It's Not What You Do (It's What You Say)

(Roberts)

Listen Here (MP3)

Origins

I had just bought a new effects unit (a Korg G3, gearheads) and was messing around, trying to duplicate the sound at the beginning of "Purple Rain". I turned a lot of the controls to their extremes, max compression, max "scoop" on the tone, max chorus etc and got a great sound. The opening intro just fell out of my fingers there and then, and I just worked it into a descending chord sequence followed by a heavy riff for the chorus. I was looking at my CD collection for inspiration for lyrics and came across The Southernaires "Deeds Not Words" album which I turned around to be "Words Not Deeds" and made longer by saying "it's not what you do, it's what you say". That was it, song complete. The solo was first take and I'm really proud of it - it was totally improvised. You can tell I'd been listening to a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey in the few weeks before I recorded it.

Lyrics

VERSE ONE
Whatever caused this latest twist, I'm glad we didn't make up and kiss
Now I'm free to live here on my own
With your lying eyes and manhole mouth, all I lived for was getting out
And leaving you there like a dog that's got no bone

VERSE TWO
You talked non-stop about your boring life, said one day you'd be mine
It wasn't those lies or boasts that made me leave
Profanity, profundity, it's all the same to me
Whether talking shit, or chewing verbs, words were not the key

CHORUS
You hurt me, girl, with careless words
When I walked out it was all you deserved
I'll tell you the truth about you, come what may
Your actions hurt people through and through
Speak louder than the words which I know aren't true
It's not what you do, it's what you say

Personnel

Adie: Rhythm guitar
Coddy: Lead vocals
Dave: Bass
Howard: Rhythm & lead guitar
Mick: Drums

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