Bottom of the Trunk
by @berni1954
Liner Notes
This song was written for the "Guilt" Prompt on this week's "Seasons of the Ukulele" (no longer on Ukulele Underground). It features a Guitalele and backing by Band in a Box.
It outlines an incident in my youth of which I am far from proud and relates the guilt I felt about it all then and later.
Lyrics
(Gm) Linda was a fellow (F) student All re(Gm)ligious and na(F)ïve Ann, her (Gm) sister found home o(F)ppressive And (Bb) longed for a chance to (C) leave Their (Eb) father was a Tory (Bb) bigot With i(Eb)deas from before the (Bb) war After a (Eb) row with him one (Bb) evening Ann (F) turned up outside my (Bb) door
She (Gm) begged me to let her (F) stay Said she'd (Gm) nowhere else to (F) go I (Gm) sensed this could lead to (F) trouble But I (Bb) chose to go with the (C) flow A (Eb) bottle of cheap red wine (Bb) later I re(Eb)minded her:"There's just one (Bb) bed!" She'd been (Eb) coming on to me all (Bb) evening "I (F) know" was all she (Bb) said
She's (Eb) probably for(Bb)gotten me, But (Eb) I'm still plagued by (Bb) guilt When(Eb)ever her image (Bb) surfaces It's (F) covered in rotting silt A (Eb) painful re(Bb)minder Of how (Eb) low I once had (Bb) sunk In my (Cm) treasure chest of memories I keep her (F) hidden in the bottom of the (Bb) trunk (F) Hidden in the bottom of the (Gm) trunk
(Gm) She told me she was (F) desperate To (Gm) lose her virgini(F)ty Well, (Gm) I was young and (F) willing To (Bb) let that task fall to (C) me (Eb) Bodies clasped to (Bb) bodies Me re(Eb)gretting what we had (Bb) drunk But the (Eb) thing that put me (Bb) off the most Was (F) just how much she (Bb) stunk
(Gm) I should have told her the (F) truth And (Gm) asked her to take a (F) bath But in(Gm)stead I broke off be(F)fore we'd joined Not (Bb) thinking of the after(C)math "You (Eb) can't stop now!" she (Bb) pleaded "I (Eb) need you!" she im(Bb)plored But I (Eb) claimed the moral (Bb) high ground And said: (F) "I'll sleep on the (Bb) floor!"
CHORUS
I (Gm) lay in my sleeping bag (F) listening To Ann (Gm) whimper through her (F) tears I (Gm) guessed I'd wrecked her self-as(F)surance Done (Bb) damage that might last for (C) years Her (Eb) look of shock and res(Bb)entment I (Eb) knew I would never for(Bb)get (Eb) Not being truthful with (Bb) her that night Has (F) been a life-long re(Bb)gret
CHORUS
Comments
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This is both hilarious and kind of sad. I can see both sides here :-) Your guilt just makes you a good person. I love the unexpected direction it took and that it wasn't a song about regretting taking someone's virginity. Highly entertaining.
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What a story! Love the song and music and performance too!
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This is such a jaunty, enjoyable song!! Just the right amount of raunchy!! I really enjoyed it and enjoyed the video too!! I think alot of us have trunk like that!!
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Everyone of our generation probably has a Norwegian Wood tale or two. This is great storytelling.
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Awesome story-telling! Someone here should write a song from her viewpoint. I think I buried my trunk at sea so such memories would be harder to re-surface.
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2025/8ae0ec24-fce7-4c28-b31d-acd72e75852a.png){kind=avatar}
This is film noir. Vivid technicolor reality in black and white.
![[avatar]](https://fawm-avatars.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/fawm2023/5ee6487f-edf6-47b1-a0a5-c68600288891.png){kind=avatar}
Catchy from the off! Like the pace. I think Tory bigot may be a tortology :-). Some guilt and humour all in one!
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Wonderful stuff Berni, really enjoyed this, both the lyrics and delivery
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it seems we are at the age when we deal with the guilt we feel about things we did in the days when we were innocent. feelings of guilt that may have motivated this confession are leavened by your winning sense of humour.
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Geez the preamble made me wonder if I should even give it a listen: I was not expecting THAT sort of misbehavior 🤭 Very entertaining song.
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Let's see, there was crazy Mike the saxophone player, the French guy on the train to Perpignan (what was his name?), Sabine the 6 foot tall German chick from that bar in Dusseldorf. Oh, sorry, I digress. Every line in the retelling of this unfortunate mishap, sent me flying thru my own little worm hole of, ahem, well, you know. :0)
What a wonderful confessional you've created here, with a twist none of us saw coming! Clearly, neither did you! Conversational, impeccably detailed, both emotionally and factually.The talent you have for conversational lyric writing is unsurpassed. An art in and of itself, that you have been so gifted with! A very honest recounting of some of lifes most awkward moments. The ones that just leave a sticky feeling in our gut. The ones there will never be enough Hail Mary's to set right. In my book, a good song'll do just fine. You sure nailed this one!