[Verse]
C7
Everybody wants to know
Why I sing the blues
F7
Yes, I say everybody wanna know
C7
Why I sing the blues
G7
Well, I've been around a long time
F7 C7
I really have paid my dues
C7
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
F7
And everybody wanna know
C7
Why I sing the blues
G7
Well, I've been around a long time
F7 C7
Mm, I've really paid my dues
[Verse]
C7
I've laid in a ghetto flat
Cold and numb
I heard the rats tell the bedbugs
To give the roaches some
F7
Everybody wanna know
C7
Why I'm singing the blues
G7
Yes, I've been around a long time
F7 C7
People, I've paid my dues
C7
I stood in line
Down at the County Hall
I heard a man say, "We're gonna build
Some new apartments for y'all"
F7
And everybody wanna know
Yes, they wanna know
C7
Why I'm singing the blues
G7
Yes, I've been around a long, long time
F7 C7
Yes, I've really, really paid my dues
(Now I'm gonna play Lucille)
[Solo]
C7
F7 C7
G7 F7 C7
[Verse]
C7
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
F7
And everybody wanna know
Everybody wanna know
C7
Why I'm singing the blues
G7
I say I've been around a long time
F7 C7
Yes, I've really paid some dues
C7
Yeah, you know the company told me
Guess you're born to lose
Everybody around me, people
F7
It seems like everybody got the blues
But I had 'em a long time
C7
I've really, really paid my dues
G7
You know I ain't ashamed of it, people
F7 C7
I just love to sing my blues
[Solo]
C7
F7 C7
G7 F7 C7
[Verse]
C7
I walk through the cities, people
On my bare feet
I had a fill of catfish and chitterlings
Up in Downbill Street
F7
You know I'm singing the blues
C7
Yes, I really
I just have to sing my blues
G7
I've been around a long time
F7 C7
People, I've really, really paid my dues
C7
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
F7
I'm singing the blues
C7
Mm, I just have to sing the blues
G7
I've been around a long time
F7 C7
Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues
[Solo]
C7
F7 C7
G7 F7 C7
[Verse]
C7
Yeah, they told me everything
Would be better out in the country
Everything was fine
I caught me a bus uptown, baby
F7
And every people, all the people
Got the same trouble as mine
C7
I got the blues, huh huh
G7
I say I've been around a long time
F7 C7
I've really paid some dues
One more time, fellows!
C7
Blind man on the corner
Begging for a dime
The rollers come and caught him
F7
And throw him in the jail for a crime
I got the blues
C7
Mm, I'm singing my blues
G7
I've been around a long time
F7 C7
Mm, I've really paid some dues
Can we do just one more?
C7
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
F7
"You haven't been around long enough"
That's why I got the blues
C7
Mm, the blues
G7
I say, I've been around a long time
F7 C7
I've really, really paid my dues
Fellows, tell them one more time
[Solo]
(Ad lib)
C7
F7 C7
G7 F7 C7
Ha, ha, ha. That's all right, fellows
Yeah!
