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Nuttin' For Christmas
Words & Music by Art Mooney & Barry GordonRecorded by Joe Ward, 1955 (#20
G Gdim Am7 G
I broke my bat on Johnny's head --;
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G Gdim Am7 G
I hid a frog in sister's bed --;
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G G7 C Am7
I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug,
D7 Cdim G G/F#
I made Tommy eat a bug,
Em B+ A A7
Bought some gum with a penny slug --
D7 Am7 D7 G D
Somebody snitched on me. Oh,
Refrain:
G Am7 G Am7 G Am7 G
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas.
D7 Am7 D7 Am7 D Am7 G Cdim
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
G Am7 G Am7 G Am7 G
I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas,
C C/B Am7 Cdim
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.
G Gdim Am7 G
I put a tack on teacher's chair --
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G Gdim Am7 G
I tied a knot in Susie's hair --
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G G7 C Am7
I did a dance on Mommy's plants,
D7 Cdim G G/F#
Climbed a tree and tore my pants.
Em B+ A A7
Filled the sugar bowl with ants --
D7 Am7 D7 G D
Somebody snitched on me, so
Repeat Refrain:
G Gdim Am7 G
I won't be seeing Santa Claus --
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G Gdim Am7 G
He won't come visit me because
C Cdim G
Somebody snitched on me.
G Gdim Am7 G
Next year I'll be going straight,
G G7 C Am7
Next year I'll be good, just wait.
Em B+ A A7
I'd start now but it's too late --
D7 Am7 D7 G D
Somebody snitched on me. Oh,
Repeat Refrain:
Coda:
G Gdim Am7 G
So, you better be good, whatever you do,
G G7 C Am7
'Cause if you're bad I'm warning you,
C Cdim D7 G
You'll get nuttin' for Christmas.
You can think of this in the same "share the pain" category as having somebody give your child a drum set for Christmas. My wife and I sang this for our three grandchildren...who unfortunately not only feel in love with it, but also started coming up with their own lyrics for the verses. It may not constitute musical magic, but it's become a delightful Christmas tradition for us. (Though I'm betting that, even now, none of the three of them have any clue what "bought some gum with a penny slug" actually means.)