Don - I guess that now we are all ready to sing along with Jabbo!

Thanks, one and all, for your audial forensic help. Dissecting those mushy words and then attempting to put the letters back together in their proper order can be frustrating -- to put it kindly

Tony

Glad to help!

Heck - it was a good excuse to enjoy some Jabbo.