a song for Abigail Adams
words and music by Lloyd Miller (c) (p) 2011
arrangement by Ari Dolegowski, Chris Johnson, Ely Levin, and Lloyd Miller
appears on Strange Dees, Indeed by the Deedle Deedle Dees (release date: October 31, 2011)
abbie abbie abbie
said she didn't get my letter
but oh sweet baby
i like nothing better
i like nothing better
than getting a letter from you
abbie abbie abbie
i'm way across the ocean
18th century mail
tends to get lost
i never stopped writing
i just wrote a letter to you
sent it through braintree, massachusetts
care of the shark-filled sea
write me here i'm still in paris
abbie write a letter to me
abbie abbie abbie
said she didn't get my letter
but oh sweet baby
i like nothing better
i like nothing better
than getting a letter from you
abbie abbie abbie
i'm always with franklin
he lets the cold air in
but i like the window closed
i've heard a lot from him
now i need to hear a little from you
sent it through braintree, massachusetts
care of the shark-filled sea
write me here i'm still in paris
abbie write a letter to me
Abigail and John Adams were famous for the letters they wrote throughout their life. But in the late 1700s and early 1800s when they lived, the mail service was far less sophisticated than it is now and many letters got lost. One time Abigail complained that John had written enough and he protested -- not in the pleading romantic manner of this song, but in the same vigorous manner he used in courtrooms and legal documents. In this song, I give John a different voice from the one we read in his letters, one closer to my own.
Who does what on "a song for Abigail Adams"
Booker Dee (Chris Johnson): organ
Moby Dee (Ari Dolegowski): electric bass
Otto von Dee (Ely Levin): drums
Ulysses S. Dee (Lloyd Miller): electric guitar, vocals
Dean Jones: recording, mixing
