Folks I've just been down, down to Memphis town That's where the people smile, smile on you all the while Hospitality, they were good to me I couldn't spend a dime, and had the grandest time I went out a dancing with a Tennessee dear They had a fellow there named Handy with a band you should hear And while the folks gently swayed, all the band folks played Real harmony I never will forget the tune that Handy called the Memphis Blues Oh yes, them Blues They've got a fiddler there that always slickens his hair And folks he sure do pull some bow And when the big Bassoon seconds to the Trombones croon It moans just like a sinner on Revival Day, on Revival Day Oh that melody sure appealed to me Just like a mountain stream rippling on it seemed Then it slowly died, with a gentle sigh Soft as the breeze that whines high in the summer pines Hear me people, hear me people, hear I pray I'm going to take a million lesson's 'til I learn how to play Because I seem to hear it yet, simply can't forget That blue refrain There's nothing like the Handy Band that played the Memphis Blues so grand Oh play them Blues That melancholy strain, that ever haunting refrain Is like a sweet old sorrow song Here comes the very part that wraps a spell around my heart It sets me wild to hear that loving tune a gain, the Memphis Blues