The Birth of the Blues
B.g. Desylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson
Oh! they say some people long ago
Were searching for a different 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!