First song of the year: "In a Town This Size"

Charlie Musselwhite (at left in a photo I took at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon) performed the version I used in our first class of the year.

Want to try the gapfill exercise before you read the lyrics below?

First, here's the song itself, via YouTube (but audio only). As you listen, fill in the blanks below.

Here's where to fill in the blanks:

Chorus: In a ________ this size, there’s no ________ to hide
Everywhere ________ ________, you meet _________ you know
You _________ steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors would fly in a _________ this size.

In a smoky _________, in the back seat of a car,
In your own little _________, someone’s sure to find you out,
What you _________ and what you think, what you eat and what you _________,
If you smoke a _________, they'll be talking about your breath.

Chorus

(he) Oh, I _________ a fight with my _________ last night,
Before the moon went down, it was _________ _________ town
(she) How I made him _________, how I said _________,
If it’s true or _________, it don’t count a lot.

Chorus...

If you'd like to use this in your own classroom, here the exercise in a handout format.

Now, the full lyrics:

In a Town This Size, Kieran Kane 

(performed by Charlie Musselwhite with Kelly Willis)

In a town this size, there’s no place to hide
Everywhere you go, you meet someone you know
You can’t steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors would fly in a town this size.

In a smoky bar, in the back seat of a car,
In your own little house, someone’s sure to find you out,
What you do and what you think, what you eat and what you drink,
If you smoke a cigarette, they'll be talking about your breath

In a town this size, there’s no place to hide
Everywhere you go, you meet someone you know
You can’t steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors would fly in a town this size.

He: Oh, I had a fight with my girlfriend last night,
Before the moon went down, it was all over town
She: How I made him cry, how I said goodbye,
If it’s true or not, it don’t count a lot

In a town this size, there’s no place to hide
Everywhere you go, you meet someone you know
You can’t steal a kiss in a place like this
How the rumors would fly in a town this size. In a town this size. In a town this size.

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At the concert where I took the picture above, Charlie Musselwhite sang this song about his first days in Chicago. I'm somewhere in the front of the audience.