carson • christopher • james
In 1972, Wayne Carson came to studio to cut a demo of a two-verse song with no refrain he'd written in ten minutes a couple of days before. The producer insisted upon adding a bridge, but Carson had no idea. He asked occationally present fellow songwriters Johnny Christopher and Mark James for assistance, and then and there they came up with two lines to fill in with. It may be the most lucrative lines ever written. This song has been recorded about 300 times, appeared in numerous TV- and movie settings and won Best Country Song, Song of the Year and Single of the Year from Grammy, NSAI, ACM and finally CMA in 1982: Willie Nelson version. A Live session with the songmakers themselves is available from the picture.
Gwen McCrae, soul- and R&B-singer, was the first to cut it, rapidly following Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley. Later recordings by Willie Nelson and Pet Shop Boys shows the spectrum of genres Carson's songs cover. He also wrote "The Letter", "Soul Deep" and "Neon Rainbow" for The Box Tops.
Last year even Ane Brun covered the song, for her album "Leave Me Breathless". She chose 3/4 rhythm instead of 4/4, and in fact I agree with her.
maybe I didn't love you
quite as often as I could have
maybe I didn't treat you
quite as good as I should have
if I made you feel second best
girl I'm sorry I was blind
you were always on my mind
you were always on my mind
and maybe I didn't hold you
all those lonely lonely times
I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that your mine
little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
you were always on my mind
you were always on my mind
tell me : tell me
that your sweet love hasn't died
give me : give me one more chance
to keep you satisfied
I'll keep you satisfied
little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time
you were always on my mind
you were always on my mind
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
A Amaj7 E ...Bdim7...F#m maybe I didn't love you B7sus2 D quite as often as I could have A Amaj7 E ...Bdim7...F#m maybe I didn't treat you B7sus2 B7 quite as good as I should have D A if I made you feel second best Bm Bm7 E girl I'm sorry I was blind E6 E7 A ...Amaj7...E you were always on my mind E7 E6 A you were always on my mind A Amaj7 F#m F#m7 Bm tell me tell me Bm7 E ...E7 that your sweet love hasn't died A Amaj7 F#m F#m7 Bm Bm7 give me give me one more chance E to keep you satisfied E7 A I'll keep you satisfied
