I’ve been listening to the classic blues song, ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover’.  It was first made into a hit by Bo Diddley – still probably the definitive version – and has been covered by many artists, including The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder.  Written by one of America’s greatest songwriters, Willie Dixon, it has a direct, interesting, and fun take on the List Song.

The first Verse and Chorus:

You can’t judge an apple by looking at a tree
You can’t judge honey by looking at the bee
You can’t judge a daughter by looking at the mother
You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover

        Oh Can’t you see Oh You misjudge me
         I look like a farmer but I’m a lover
         You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover

The whole song continues in exactly this vein.  Every Verse line is an example of incorrect conclusions that can be drawn from appearances, ending with the saying that exemplifies the idea that appearances are deceiving: ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover‘.

Dixon doesn’t miss a trick.  He’s got the Title at the end of both the Verse and the Chorus. The impersonal illustrations in the Verses are followed by a Chorus that personalizes the song – ‘Can’t you see, you misjudge me’. It also didn’t escape his notice that Cover rhymes with Lover. He took advantage of that.

The lyric is clever, totally focused, and is about something absolutely everyone can relate to.  Combine this with the music’s powerful rhythmic drive in an extended – 16 bar – blues form (it could be a 12 bar blues… except its first 4 bars are extended to 8 bars, giving it a more Verse/Chorus feeling than a typical 12 bar blues).

(For another take, read The List Song – Part 1, here.)

Enjoy:

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