Grinnin' In Your Face

Album: Father Of The Folk Blues (1965)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The message in "Grinnin' In Your Face" is to live life the way that suits you without concern for gossipers and naysayers. Your friends may betray you, your own family, even, but you just keep on living your life as it feels right to you.

    The title and chorus suggest a subtle manner in which to judge a true friend from a false one. A person might be kind to your face, but if they've got that certain kind of grin when you're telling them something important, it probably means they're talking bad about you behind your back. Pay it no mind – keep doing your thing, but be wary of false friends. That's House's message.
  • The song has no instrumentation. It's just House clapping, tapping his foot, and singing.
  • "Grinnin' In Your Face" was recorded during bluesman Son House's musical rebirth. He'd recorded music in 1930 and 1941, but the songs didn't make much impact, so he returned to life driving tractors for farmers. House's music was rediscovered in 1964, the time of a major folk-blues revival in the United States (the same revival from which a young Bob Dylan made his fame). It was during this period in April 1965 that House recorded "Grinnin' In Your Face" for Columbia on the Father of the Folk Blues album.

    House was born in Lyon, Mississippi, in 1902, but during his "rediscovery" he was working in a New York train station. The location was fortuitous, as the American folk-blues revival was centered in New York.
  • The Pointer Sisters covered the song on That's a Plenty in 1974. Their version has full instrumentation and studio arrangement.
  • In the documentary It Might Get Loud, Jack White cites "Grinnin' In Your Face" as his favorite song and one of the central inspirations of his musical career.

    "By the time I was 18, someone played me Son House," he said. "That was it for me. It spoke to me in a thousand different ways. I didn't know that you could do that just singing and clapping, and it meant everything, it meant everything about rock and roll, it meant everything about expression and creativity and art. One man against the world, in one song. That's my favorite my song. Still is. It became my favorite song the first time I heard it, and it still is."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum

Gary Brooker of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.

Don Felder

Don FelderSongwriter Interviews

Don breaks down "Hotel California" and other songs he wrote as a member of the Eagles. Now we know where the "warm smell of colitas" came from.

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)Songwriter Interviews

Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.