Lyrics to
Big Mable Murphy

This version of Big Mable Murphy was released by Diana Ross in 1974.

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Way back in ’29…1929
Somewhere in Coffeeville.
Was a Honkytonk, named Big Mable Murphy

She had a sweetheart, Mean Little Melvin
And hell would fly between them every Saturday night
Why? Because Little Melvin
He got wild on bathtub gin
Well it made him feel like he was almost twice his size
So he’d try to take over and sass big Mable
But her great big fist would black little Melvin’s eyes.
Ya see, Big Mable Murphy
She loved her Little Melvin
But he never did learn to do just what she said
Cause poor Little Melvin, work up early every morning
With two black eyes and knuckle bumps on his head.

Late one rainy night
Scarface, muscle and all might,
He came in and started shoving everybody around.
Well, Big Mable Murphy
She was way back in the kitchen
So just for fun ol’ Scarface, shot Little Melvin down

Early next morning
Down by the river
They say old Scarface was found real short of breath
They say he died, uh oh, the man died
From a good ol’ whipping
He had two black eyes and knuckle bumps on his head

Big Mable
Big Mable Murphy
She gave him two black eyes and knuckle bumps on his head.

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Diana Ross has released many songs over the years besides Big Mable Murphy. Diana Ross released songs from 1970 to 2006 spanning across albums like Everything Is Everything, Diana Ross, Surrender / I'm Still Waiting, Lady Sings The Blues, Touch Me In The Morning, Last Time I Saw Him, Diana & Marvin, Live At Caesar's Palace, Baby It's Me, The Wiz, Ross, The Boss, diana, To Love Again, Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Silk Electric, Swept Away, Eaten Alive, Red Hot Rhythm And Blues, Workin' Overtime, The Force Behind The Power, Take Me Higher, Every Day Is A New Day, I Love You, and Blue. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Diana Ross.

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About Lyrics and Big Mable Murphy by Diana Ross

The lyrics to Big Mable Murphy are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Diana Ross in 1974. Elements of the lyrics to Big Mable Murphy are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Diana Ross and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Big Mable Murphy back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Big Mable Murphy by Diana Ross in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Big Mable Murphy" means the words set to the music of Big Mable Murphy, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Diana Ross. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Big Mable Murphy and the lyrics to Big Mable Murphy are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Diana Ross who came here looking just for the lyrics to Big Mable Murphy, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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