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Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)

DigiTrad:
CARELESS LOVE
THYME IT IS A PRECIOUS THING

GUEST,Keith Holloway	26 Mar 03 - 05:14 PM
GUEST,MCP	26 Mar 03 - 07:08 PM
Stewie	26 Mar 03 - 07:56 PM
bseed(charleskratz)	26 Mar 03 - 09:29 PM
BanjoRay	26 Mar 03 - 09:31 PM
GUEST,Q	26 Mar 03 - 11:04 PM
Stewie	26 Mar 03 - 11:50 PM
GUEST,Q	27 Mar 03 - 12:34 AM
Stewie	27 Mar 03 - 01:03 AM
BanjoRay	27 Mar 03 - 03:54 AM
Stewie	27 Mar 03 - 04:51 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 04:59 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 05:18 AM
greg stephens	27 Mar 03 - 05:23 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 05:49 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 06:16 AM
greg stephens	27 Mar 03 - 06:48 AM
greg stephens	27 Mar 03 - 07:01 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 07:08 AM
Stewie	27 Mar 03 - 07:25 AM
BanjoRay	27 Mar 03 - 07:50 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 08:01 AM
Charley Noble	27 Mar 03 - 08:18 AM
greg stephens	27 Mar 03 - 08:19 AM
Brian Hoskin	27 Mar 03 - 08:37 AM
GUEST,MCP	27 Mar 03 - 09:14 AM
masato sakurai	27 Mar 03 - 09:17 AM
greg stephens	27 Mar 03 - 09:53 AM
Brian Hoskin	28 Mar 03 - 04:08 AM
Dave Bryant	28 Mar 03 - 05:54 AM
GUEST,Keith Holloway	28 Mar 03 - 10:15 AM
GUEST,Q	28 Mar 03 - 02:42 PM
Giac	29 Mar 03 - 02:44 AM
Jim Dixon	30 Mar 03 - 11:52 AM
GUEST,MCP	30 Mar 03 - 12:37 PM

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Subject: Lyr Req: Careless Love
From: GUEST,Keith Holloway
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 05:14 PM

Does anyone have the lyrics to the Bessie Smith version of Careless Love, recorded about 1925 or 26, please?

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 07:08 PM

Keith

I've got that (1925) version. Give me a few minutes to get it down.

Mick Pearce

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Stewie
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 07:56 PM

I've had a go at transcribing this version too but, after multiple listenings, I remain baffled by the fourth line of the first stanza. I am very interested in finding out what it should be. I'm not sure of the last line either: I hear 'For my sins, hell's judgment, I'll atone' or 'For my sins, they'll judge me, I'll atone'.

--Stewie.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 09:29 PM

I don't know the Bessie Smith version (much as I'd like to), but here are a few additional verses not in the DT:

Love my mother and my father, too.
Love my mother and my father, too.
Love my mother and my father, too,
Gonna leave them both and go with you.

What, oh what would mama say?
What, oh what would mama say?
What, oh what would mama say
If she knew I was in the family way?

She'd tear her hair, she'd bite her tongue.
She'd tear her hair, she'd bite her tongue.
She'd tear her hair, she'd bite her tongue
'cause she did the same when she was young.

What, oh what would papa say?
What, oh what would papa say?
What, oh what would papa say--
Who cares? He ain't my real pa anyway.

--seed

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: BanjoRay
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 09:31 PM

Here's my shot:

Careless Love - Bessie Smith 1925

Love oh love oh careless love
you fly to my head like wine
You wrecked the life of a-many pore gal
and you left ######this life of mine

Love oh love oh careless love
In your clutches of desire
You made me break(drink?) at many too far (bar?)
And you set my very soul on fire

Love oh love oh careless love
All my happiness I've left
You fill my heart with with them worried old blues
Now I'm walking talking to myself

Love oh love oh careless love
Trusted you now it's too late
You made me so my only friend died
That's why I sing this song of hate

Love oh love oh careless love
Night and Day I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
For my sins at the judgement I'll atone

Anyone who wants to try and improve on this can listen to it here
Cheers
Ray

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 11:04 PM

I think you did a good job, Banjo Ray.
1st verse line 4, I hear-
And you left this love, this life of mine.
2nd verse, line 3, I hear (meaning not clear to me)
You made me break a many too far ?
The rest is fine. In recording 2, verse 5, line 3, she substitutes
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine; but the rest seems the same.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Stewie
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 11:50 PM

First stanza, last line:

I hear 'And I left this ?, this life of mine'. I can't hear 'love' as Q does, but I don't know what the word is - sounds closer to 'force' than 'love'.

