One Of The Three - The James Band Archive

How Was It For You?

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How Was It For You? is the sixth song on the 1990 James album Gold Mother.

It was James’ first single for Mercury, their first attempt at multi-formatting and their first Top 40 single in May 1990. Across the different formats of the single, there was a 7″ edit, the album version and a “band mix”.

A live version from Manchester’s G-Mex (the Come Home Live show) features on a US promo-only 1992 “Setlist” EP and a further live version recorded at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London in March 1997 appears as a b-side to the Waltzing Along single released in June that year. A demo version appears on the vinyl disc of The Gathering Sound Boxset released in 2012.

The video was banned from Top Of The Pops as it featured Tim singing underwater.

The track itself was mixed by Tim Palmer, David Bowie’s Tin Machine producer and was the only track off the original version of Gold Mother that hadn’t been extensively previewed before its release.

Details

LyricsListenReleaseAvailable OnGigsGuitar Tabs
Well they said you are as good as you look but that
Would be impossible
For you look better than the face of god on a sunny day
You look good enough to eat but I've had a bellyful
And now I have this bill I don't wanna pay

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you

Do you really need that drink to disarm defences
Can you never face the flak when you're in control
Well I don't believe my luck I am defenceless
Do with me what you want but don't tell a soul
Don't tell my soul

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

Was it as good as it was for me
Well that's the best it's ever been
And you're the best I've ever seen
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you my love
Was it good for you my dear
How was it for you my love

If you ain't out of your head can you ever enjoy yourself
But if you ain't in your head then who's at home?
I'm so possessed by sex I could destroy my health
We could be dancing over coals and we'd never know
We'd never know

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you

How was it for you
How was it for you
How was it for you
Was it as good as it was for me
Well that's the best it's ever been
And you're the best I've ever seen

Yeah Yeah Yeah
Yeah Yeah Yeah

We lie awake and feeling warm
I need to feel your healing hands
We lie awake and rise at dawn
Only your fingers understand
Feeling warm
Can understand
The feeling calls
The healing hands
It's such a feeling, yeah
It's such a feeling, woah
It's such a feeling, yeah
It's such a feeling, woah
It's such a feeling

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7″ version

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Band Mix

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Song:How Was It For You?
Released:30th April 1990
Main Associated Album (or Single):Gold Mother
First Heard Live:BBC Radio 1 John Peel – 10th April 1990
Played at:
James - How Was It For You

Taken from the album Gold Mother

Written and performed by James

Main Riff:

e-------------------------------------------------------
B----5----5----7--5-5-6---------------------------------
G--5---5----5--8--6-6-6---------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

Chorus Riff Part 1:

e-------------------------------------------------------
B-----3----3-5--5-3-------------------------------------
G--5----5-----------5-5---------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

Chorus Riff Part 2:

e-------------------------------------------------------
B-----3----3--------------------------------------------
G--5----5----4--5----4-5--------------------------------
D-----------------7-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

Second Verse Riff:

e-------------------------------------------------------
B----3-3---3-5------------------------------------------
G--5-----5----------------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

Song Structure:

Guitars galore here as James go rock. And they show us how to rock with the Main Riff, which crops up throughout the intro and verses. Occasionally sandwiched in the middle of the Main Riff is what I've called the Second Verse Riff, which, as you might have gathered, also appears in the second verse. But it's got to be more complicated than that, that looks far too easy. Whatever you do though, that riff must be FAST.
During the chorus of "how was it for you"s Larry plays the Chorus Riff. Part 1 always starts it off and crops up somewhere else, I forget where. Part 2 is the main part that repeats over and over.
For the "it's such a feeling" parts, strum madly these chords: C and F.

Lyrics/Chords:

C G
Well they said you are as good as you look but that

F C
Would be impossible

G F C
For you look better than the face of god on a sunny day

G F C
You look good enough to eat but I've had a bellyful

G F C
And now I have this bill I don't wanna pay



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you



Do you really need that drink to disarm defences

Can you never face the flak when you're in control

Well I don't believe my luck I am defenceless

Do with me what you want but don't tell a soul

Don't tell my soul



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



Was it as good as it was for me

Well that's the best it's ever been

And you're the best I've ever seen

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you my love

Was it good for you my dear

How was it for you my love



If you ain't out of your head can you ever enjoy yourself

But if you ain't in your head then who's at home?

I'm so possessed by sex I could destroy my health

We could be dancing over coals and we'd never know

We'd never know



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you



How was it for you

How was it for you

How was it for you

Was it as good as it was for me

Well that's the best it's ever been

And you're the best I've ever seen



Yeah Yeah Yeah

Yeah Yeah Yeah



We lie awake and feeling warm

I need to feel your healing hands

We lie awake and rise at dawn

Only your fingers understand

Feeling warm

Can understand

The feeling calls

The healing hands

It's such a feeling, yeah

It's such a feeling, woah

It's such a feeling, yeah

It's such a feeling, woah

It's such a feeling




Transcribed by Alex Carter 2001.

alex@shandy3000.fsnet.co.uk
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