These are the blues, nothin' but blues 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 swayin' to and fro They didn't know just what to use This is how the blues really began They heard the breeze in the trees Singin' 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 a part of the blues From a whippoorwill way upon a hill They took a new note Pushed it through a horn Until it was worn into a blue note And then they nursed it They rehearsed it And then sent out that news That the Southland gave birth to the blues They nursed it Then they rehearsed it And they sent out that news That the Southland, they gave birth to the blues