Stanza 2, line 3:

I hear 'You made me break (a/ah) many true vow' She has an 'a' or 'ah' as in the third line of the first stanza.

Stanza 4, line 3:

I hear: 'You made me ? my only friend down'. I can't hear Banjo Ray's 'so' - I reckon it's a verb. I hear 'down' rather than 'died' at the end of the line.

--Stewie.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:34 AM

Good ear, Stewie. Once pointed out, I hear the 'true vow,' also 'only friend down'. Could it be 'you made me throw my only friend down'?

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 01:03 AM

Q, I agree with you that it could well be 'you made me throw my only friend down'.

As for the last line of the first stanza, I reckon it could be 'And you left this farce, this life of mine'. What do you think?

--Stewie.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: BanjoRay
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 03:54 AM

Yes, Stewie, I like farce.

My updated version of what I'm now hearing from the two cuts:

Careless Love - Bessie Smith 1925

Love oh love oh careless love
you fly to my head like wine
You wrecked the life of a-many pore gal
and you left this farce this life of mine

Love oh love oh careless love
In your clutches of desire
You made me break a minute too far
And you set my very soul on fire

Love oh love oh careless love
All my happiness I've left
You fill my heart with with them worried old blues
Now I'm walking talking to myself

Love oh love oh careless love
Trusted you now it's too late
You made me throw my only friend down
That's why I sing this song of hate

Love oh love oh careless love
Night and Day I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine (1st cut)
You brought the wrong man into my life (2nd cut)
For my sins, at the judgement, I'll atone (1st cut)
For my sins, day of judgement, I'll atone (2nd cut)

Cheers
Ray

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 04:51 AM

Ray

Sounds good, except I cannot agree with your 'a minute too far' - it makes no sense. I still hear 'a many true vow'. I think she's using 'a' as in the first verse 'a many poor girl' for 'many a poor girl'. It's a strange idiom, I grant you, but if it applies in the one it can apply in the other.

--Stewie.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 04:59 AM

Sorry I didn't get back sooner (break in my modem cable). I agree with most of the version above (1st cut), except for the following:

v1,l4: And you left (let?) me sport this life of mine

v2,l3: You made me break a-many a true vow

While reading you have is one I had, also possible is:
v4,l3: You made me throw my only friend out
v4,l3: You made me so [y'] my only friend now

v5,l4 For my sins a-till judgement I'll atone

Mick

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 05:18 AM

I've just listened to take 2 at the link above and there it does seem definitely to be:

v4,l3: You made me throw my only friend down

(as you have above), but my reading as in take 1 of

v5,l4: For my sins till judgement I'll atone

Mick

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 05:23 AM

Disagree about line 4 , verse 1.I'm pretty sure it's not "and you left". there's a distinct "n"sound after the "l" of left. I think she was aiming for "and you'll never wreck this life of mine" or "and you'll never break this heart of mine" some conventional last line.But she is actually working from a different version and got in a tangle over her words.
I am quite sure she sings "and you'll ne(ver)" but her brain" addled and she didnt get the "ver" of "never" out, she shuts her mouth and starts on a new tack.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 05:49 AM

You're right Greg. I just listened to that line again (with lots of filter adjustments). She might be doing:

v1,l4: And you near destroyed this life of mine

Mick

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Subject: Lyr Add: CARELESS LOVE (from Bessie Smith)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 06:16 AM

This would be my favoured reading at the moment.

Mick

CARELESS LOVE
(Bessie Smith, New York, May 26 1925)

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love.
You fly to my head like wine.
You wrecked the life of a-many poor girl
And you near destroyed this life of mine.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love.
In your clutches of desire
You made me break a-many true vow,
And you set my very soul on fire.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
All my happiness I've left.
You fill my heart with them worried old blues,
Now I'm walkin', talkin' to myself.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love.
Trusted you now it's too late.
You made me throw my only friend down,
That's why I sing this song of hate.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love.
Night and day I weep and moan.
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine;
For my sins a-till judgement I'll atone.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 06:48 AM

Think I can nail this one now. Always go back to souces. Now Bessie Smith is obviously working from a printed sheet, or words written out from a recording, of the recently published (by WC Handy) version, with new words by Spencer Williams and Martha Koenig. This introdeced the "you fly to my head like wine" and "for my sins till jusdgement I atone" stuff into the song.
Their version starts with the conventional folk verse, with
"But you'll never break this heart of mine"
as the last line.
Their second verse(which Bessie Smith starts with, ignoring the first verse) is:

Love o love o careless love
You fly to the head like wine
Youve wrecked the life of many a poor girl
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine".

