"Don't You Lie to Me" Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan

"Don't You Lie to Me" (sometimes called "I Get Evil"^[1]) is a song recorded by Tampa Red in 1940.^[2] It became popular with blues artists, with various recordings.^[3] The song was also interpreted by rock and roll pioneers Fats Domino and Chuck Berry as well as later rock musicians.

Original song[edit]

"Don't You Lie to Me" was recorded by Tampa Red approximately midpoint in his prolific recording career, representing the transition from his earlier hokum recordings to his later early Chicago-blues combo style.^[4] This was the same period when he began playing the electric guitar and recorded his best-known blues classics, including "It Hurts Me Too", "Love with a Feeling", and "Anna Lou Blues", the B-side of "Don't You Lie to Me".^[4]

The song is a mid-tempo twelve-bar blues that features Tampa Red playing jazz-inflected single-note guitar fills behind his vocals. Blind John Davis provided the piano accompaniment with an unidentified bass player and, as a throwback to his earlier days, Red added a twelve-bar kazoo solo.^[4] Although many later versions are credited to other artists, they usually use some, if not most, of Tampa Red's lyrics:

There're two kind of people I just can't stand
And that's a lying woman and a sneakin' man
So don't you lie to me, don't you lie to me
Because it makes me mad, and I get evil as a man can be

 

 

 

Lyrics

There's two kind of people
I just can't stand
Evil hearted woman
And a lyin' man

Don't you lie to me
Now don't you lie to me
Because it makes me mad
Evil as a man can be

When you told me
That you loved me long time ago
The fellow that you got
You don't want him no more

Don't you lie to me
Now don't you lie to me
Because it makes me mad
I get evil as a man can be

You told me
That you loved me long time ago
The fellow that you have
You don't want him no more

Don't you lie to me
Now don't you lie to me
Because it makes me mad
I get evil as a man can be

Don't you lie to me
Don't you lie to me
No, don't lie to me
Now don't you lie to me
Because it makes me mad
I get evil as a man can be

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Antoine Domino

Don't Lie To Me lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group