Why I Sing the Blues

Everybody wants to know why I sing the blues Yes, I say everybody wanna know why I sing the blues Well, I've been around a long time I really have paid my dues 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 And everybody wanna know Why I sing the blues Well, I've been around a long time Mmm, I've really paid my dues I've laid in a ghetto flat, cold and numb I heard the rats tell the bedbugs to give the roaches some Everybody wanna know Why I'm singing the blues Yes, I've been around a long time People, I've paid my dues I stood in line down at the County Hall I heard a man say "We're gonna build some new apartments for y'all" And everybody wanna know Yes, they wanna know why I'm singing the blues Yes, I've been around a long, long time Yes, I've really, really paid my dues Now I'm gonna play Lucille 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 And everybody wanna know Everybody wanna know why I'm singing the blues I say I've been around a long time Yes, I've really paid some dues Yeah, you know the company told me, "Guess you're born to lose" Everybody around me, people, it seems like everybody got the blues But I had 'em a long time I've really, really paid my dues You know I ain't ashamed of it, people I just love to sing my blues I walk through the cities, people, on my bare feet I had a fill of catfish and chitterling up in Downbill Street You know I'm singing the blues Yes, I really, I just have to sing my blues I've been around a long time People, I've really, really paid my dues 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 I'm singing the blues Mmm-mmm, I just have to sing the blues I've been around a long time Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues Yeah, they told me everything would be better out in the country Everything was fine, I caught me a bus uptown, baby And every people, all the people got the same trouble as mine I got the blues, huh huh I say I've been around a long time Hmm, I've really paid some dues One more time, fellows Blind man on the corner begging for a dime The rollers come and caught him and throw him in the jail for a crime I got the blues Mmm, I'm singing my blues I've been around a long time Mmm, I've really paid some dues Can we do just one more? 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, "You haven't been around long enough" That's why I got the blues Mmm, the blues I say, I've been around a long time I've really, really paid my dues Fellows, just one more time Ha, ha, ha, that's alright, fellows Yeah!