And there you have it, I think. I think she is slightly garbling the two lines, and basically sings
"And you'll nearly spoiled this life of mine"
(with a bit of hesitation as sshe really she started singing from the wrong verse on the sheet and then corrects herself. The "spoiled" is quite unmistakable on my recording, though she has a very thick accent.
Luckily my bookshelves contain not only the Spencer Williams(copyright 1921) but also another Bessie Smith version(copyrighted by her) with the last line "But you'll never break this heart of mine".

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 07:01 AM

Footnote: her whole version sticks very close to the printed version I have, with only tiny variations. She does sing"All my happiness I've left", where the sheet-music has "all my happiness bereft". Which suggests to me she was working off a transcription of someone else's recording, rather than the actual sheet music. It's not only us folk-nerds who play records over and over again jotting down the words...Bessie Smith had to do it too!

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 07:08 AM

Excellent Greg. I'll agree with that last line (I spent some time trying to find the Handy words online without success). I'd now read the first verse as:

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love.
You fly to my head like wine.
You wrecked the life of a-many poor girl
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine.

Mick

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Stewie
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 07:25 AM

Greg

You have nailed that last line of the first stanza - it is amazing how phrases can defy comprehension, suggest interpretations and then seem so clear when the actual phrase is pointed out. She pauses or hesitates, as you say, between 'near' and 'ly'. I think she may be singing 'spoilt' rather than 'spoiled', at least on the recording I have been listening to which is on Bessie Smith 'The Complete Recordings Vol 2' Sony/Columbia CD 468767-2'

--Stewie.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: BanjoRay
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 07:50 AM

I think you guys have cracked it - spoiled or spoilt is great.
Ray

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:01 AM

Just shows the usefulness of having several people listening to a 'difficult' recording (and someone with access to a similar printed copy)!

Greg

What does the Spencer Williams have for v4,l3 (the other line that seems to have given everyone trouble): "You made me throw my only friend down" in the transcription here?

Mick

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:18 AM

Good work!

Charley Noble

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:19 AM

Mick: it's "you've made me throw my old friend down" in the sheet-music, but she defintiely sings "only friend". Likewise in the next line, she sings "song of hate", but the printed version is "hymn of hate".
It has given me particular pleasure to able to contribute to this thread, and others like it. I lived for 15 years on a narrow-boat, with most of my old possessions in boxes in friends' sheds. I have now become a house-dweller, and though I havent unpacked all my boxes yet, I was still able instantly to lay my hands on five printed versions of the song, and numerous recordings, including two by Bessie Smith. Not to mention Louis Armstrong's version of WC Handy's second attempt at a rewrite "Loveless Love".
It's all very well this internet searching stuff, but you can't beat a browse through the old bookcase. And at least in books "Careless Love" is not described as "Celtic" or "Irish"!!

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:37 AM

Greg,

(A pedantic point), but my information is that 'Loveless Love' (1921) appears to be Handy's first attempt at a rewrite, because he published it four years earlier than his version of 'Careless Love' (1925). This information is based on a chronology included in my copy of Father of the Blues, which, of course, is no guarantee that it is correct!

Brian

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 09:14 AM

Greg

Thanks for that; I was fairly confident of the transcription, just wondered what the original was. I agree about books - nothing like them for browsing. (I also have some idea of what it's like to be reunited with your books and records. I moved about 6 months ago and it was some months before my books and records were out of their boxes). Sadly my lyrics books are mostly English traditional song (the jazz and blues books I have are for the most part histories and biographies), so all I had was my recording (and the link to the 2nd version online).

Thanks again (and well done to everyone. I was looking online for the lyrics last night - anything to avoid having to do anything - and the one site with transcriptions of 86 (IIRC) Bessie Smith songs (Harry's maybe - can't check, it's bandwidth exceeded at the moment) significantly, perhaps, didn't include it).

