Why I Sing The Blues
Everybody wants to knowWhy I sing the bluesYes, I say everybody wanna knowWhy I sing the bluesWell, I've been around a long timeI really have paid my dues
When I first got the bluesThey brought me over on a shipMen were standing over meAnd a lot more with a whipAnd everybody wanna knowWhy I sing the bluesWell, I've been around a long timeMm, I've really paid my dues
I've laid in a ghetto flatCold and numbI heard the rats tell the bedbugsTo give the roaches someEverybody wanna knowWhy I'm singing the bluesYes, I've been around a long timePeople, I've paid my dues
I stood in lineDown at the County HallI heard a man say, "We're gonna buildSome new apartments for y'all"And everybody wanna knowYes, they wanna knowWhy I'm singing the bluesYes, I've been around a long, long timeYes, I've really, really paid my dues
Now I'm gonna play Lucille.
My kid's gonna grow upGonna grow up to be a fool'Cause they ain't got no more roomNo more room for him in schoolAnd everybody wanna knowEverybody wanna knowWhy I'm singing the bluesI say I've been around a long timeYes, I've really paid some dues
Yeah, you know the company told meGuess you're born to loseEverybody around me, peopleIt seems like everybody got the bluesBut I had 'em a long timeI've really, really paid my duesYou know I ain't ashamed of it, peopleI just love to sing my blues
I walk through the cities, peopleOn my bare feetI had a fill of catfish and chitterlingsUp in Downbill StreetYou know I'm singing the bluesYes, I reallyI just have to sing my bluesI've been around a long timePeople, I've really, really paid my dues
Now Father Time is catching up with meGone is my youthI look in the mirror everydayAnd let it tell me the truthI'm singing the bluesMm, I just have to sing the bluesI've been around a long timeYes, yes, I've really paid some dues
Yeah, they told me everythingWould be better out in the countryEverything was fineI caught me a bus uptown, babyAnd every people, all the peopleGot the same trouble as mineI got the blues, huh huhI say I've been around a long timeI've really paid some dues
One more time, fellows!
Blind man on the cornerBegging for a dimeThe rollers come and caught himAnd throw him in the jail for a crimeI got the bluesMm, I'm singing my bluesI've been around a long timeMm, I've really paid some dues
Can we do just one more?
Oh I thought I'd go down to the welfareTo get myself some grits and stuffBut a lady stand up and she said"You haven't been around long enough"That's why I got the bluesMm, the bluesI say, I've been around a long timeI've really, really paid my dues
Fellows, tell them one more time.
Ha, ha, ha. That's all right, fellows.Yeah!