Verse C#7
Everybody wants to know
Why I sing the blues
F#7
Yes, I say everybody wanna know
C#7
Why I sing the blues
G#7
Well, I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
I really have paid my dues
C#7
When I first got the blues
They brought me over on a ship
Men were standing over me
And a lot more with a whip
F#7
And everybody wanna know
C#7
Why I sing the blues
G#7
Well, I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
Mm, I've really paid my dues
[Verse]
C#7
I've laid in a ghetto flat
Cold and numb
I heard the rats tell the bedbugs
To give the roaches some
F#7
Everybody wanna know
C#7
Why I'm singing the blues
G#7
Yes, I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
People, I've paid my dues
C#7
I stood in line
Down at the County Hall
I heard a man say, "We're gonna build
Some new apartments for y'all"
F#7
And everybody wanna know
Yes, they wanna know
C#7
Why I'm singing the blues
G#7
Yes, I've been around a long, long time
F#7 C#7
Yes, I've really, really paid my dues
(Now I'm gonna play Lucille)
[Solo]
C#7
F#7 C#7
G#7 F#7 C#7
[Verse]
C#7
My kid's gonna grow up
Gonna grow up to be a fool
Cause they ain't got no more room
No more room for him in school
F#7
And everybody wanna know
Everybody wanna know
C#7
Why I'm singing the blues
G#7
I say I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
Yes, I've really paid some dues
C#7
Yeah, you know the company told me
Guess you're born to lose
Everybody around me, people
F#7
It seems like everybody got the blues
But I had 'em a long time
C#7
I've really, really paid my dues
G#7
You know I ain't ashamed of it, people
F#7 C#7
I just love to sing my blues
[Solo]
C#7
F#7 C#7
G#7 F#7 C#7
[Verse]
C#7
I walk through the cities, people
On my bare feet
I had a fill of catfish and chitterlings
Up in Downbill Street
F#7
You know I'm singing the blues
C#7
Yes, I really
I just have to sing my blues
G#7
I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
People, I've really, really paid my dues
C#7
Now Father Time is catching up with me
Gone is my youth
I look in the mirror everyday
And let it tell me the truth
F#7
I'm singing the blues
C#7
Mm, I just have to sing the blues
G#7
I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues
[Solo]
C#7
F#7 C#7
G#7 F#7 C#7
[Verse]
C#7
Yeah, they told me everything
Would be better out in the country
Everything was fine
I caught me a bus uptown, baby
F#7
And every people, all the people
Got the same trouble as mine
C#7
I got the blues, huh huh
G#7
I say I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
I've really paid some dues
One more time, fellows!
C#7
Blind man on the corner
Begging for a dime
The rollers come and caught him
F#7
And throw him in the jail for a crime
I got the blues
C#7
Mm, I'm singing my blues
G#7
I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
Mm, I've really paid some dues
Can we do just one more?
C#7
Oh I thought I'd go down to the welfare
To get myself some grits and stuff
But a lady stand up and she said
F#7
"You haven't been around long enough"
That's why I got the blues
C#7
Mm, the blues
G#7
I say, I've been around a long time
F#7 C#7
I've really, really paid my dues
Fellows, tell them one more time
[Solo]
(Ad lib)
C#7
F#7 C#7
G#7 F#7 C#7
Ha, ha, ha. That's all right, fellows
Yeah!