Mick

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: masato sakurai
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 09:17 AM

Brian, see my post at this thread (Help: Careless Love / Bunch of Thyme).

~Masato

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: greg stephens
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 09:53 AM

Brian Hoskin: my Williams/Koenig/Handy version(the one under discussion here) says copyright 1921, not 1925. No way of knowing whether that is right or not.

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 04:08 AM

Thanks Masato and Greg. This was a minor point, I just think it interesting (and quite telling) that such a basic thing as the date of copyrighting can become confused after a relatively short time, so that varying sources can provide 3 alternatives (1921, 1925 and 1926).

Thanks for all the fascinating information.

Brian

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 05:54 AM

Careless Love creates Lives !

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: GUEST,Keith Holloway
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 10:15 AM

Thanks, you lot, what a wonderful bunch you all are.

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Subject: Lyr Add: LOVELESS C.C.C (parody of Careless Love)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 02:42 PM

A parody from the Dirty Thirties:

Lyr. Add: Loveless C. C. C.

Why did I ever join the C. C. C.?
Oh, why did I join the C. C. C.
Why did I join the C. C. C.?
This old hard labor's killing me.

They treat me like a dirty dog
I have to slave down in a *bog
And they feed me like a hog
Oh, why did I join the C. C. C.?

I haft to work most every day
Five bucks a month is my pay
I'm just a wasting my life away
Oh, why did I join the C. C. C.?

The Lieut. sure is hard-boiled
His hands and clothes are never soiled
When I come in all day I've toiled
Oh, why did I join the C. C. C.?

These O. D. clothes sure is hot
They'll make you scratch a whole lot
They'll make you wish you'd never got
Into this old C. C. C.

*"log" in text. "Copied literatum from the text in Herman Beeman's ballet book. Song written by Beeman's bunk-mate in Brokenair CCC Camp, Oklahoma, 1937."
From American Memory, Voices From The Dust Bowl. Loveless CCC

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Giac
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 02:44 AM

In that last post:

"Copied literatum from the text in Herman Beeman's ballet book. Song written by Beeman's bunk-mate in Brokenair CCC Camp, Oklahoma, 1937."

I'd be willin' to bet the CCC camp was in Broken Arrow, not Brokenair, although that is how it is universally pronounced in that area.

Mary

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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Careless Love (Bessie Smith version)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 11:52 AM

I hope you don't mind another contribution at this late date. I agree with the text given by Mick on 27 Mar 03 - 06:16 AM - with the following exceptions:

At verse 2, line 4, I hear
"THEN you set my very soul on fire."

Verse 3, line 2 could be
"All my happiness HAVE left."

I think HAVE is sometimes an acceptable substitute for HAS in black dialect. Also, I prefer it because it makes HAPPINESS the subject of the sentence instead of the object. I think inverted word order (object-subject-verb) would be highly unusual in traditional blues, despite the fact that a similar inversion appears in the last line of the song. You could attribute that to the more literate style of Handy, compared to the vernacular style of Bessie Smith.

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Subject: Lyr Add: CARELESS LOVE (Bessie Smith)
From: GUEST,MCP
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 12:37 PM

Jim

I agree about v2,l4 - she clearly sings Then in both versions.

However I disagree about v3,l2. I did debate about have/I've originally, but settled on I've. I've just listened again to both versions and still think she's singing I've. (Unlike the v1,l4 spoiled/spoilt - she does sound like she's singing spoilt, but I think it's spoiled, but wouldn't care to put money on that one).

While listening again though, I decided in v5,l4 that she sings till rather than a-till as I had earlier.

Mick

Incorporating all the changes, I now have the version as:

CARELESS LOVE
(Bessie Smith, New York, May 26 1925)

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
You fly to my head like wine
You wrecked the life of a-many poor girl
And you nearly spoiled this life of mine

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
In your clutches of desire
You made me break a-many true vow
Then you set my very soul on fire.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
All my happiness I've left
You fill my heart with them worried old blues
Now I'm walkin', talkin' to myself.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
Trusted you now it's too late
You made me throw my only friend down
That's why I sing this song of hate.

Love, Oh love, Oh careless love
Night and day I weep and moan
You brought the wrong man into this life of mine
For my sins till judgement I'll atone.

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