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.
 [bad word] the very part that wraps a spell around my heart.
 It sets me wild to hear that loving tune a gain,
 The Memphis Blues.