Verse F7
Everybody wants to know
Why I sing the blues
A#7
Yes, I say everybody wanna know
F7
Why I sing the blues
C7
Well, I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
I really have paid my dues
F7
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
A#7
And everybody wanna know
F7
Why I sing the blues
C7
Well, I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
Mm, I've really paid my dues
[Verse]
F7
I've laid in a ghetto flat
Cold and numb
I heard the rats tell the bedbugs
To give the roaches some
A#7
Everybody wanna know
F7
Why I'm singing the blues
C7
Yes, I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
People, I've paid my dues
F7
I stood in line
Down at the County Hall
I heard a man say, "We're gonna build
Some new apartments for y'all"
A#7
And everybody wanna know
Yes, they wanna know
F7
Why I'm singing the blues
C7
Yes, I've been around a long, long time
A#7 F7
Yes, I've really, really paid my dues
(Now I'm gonna play Lucille)
[Solo]
F7
A#7 F7
C7 A#7 F7
[Verse]
F7
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
A#7
And everybody wanna know
Everybody wanna know
F7
Why I'm singing the blues
C7
I say I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
Yes, I've really paid some dues
F7
Yeah, you know the company told me
Guess you're born to lose
Everybody around me, people
A#7
It seems like everybody got the blues
But I had 'em a long time
F7
I've really, really paid my dues
C7
You know I ain't ashamed of it, people
A#7 F7
I just love to sing my blues
[Solo]
F7
A#7 F7
C7 A#7 F7
[Verse]
F7
I walk through the cities, people
On my bare feet
I had a fill of catfish and chitterlings
Up in Downbill Street
A#7
You know I'm singing the blues
F7
Yes, I really
I just have to sing my blues
C7
I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
People, I've really, really paid my dues
F7
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
A#7
I'm singing the blues
F7
Mm, I just have to sing the blues
C7
I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues
[Solo]
F7
A#7 F7
C7 A#7 F7
[Verse]
F7
Yeah, they told me everything
Would be better out in the country
Everything was fine
I caught me a bus uptown, baby
A#7
And every people, all the people
Got the same trouble as mine
F7
I got the blues, huh huh
C7
I say I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
I've really paid some dues
One more time, fellows!
F7
Blind man on the corner
Begging for a dime
The rollers come and caught him
A#7
And throw him in the jail for a crime
I got the blues
F7
Mm, I'm singing my blues
C7
I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
Mm, I've really paid some dues
Can we do just one more?
F7
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
A#7
"You haven't been around long enough"
That's why I got the blues
F7
Mm, the blues
C7
I say, I've been around a long time
A#7 F7
I've really, really paid my dues
Fellows, tell them one more time
[Solo]
(Ad lib)
F7
A#7 F7
C7 A#7 F7
Ha, ha, ha. That's all right, fellows
Yeah!