Songwriter: Lead Belly
Recording Session: 08/20-28/89 Reciprocal Recording, Seattle, WA
Common Mislabels: Ain't It a Shame to Go Fishin' on a Sunday
In August 1989, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic formed an offshoot band with Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel of The Screaming Trees. \"We were all becoming big blues fans\", recalled Pickerel. \"We were trying to create a modern day version of Cream or Led Zeppelin.\"
Sub Pop co-founder, Jonathan Poneman, expressed an interest in recording an album for the group, but the project stalled upon entering the studio. \"It was as if both Mark and Kurt had too much respect for each other to tell the other what to do, or even make suggestions for what they should be doing\", Pickerel recalled. \"It was really frustrating. Neither one would take the initiative.\"
Dubbing themselves \"The Jury\" at Pickerel's suggestion (Cobain had favored the name Lithium, and Jack Endino had referred to the group as Screaming Nirvana on the session paperwork), the band booked into Reciprocal Recording for two days: August 20 [six hours], August 28 [three and a half hours].
Cobain was promoted to lead vocals and guitar on \"Ain't It a Shame\", with Pickerel on drums and Novoselic on bass and backing vocals. Again, Endino was relatively unimpressed, dubbing the track a \"very short throwaway traditional-type tune.\" According to Poneman, however, it was one of Kurt's greatest vocal performances.
from Disc 1 of \"With the Lights Out\"
Lyrics
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
When you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Or Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to have a drink on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to have a drink on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to have a drink on Sunday
When you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Or Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to beat your wife on a Sunday
When you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Or Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame to go fishin' on a Sunday
When you got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Or Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame
Ain't it a shame
Shame
Shame
Shame