Happy Families
(Partridge)
Jules Verne's Sketchbook cover |
Recordings Art Annotated Lyrics Chords and Tablature |
(Partridge)
|
Jules Verne's Sketchbook cover |
Recordings Art Annotated Lyrics Chords and Tablature |
| « Previous | Contents | Next » |
Andy: “The demo for a song nearly finished in the MUMMER sessions. We still may record it one day. Another of XTC's Home Life songs. Do the kids control the parents or do the parents control the kids? What a game! I did an impromptu solo live version on French TV once. I wonder if anyone saw it.”
Andy: “Originally for Mummer. This was in the John Hughes movie She's Having A Baby but it's heard only as an instrumental mix coming out a transistor radio.”
Andy: “This is the Linn version (IE version 2) there was an earlier demo with more primitive bonk box, but this ain't it. Liked the words and the melody but for some reason it never seemed to click. Inspired by the kids' card game.”
Andy Partridge strums “Happy Families” for French TV. |
“Happy Families” is the name of a British card game.
Demo version:
Have you got Miss Fortune, she's the daughter of rich parents,
all she does is cry. One four-letter word is all she wants but
you can't buy love so there's no supply.
Will you take your Master Charge, the boy who's living well
beyond his parents' means. (Happy families.) See his parents
kill theirselves with work to keep their dandy in the latest
jeans. (Happy families.)
Happy families is a kid's game. Happy families is your main aim.
It starts out with a dealing in the middle of the night, and ends
up with a full house if you play your cards out right. Mum says
Dad is cheating, you should see the grown-ups fight for happy
families, the game that's sure to please.
Have you got your Master Race the bigot son who, like his dad, is
full of fear. (Happy families.) Not so much a sun, more of a
storm to her, to burn the books when Dad's not here. (Happy
families.)
Happy families is a kid's game. Happy families is your main aim.
You start out with your first cub and you think that life's a
song. You'll end up with a wolfpack if you lay your cards out
wrong. Dad says Mom is cheating, you can see the children long
for happy families, the game that's sure to please.
Have you got Miss Carriage, she's the girl who wants a baby that
she cannot find. (Happy families.) Strange, the ones who want
to win the race are usually the ones who fall behind.
Demo version Nº 2:
Have you got Miss Fortune, she's the daughter of rich parents, all she does is cry.
(Happy families.)
One four-letter word is all she wants but you can't buy love, so they can't supply.
(Happy families.)Will you take young Master Charge, the boy who's living well beyond his worldly means.
(Happy families.)
See his parents kill themselves to work to keep their dandy in Italian jeans.
(Happy families.)Happy families is your kids' game.
Happy families is their main aim.
It starts out with a dealing in the middle of the night,
and ends up with a full house if you play your cards out right.
Mum says Dad is cheating,
you should see the children fight for happy families.Have you got young Master Race the bigot son who, like his dad, is fueled with fear.
(Happy families.)
Not so much a son, more of a stormtrooper, to hold the torch when Dad's not here.
(Happy families.)Happy families is your kids' game.
Happy families is their main aim.
You start out with your first cub and you think that life's a song.
You'll end up with a wolfpack if you lay your cards out wrong.
Dad says Mom is cheating,
you can see the children long for happy families.Have you got Miss Carriage, she's the girl who wants a baby that she cannot find.
(Happy families.)
Strange, the ones who want to win the race are usually the ones who fall behind.
(Happy families.)
[Thanks to Derek Miner]
Album version:
Have you got Miss Fortune, she's the daughter of rich parents,
all she does is cry. One four-letter word is all she wants
but you can't buy love so there's no supply.
Will you take young Master Charge, the boy who's living well
beyond his father's means. (Happy families.) See his mother
kill herself with work to keep her dandy in the latest jeans.
(Happy families.)
Happy families is a kid's game. Happy families is your main
aim. It starts out with a dealing in the middle of the night,
and ends up with a full house if you play your cards out
right. Mum says Dad is cheating, you should see the grown-ups
fight for happy families, the game that's sure to please.
Have you got young Master Race the bigot son who, like his dad,
is fooled with fear. (Happy families.) Not so much a sun,
more of a stormtrooper, to burn the books when Dad's not here.
(Happy families.)
Happy families is a kid's game. Happy families is your main
aim. You start out with your first cub and you think that
life's a song. You'll end up with a wolfpack if you lay your
cards out wrong. Dad says Mom is cheating, you can see the
children long for happy families, the game that's sure to please.
Have you got Miss Carriage, she's the girl who wants a baby
that she cannot find. (Happy families.) Strange, the ones
who want to win the race are usually the ones who fall behind.
