I gotta right to sing the blues, I gotta right to feel low-down, I gotta right t' hang around, down around the river . . . A certain gal in this ol' town, keeps draggin' my poor heart around, All I see for me, is misery . . . I gotta right to sing the blues, I gotta right to moan and sigh, I gotta right to sit and cry, down around the river . . . I kno' the deep blue sea, will soon be callin' me, It must be love, say what you choose, I gotta right to sing the blues! ( doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo, doo doo doo ) ( He's gotta right to sing the blues ) I gotta right to sing the blues! ( He's gotta right to moan and sigh ) I gotta right t' moan and sigh! ( He's gotta right to sit an' cry ) sit an' cryin' down along the river! I kno' the deep blue sea, will soon be callin' me, It must be love, say what you choose, I gotta right to sing the blues . . . the blues, I gotta right ( the right! ) tonight ( tonight! ) I gotta right to sing the blues! ( doo doo, doo doo, doo wah! ) Music by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Ted Koehler, 1932