Charlie O'Neill

Left Handed Man, Left Handed Man, the world's right handed
Please understand, Left Handed Man, the righties get their way

Left Handed Man, your compliments are so two sided.
And it's a sham, Left Handed Man, salute with your right

No matter how much you know, no matter how far the old south paws will roam
No matter how much you seek, you're still a little out of reach of me

Left Handed Man, say it again, the world's right handed.
And it's a scam Left Handed Man, shake with the right

No Matter how much you know, no matter how far the old south paws will roam
No matter how much you seek, you're still a little out of reach of me

Left Handed Man, Left Handed Man, Left Handed Man
Please understand, Left Handed Man, the righties get their way

NOTES ON SONG WRITING

I wrote this song with my right hand. That's because I'm right handed in all things I do.
By writing 'Left Handed Man', my original intention , back in 1988, was not to do for left handed people what Randy Newman's 'Short People' did for short people. But that is really how this song comes across, I guess.

What left handed folks and short people have in common is an undeserved diss from society in general because of a perceived physical limitation.
I just got a little silly with the whole sarcastic idea. Imagine being short and left-handed!

As I wrote, I noticed how 'righties' sounded like 'whities', thereby also including another group of issues in my musical rant.

I hopped the listener could imagined Willie Schoellkopf's lead vocal voice to be a kind of carnival barker and the left handed side-show guy looking a little like the Elephant Man. This, of course, would explain the elephant guitar sounds he was so rudely making during the song.
To me, the voice and actions of firm right handedness are the Sisters of Mercy. All through grade school they preached right handedness. Shake with your right, salute with your right, and above all else...write with your right! It's the Godly thing to do. ...oh and don't give left handed compliments ...it's a sin.

Somewhere I heard the left handed person being described as a 'South Paw Charlie'.
Was this song speaking to me or what?
I was becoming convinced I was on to a good new idea and hopefully a great new song.

Rehearsal for the recording started in April of '06 and wrapped up a year later.
Jim Brucato played an acoustic guitar solo and fills with my finger picked acoustic guitar part.
I rounded up the rhythm section from the Rick Smith Band; Cave Wilson on brush kit and Tim Mruz on stand up bass. We added violinist Geoff Perry, trombonist Jonathan Anner, and keyboard player Jim Ehinger. I played my G&L Strat for the electric guitar parts and added percussion and vocals. Good buddy Dwane Hall engineered the session at Session Studio in Buffalo NY.
Over all, I hoped to achieve a gypsy jazz type feel for this song, Sort of like Tom Waits meets Stephane Grappelli. I was very pleased with what we ended up with. I thank all the featured players for sharing their time and talent on what is now the title track of my musical body of work.

Charlie O'Neill 2007

This recording is dedicated to Tim Battistella, Nick David, Steve Keating, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, Kurt Cobain, and all other left-handed guitarists out there, student and super star alike.

CHORDS WITH LYRIC

intro            Em7      C7   B7b9  B7                 Em7         C7  B7b9 B7
 
 
verse    Em7                          C7                           B7b9     B7
1.Left Handed Man, Left Handed Man, the world's   right handed  -------  Please
                  
    Em7                                  C7                             B7b9     B7            Em7   C7  B7b9  B7
1.understand      ------ Left Handed Man, the   righties  get their way
  
verse     Em7                                 C7                        B7b9     B7            Em7   C7  B7b9  B7  
2.Left Handed Man --- your  compliments are   so        two           sided  --------------- and
 
  Em7                                           C7                           B7b9     B7            Em7 
2. It's a sham,      ----------   Left Handed Man,  ----  salute with  your    right -----
 
 
chorus            Am                                                Bm7           B7aug5.           Em      A7b5    A7
No Matter how much you know, No matter how far the old south paws will roam
 
Am                                                            Bm7  B7aug5                             Em     C7   B7b9  B7
No matter how much you seek, you're still a little out of reach of me     
 
 
   verse    Em7                        C7                              B7b9        B7    Em7         C7 B7b9 B7
3.Left Handed Man,  say it again ----------  the world's   right handed  ----------- and  
  
   Em7                                     C7                    B7b9     B7         Em7 
3  it's a scam       ------- Left Handed Man,   Shake with the right  
 
 
chorus            Am                                                Bm7               B7aug5.           Em   A7b5    A7
No Matter how much you know, No matter how far the old south paws will roam
 
                   Am                                          Bm7  B7aug5                              Em     A7b5    A7
No matter how much you seek, you're still a little out of reach of me   
 
solo  Am  Bm7 C  D7   
 
guitar & violin         F7(addb5)    D7 (add 11)     4 x's 
  
trombone,gtr. & organ          Gm  Eb  F   Gm     2x's
 
guitar and violin     ,   F7(addb5)    D7 (add 11)  2x's
 
 
verse       Gm                           Eb7                 D7b9  D7       Gm               Eb7  D7  D7b9
4. Left Handed Man, Left Handed Man,----         Left Handed Man               please
 
     Gm                          Eb7                         D7b9   D7             Gm
4   Understand    Left Handed Man  the righties get their way ---------
 
chorus            Cm                                                Dm7              D7aug5.          Gm   C7sus    C7
No Matter how much you know, No matter how far the old south paws will roam
 
                  Cm                                             Dm7  D7aug5         Gm     C11    C7  Cm   Dm7   D7
No matter how much you seek, you're still a little out of reach of me 
 
 
outro solo vamp   Gm   Eb7   D7b9  D7