The Birth of the Blues
B.g. Desylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson
Oh! They say some people long ago
Were searching for a diff'rent tune
One that they could croon as only they can
They only had the rhythm so
They started swaying to and fro
They didn't know just what they had
And that is how the blues really began:
They heard the breeze in the trees
Singing weird melodies and they made that
The start of the blues
And from a jail came the wail
Of a down hearted frail and they played that
As part of the blues
From a whippoorwill out on a hill
They took a new note
Pushed it through a horn
'til it was born into a blue note
And then they nursed it, rehearsed it
And gave out the news that the southland
Gave birth to the blues!