When My Time Is Up

In 1969, Grand Funk Railroad covered The Animals 1966 moderate hit ‘Inside Looking Out’ adding some marijuana references to the lyrics.  It was their sole UK Top 40 hit, and a concert staple of the band for years and it was included on their 1970 first Live Album.  The song is very loosely based on a prison work chant entitled ‘Rosie’, attributed to C. B. Cook and Axe Gang, and collected by the musicologist Alan Lomax.  ‘Rosie’ was sung by a prison spiritual group that Alan Lomax and his father John recorded at the Parchman Farm, Mississippi, during the 1930s.  CB Cook and the ten other unidentified prisoners never got credit for their work, when it was reused by others.  ‘Rosie’ is a sweet ode to a person named Rosie who a convict wishes to marry.  He promised to marry her once he was free from prison, and he sings about his worries of her running out of patience while waiting for him to be released.

Grand Funk Railroad sold out New York’s 50,000-seater Shea Stadium and headlined London’s Hyde Park, being bigger than Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath at one time.  Blue-collar America adored their no-nonsense rock’n’roll music, but the band were despised by the critics even though they had 10 platinum discs in a row.  Grand Funk Railroad was formed in 1969 with guitarist Mark Farner, bassist Mel Schacher and drummer Don Brewer.  They got their first break performing at the 1969 Atlanta Pop Festival which featured Booker T. & the M.G.s, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Tommy James and the Shondells, Chicago Transit Authority, Led Zeppelin, Joe Cocker, The Butterfield Blues Band, Canned Heat, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Johnny Winter, Janis Joplin and others.

They are in the Michigan Music Hall of Fame and although Homer Simpson called them the best rock band of all time, they never made the cover of Rolling Stone.  Their early manager Terry Knight ignored the music critics, which made them furious, but the band thought he was good for them till they found out that he was ripping off their money.  Most of the band’s songs were original compositions, but they also did some great covers.  In 1972, Grand Funk Railroad fired Terry Knight, but he repossessed their instruments and countersued.  The legal battles would go on for two years, with Knight being the financial victor.  Grand Funk broke up in 1976, reunited with a new line up in the early ‘80s, broke up in the early ‘80s, and reformed in 1996.  Some critics feel that they are the most overrated band of all time, and their fans think they are the best ever.

Sittin’ here lonely like a broken man
Sell my time and do the best I can
I wasn’t boss this around in me
But I don’t want your sympathy, yeah
Oh baby, oh baby, I just need your tender lovin’
To keep me sane in this burnin’ oven
When my time is up, be my reaper
Like Adam’s work on God’s green earth
My reaper, my reaper baby, yeah me is my reaper, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby baby baby c’mon c’mon c’mon, yeah

Ice cold waters runnin’ in my brain
And they drag me back to work again
Pains and blisters on my minds and my hands
From living daily with those canvas bags
Thoughts of freedom their drivin’ me wild
And I’ll by happy like a new born child
We’ll be together, girl, you wait and see
No more walls to keep your love from me

Yeah, can’t you feel my love
Baby, baby, need you, squeeze you,
Nobody but, nobody but, you girl, I love you, need you
All right

I said everything’s gonna be all right
And if you don’t believe what I say
Just listen baby and I’ll tell you
Can’t you feel my love
Can’t you see my skill
Can’t you yell my love
It’s getting louder
It’s getting louder
A little closer, yeah

I said baby, I need you, c’mon, squeeze, please
Lord, I love you, I need you, yeah
Yeah, right by my side
I need you here by my side
But I can’t help it baby
But I’ll be home soon
I’ll be home soon, yeah
All right
Whoa!!!

Written for Glyn’s Mixed Music Bag #16, April Monthly Challenge Week 16 where we need to find a song by any group or solo singer beginning with the letter G or H.