Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)

Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5, Ella Fitzgerald

About Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)

"Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)" is a 1946 song with lyrics and music by Wilmoth Houdini, a Trinidad and Tobago musician who had moved to the United States. It was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five on Decca and later included in the Ella Fitzgerald album Ella and Her Fellas. The single was the first of five singles that Louis Jordan would take to the number-one spot on the R&B Juke Box chart. The song also reached number seven on the U. S. pop chart. The B-side of the single, "Petootie Pie," was also an R&B chart hit peaking at number three. This song received later fame in the 2010s with the 2011 release of L. A. Noire in which this song is featured. The lively tone of the music is matched by the use of dark humor in the lyrics. The song is sung in first-person and tells the story of an unnamed woman who killed her husband with a rolling pin, bashing in his skull while in a marketplace after he went out drinking and then came home and beat her. The narrative shifts back and forth between the wife who repeatedly claims that "he had it coming" and doesn't care about either revenge from his family or facing the electric chair, and the husband who recounts his side of the story apparently from beyond the grave. At the end of the song, the husband vows to come back and exact his revenge, but she repudiates by reminding him that he can't come back from the grave. Throughout the song, both the wife and the husband refrain that she didn't kill anyone else but the husband. 


Year:
1998
2:41
87 

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He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
I killed nobody but my husband

Last night I went out drinking
When I came home I gave her a beating
So she ? the rolling pin and went to work on my head
Until she bash it in

I lie cold dead in the market
Stone cold dead in the market
I lie cold dead in the market
She killed nobody but her husband

I lick 'im wit' thee pot and thee fryin' pan
I lick 'im wit' thee pot and thee fryin' pan
I lick 'im wit' thee pot and thee fryin' pan
And if I kill him, he had it coming

Man,
He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
I killed nobody but my husband

My family they're swearin' to kill her
My family they're swearin' to kill her
His family they're swearin' to kill me
And if I kill him, he had it coming

Here I lie cold dead in the market
Cold dead in the market
I lie cold dead in the market
She kill nobody but her husband

There is one thing that I am sure
He ain't goin' to beat me no more
So I tell ya that I doesn't care 
If I was to die in the electric chair

Man
He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
He's stone cold dead in the market
I killed nobody but my husband

Hey child, I'm coming back and bash your head one more time

No, no no man you can't do that

He's stone cold dead in the market (murderer)
He's stone cold dead in the market (da criminal)
He's stone cold dead in the market
I killed nobody but my husband

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Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella", was an American jazz and song vocalist. With a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6), she was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. more »

11 fans

Written by: FREDERICK W. HENDRICKS

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


12 facts about this song

Release Information
"Stone Cold Dead in the Market (He Had It Coming)" was released in 1946 by Decca Records.
Artist Information
The song is a collaborative effort by the 'First Lady of Song', Ella Fitzgerald, and the 'King of the Jukebox', Louis Jordan.
Chart Performance
It reached the number one position on Billboard's Harlem Hit Parade chart (the predecessor to the R&B chart).
Musical Style
The song is reflective of the jump blues style that Louis Jordan is often credited with pioneering.
Song's Theme
The song carries a blend of humor and darkness, featuring lyrics about a woman who has killed her abusive husband.
Cultural Impact
The song's title ('He Had It Coming') has been used in other popular media, including as the secondary title for a song in the musical, "Chicago."
Recorded version
Only one version of the song was recorded, there are no known alternative takes.
Song Construction
Ella Fitzgerald delivers the verses of the song in Caribbean accent, with Louis Jordan and his band, the Tympany Five, providing the lively musical backdrop and joining in on the chorus.
Popular Recognition
The song is sometimes colloquially referred to by its shorter name, "Stone Cold in the Market."
Legacy
In 2016, exactly 70 years after its release, the song was featured on the soundtrack for the massively popular video game, Fallout 4. This points to the enduring popularity and influence of the track.
Specific Line
One of the most famous lines from the song is, "Stone cold dead in the market, Stone Cold dead in the market, I killed nobody but my husband."
Songwriter
The song was written by Wilmoth Houdini, a Trinidadian-American calypso musician.

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