My First Wife Left Me

Album: Archive Of Folk Blues (1960)
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Songfacts®:

  • John Lee Hooker was married and divorced four times, so he had some personal experience with this topic. In his 1985 chat with Bruce Pollock, Hooker explained that a song like this doesn't always come from a dark place, as he could be in a perfectly good mood but want to write something for the people who aren't. Discussing this song, which was released during his time on the Vee-Jay label, Hooker said, "That's one of my favorites. It came to me that so many men get married and their wives leave them. So I decided to write a song like that. It's so sad that every time I sing it I feel a teardrop in my eye. I see my audience, even the young folks; they're sitting there with their heads hanging down."

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