“Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” lyrics and music H. Arlen, T. Koehler

Performed by Marc Gunn
from The Bridge and How America Saved Irish Music

I don't want you
But I hate to lose you
You got me in between the devil and the
deep blue sea

I forgive you
‘Cause I can't forget you
You've got me in between the devil and the
deep blue sea

I want to cross you off my list
But when you come knocking at my door
Fate seems to give my heart a twist
And I come running back for more

I should hate you
But I guess I love you
You've got me in between the devil and the
deep blue sea

CHORDS KEY D

[D]I [Bm]don't [Em]want [A7]you
[D]But I [Bm]hate to [Em]lose [A7]you
[D]You [D7]got me [G]in bet[Gm]ween the [D]devil and the
[A7]deep blue [D]sea [A7]

[F]I want to [Dm]cross you [Gm]off my [C]list
[F]But when you [Dm]come knocking [Gm]at my [C]door
[A]Fate [Fm]gives [Bm]my heart a [E7]twist
And [C]I come running back for [E7]more [A7]

Background

I wanted to write a sea shanty. So I went to Wikipedia to look up words related to being out on the ocean. I scanned the list until I came across “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”. What a great phrase! I decided to write a song about that.

But I'm a lazy songwriter. I searched to see if a song was already written. One was. In fact, George Harrison covered it. But I gave it my own autoharp spin and recorded it for my CD, The Bridge.

I sang it so much in New Orleans with my friend Jamie Haeuser, I recorded it for our How America Saved Irish Music album.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Videos

recorded live at Things Celtic in Austin, in 2009

from The Bridge cd, video from Cairn of Gavrinis in Brittany, France

from How America Saved Irish Music CD

from live performance at I-Con Science Fiction Convention in 2010

from live performance on Celtic Invasion of Scotland in 2010