A
song from the
folk music boom in the early
60s, but probably better known via a version recorded after the
British Invasion wiped out many outward traces of the boom. It was written by Sylvia Fricker Tyson (tied for pre-
rock folkie überbabe of the era, alongside Mimi Baez Farina;
but I digress), half of the Ian and Sylvia folk duo (émigrés from
Toronto to the
Greenwich Village scene) with her husband Ian; this was the very first song she wrote. "I woke up this morning" is an ancient blues-lyric
motif, and always a good way to get a song going.
The 1965 We Five version (lyrics here) has the sound of all those
massed-vocals folk-rock bands, from The Mamas and the Papas, and Jefferson Airplane on occasion, to lesser-known groups, like the Clefs of Lavender Hill (of "Stop! Get a Ticket!" non-fame); plus the then-ever-present sound of the electric 12-string guitar. It was part of A&M Records' attempt to go after the younger, non-easy-listening market; the strategy was successful, but We Five themselves didn't have any lasting impact.
This version is also unusual musically for the changing chord progressions,
different through each iteration of the "when I woke up this morning..." verses; this was not how the song was written.
There are also several Ian and Sylvia versions out there as well, dating from the early 60s to the early 70s.
When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
And you were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind
So I went to the corner
Just to ease my pains
Yeah, just to ease my pains
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I came home again
When I woke up this morning
You were on my mi-i-i-ind and
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind
And I got a feelin'
Down in my sho-oo-oo-oes, said
Way down in my sho-oo-oes
Yeah, I got to ramble, whoa-oh
I got to move on, whoa-oh
I got to walk away my blues
When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind