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!