the birth of the blues

oh. they say my people long ago

where lookin' for a different tune

one that we can croon

as only we can

we only had the rhythm

so

we started swingin' to and fro

we didn't know just what to use

but this is how the blues

i said the blues really began

oh yeah

we heard the breeze

through the trees

singing weird melodies

and we named that the start of the blues

then from a jail

there came a whale

from a down-hearted frail

and we played that

to be a part of our blues

from a whippoorwill

high on a hill

they took a new note

pushed it through a horn

till it was worn into a blue note

you better believed me we nursed it

and we rehearsed it

than we gave out the news

that the south land

gave birth to the blues