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 20:52:03 +0000
From: "the Q enigma" <sq7_ (at) hotmail dot com>
Subject: Re: happy families tab
Message-ID: <F60bfFK1uFdZFKkG6pW00016042 (at) hotmail dot com>
HAPPY FAMILIES
by
XTC
tabbed by sistahQ
(taken from a live acoustic performance on french tv)
A
have you got miss fortune she's the daughter of rich parents
Em F#m
all she does is cry happy families
A
one four-letter word is all she wants but you can't buy the love
Em F#m
they won't supply happy families
A
will you take young master charge the boy who's living well beyond
Em F#m
his wordly means happy families
A
keeps his mum and dad in work so they supply their dandy with
Em B7
italian jeans happy families
_____________________________________________________________
E D A E D A
happy families is a kids' game happy families is their main aim
_____________________________________________________________
F#m Bm E A
it starts out with a dealing in the middle of the night
F#m Bm E A
you'll end up with a full house if you play your cards out right
A Bm B
mum says dad is cheating you should see the parents
Dm9 Dm Dm(maj7)
fight....................for
A Bm A* Bm* A Bm A E A
happy families, happy families, the game that's sure to please
_____________________________________________________________
A
have you got young master race the boy who like his parents is just
Em F#m
full of fear happy families
A
not so much a son more of a stormtrooper to burn the books when
Em B7
dad's not here happy families
_____________________________________________________________
E D A E D A
happy families is a kids' game happy families is their main aim
_____________________________________________________________
F#m Bm E A
you start out with your first cub and you think that life's a song
F#m Bm E A
you'll end up with a wolf pack if you play those cards out wrong
A Bm B
dad says mum is cheating you should see the children
Dm9 Dm Dm(maj7)
long.....................for
A Bm A* Bm* A Bm D E
happy families happy families, whoo-oo-oo-oo-oooo
A Bm A* Bm* A Bm A E A
happy families happy families, them happy families
_____________________________________________________________
A
have you seen miss carriage she's a girl who wants a baby that she
Em F#m
cannot find happy families
A
strange the ones who want to win the race are usually the ones
Em F#m F
left behind happy families
chords
A Em F#m B7 E D
002220 022000 244222 224242 022100 000232
577655*
Bm B Dm9 Dm Dm(maj7) F
224432 224442 557755 557765 557665 133211
799777*
_______________
HAPPY FAMILIES
the accostical oddities
this section is loosely based on andy's guitar work. unfortunately the
sound/picture quality is iffy on my copy, and even more
unfortunately, my transcription skills suck, so this is a *very* rough
estimate.
for the opening two lines, the guitar follows the lyrics (same melody,
for the most part):
*** section A***
have you got miss for-tune she's the daugh-ter of rich
E |---------------------------------------|
B |-------2--3--5--3--2-------3--2--------|
G |-2--4-------------------4---------4--2-|
D |---------------------------------------|
A |---------------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------------|
par-ents all she does is cry happy families..
E |---------------------------------------|
B |-2--------------2--------2--------2----|
G |----4--2-----------2--------2----------|
D |----------2--5--------5--------5-----4-|
A |---------------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------------|
...........................
E |----------------------|
B |----2--------2--------|repeat for next
G |-2-----2--------2-----|verse, then into
D |----------4--------4--|section B
A |----------------------|
E |----------------------|
***section B***
after the opening verse, he switches to a strumming the melody over
an A chord, and then varies between the a and b methods for playing
the verses for the rest of the song (*note: I think the top e is
supposed to be open here, but his finger keeps hitting the second
fret, quite gratifyingly, really, as mine always does the same thing)
will you take young master charge the boy who's living well
E |-0-->----------------------------------|
B |-2--2--2--3--5--3--2--2--3--2--2--2--2-|
G |-2--4--2--2--2--2--2--4--2--2--4--2--2-|
D |-2-->----------------------------------|
A |-0-->----------------------------------|
E |-0-->----------------------------------|
be-yond his world-ly means happy families...
E |-0--0--0-------------------------------|
B |-2--2--2-----2--------2--------2-------|
G |-4--2--2--------2--------2-----------2-|
D |-2--2--2--5--------5--------5-----4----|
A |-0--0--0-------------------------------|
E |-0--0--0-------------------------------|
...........................
E |-------------------|
B |-2--------2--------| repeat for the next
G |----2--------2-----| verse, then dive
D |-------4--------4--| right into the --
A |-------------------|
E |-------------------|
***chorus***
as far as I can tell, he's playing straight chords here. hope that's
helpful.
***section C***
now this section is a problem. partridge plays it somewhere way the
hell up on the neck, and if I'd tried to force the tiny fingers god has
seen fit to give me anywhere near the position mister big-hands
contorts his digits into here, I would likely break appendages I didn't
even realize I owned. so I didn't. I did, however, manage to guess
which notes he was playing though - roughly - and adapt them
further down the neck for the better ease and comfort of those of us
who can't conceal small bowling balls between our knuckles.
mum says dad is cheating, you should see the parents -
fi..................ght for..................
E |---------------------------------------|
B |----5--------5--------5-----3--------2-|
G |-------2--------2--------------2-------|
D |-3--------3--------3-----3--------3----|
A |---------------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------------|
............happy families..........etc
E |----------|
B |-------2--|
G |-2--------| A Bm A* Bm*
D |----3-----|
A |----------|
E |----------|
***section D***
this is a little tag of melody stuck in amongst the chords at the end of
the chorus and is most likely not needed here, but just in case:
hap-py fam-i-lies, the game that's sure to please
/them hap-py fam-i-lies
B |-0--2--3--2--0--2-| A E A
***outro***
at the end of the song he plays the part to 'have you seen miss
carriage' as shown is section A, but for the 'strange the ones..' line he
just strums and holds the A chord. then, for the outro, starting at the
phrase 'left behind', something roughly like the following is played:
strange the ones who want to win the race are usually the
ones -
- left be-hind..........happy families..............
E |---------------------------------------|
B |----2-----------2--------------2-------|
G |-------2-----------2--------2----------|
D |-5--------5--5--------5--4--------4--3-|
A |---------------------------------------|
E |---------------------------------------|
........
E |----------5--(hold)--|
B |----2----------------|
G |-2-------------------|
D |-------3-------------|
A |---------------------|
E |---------------------|
...and he lets the last high A fade out, quavering like the sad little
note it is.
enjoy!
Q| « Previous | Contents | Next » |
Go back to XTC Reel by Real.
9 January 2016 / Feedback