Songs by Alex Houston H.


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THE GREAT UNWASHED

THE GREAT UNWASHED
Alex Houston H. / Genre: Pop / Fun / Tempo: 112 bpm
THE GREAT UNWASHED
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Note to Instructor

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The chorus was written in the sixties. It had no words, although I called it "The Great Unwashed" because, at the time, that was what my girlfriend's mother called The Rolling Stones. Coined by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, "the great unwashed" refers to the lower classes. Bands from California, Canada and New Zealand have adopted it as their name, so the terminology seems pretty universal among English speaking nations.

In 2014 I added the verse and bridge and wrote the lyrics in less than an hour. I recorded the vocal over a backing track. The production is almost as bad as my singing, so please excuse. I wanted to create a fun third person story song, something like "Ob-la-di ob-la-da" by the Beatles.

Lyrics

THE GREAT UNWASHED

Verse 1

Katy was a beautiful woman
Johnny was a good friend of mine
But he proved he was only human
When she smiled and gave him a sign
They went out for six months or longer
Then she dumped him one awful day
He went weak while Katy grew stronger
Now you hear the town’s people say

Chorus

Here comes the great unwashed
Lost his woman and his dreams were quashed
Always messy and he’s never dressy
Cause he fought for her love and lost
Here comes the great unwashed
Every day he’s counting up the cost
Hair’s all tousy and his clothes are lousy
So they call him the great unwashed

Verse 2

Johnny had a whole lot of money
He was rich but not very bright
Katy was a very smart bunny
She set out to leave Johnny light
When they split she went off to Bali
That’s where she decided to stay
She left Johnny counting the tally
Now you hear the town’s people say

Repeat Chorus

Bridge

There’s a moral for men to share
Johnny’s not on his own
When a gold digger you may see
Best to leave her alone

Repeat Chorus

© 2014 Words and music by Alex Houston
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