song profile

Baby Give Me One More Chance

I went to Vegas, the city of sin
Looking for a casino "Vienna", waltz and violin
Paint the town red, the croupier [gru:'pje:] said, I put a dollar on
Fortune favors fools and so I played on and on and on
Five drinks later I couldn't believe what I have won
A number ringing in my head, a final bet had to be done
And put it all on twentyone - and the fortune was gone

Baby give me one more chance
Baby give me one more chance
Ah, ah

I shlep myself to a drinking place, I didn't go too far
I turned my head to a red dressed girl hanging at the bar
My lips grazed on her ear: Baby, give me the groove
Ruefully [ru:ful] I bit my tongue just as I did spoke
Disgustedly she turned her head and wanted to move
I said: Sorry, it was only a smutty joke

Baby give me one more chance
Ah, ah
Baby give me one more chance
I took her home into my room, we really had a lot of fun
There were so many dirty games and things to be done
She was soft, she was smart, she was a class apart
I was feeling on top from the bottom of my heart
Sweat on the head, the games we played were way too hard
Finally too fast I finished up

Baby give me one more chance
Ah, ah
Baby give me one more chance
Ah, ah


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The song is about a trip to Las Vegas. I wrote a letter to the mayor that Vegas needs a casinohotel Vienna with waltz and violins, with Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven and Sissi. I never received a reply, maybe the letter gone lost.

Here is the story of the song:
In the first verse I do what most people do in Vegas: I gamble. First I win, but with a final bid I loose all my money. I say to the croupier: "Baby give me one more chance!"
In the second verse I move to a bar where I chat up a lady. But as I whisper some crazy words into her ear, too crazy for her, she wants to move. I say:  "Baby give me one more chance!"
In verse three we are together and have a lot of fun. Too much fun it seems and I finish up too fast and so I say again: "Baby give me one more chance!"
That's the story. Is it a tragedy or comedy? I don't know. It is a story, not a description of a feeling or impressions.

All three verses are short stories themselves, I put them together to a bigger story. You can also say: the story has three episodes.

Behind the words
The rhyme form is changing during the song. Sometimes a-a, b-b then a-b-a-b. The first verse is one line longer than the others, because it is a introduction to the story. The first two lines rhyme on -in - sin and violin. But then the next five lines rhyme on the same ending. I wanted to express that I was so excited living this story, my words came out like a waterfall, I simply had to write them down. And it ends with the words "and the fortune was gone". No more rhyme on this ending, not only my money also the rhyme on this is gone. When I wrote this I found out that I had made it too long, one line longer than planned. But it fits and I adapted the music to these lyrics.

In the second verse there is a change in rhyme form. I rhyme a-a-b-c-b-c to express that I am a little confused. No wonder by this red dressed lady.
In verse three there is another speciality. The rhyme form is a-a-b-b-c-c, but the last rhyme is only a near rhyme. Rhyming "hard" on "up" sounds near - some may say "far" -, it isn't a clean rhyme, it is a break. I wanted to express that "finished up" breaks the story, the episode. "finished up" is short and a sudden, let's say unexpected, end of this episode is also expressed in words.

I like to play with words and that's what I also did in these lyrics.
"Fortune favors fools" is an aliteration, all words start with "f". I don't like repetitions, but with "I played on and on and on" I wanted to express the long time sitting doing nothing but gambling, a monotone pastime. And so it is ok for me to rhyme this line with the previous line on the word "on".

In verse three I do an inline rhyme: "She was soft, she was SMART, she was a class APART" with the following line ending on "heart". With "SWEAT on my HEAD" there is another inline rhyme in this verse. It sounds a little stressy, doesn't it. "The GAMes we PLAYed were WAY too hard" also sounds like an inline rhyme ending hard with the word "hard". I think that fits well. "The GAMes we PLAYed were WAY too hard", so "hard" is a hard stop.
"I was feeling on TOP from the BOTTOM of my heart" is a nice combination of opposites: Feeling on TOP from the BOTTOM of my heart.