St. Louis Blues

St. Louis Blues

Original Text
The St. Louis Blues and Other Song Hits of 1914, ed. Sandy Marrone (New York: Dover, 1990): 57-61.
1I hate to see de evening sun go down
2Hate to see de evenin' sun go down
3Cause ma baby he done lef dis town.
4Feelin' tomorrow lak ah feel today
5Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
6I'll pack my trunk make ma git away
7St. Louis 'oman wid her diamon' rings
8Pulls dat man roun' by her apron strings
9'Twant for powder an' for store-bought hair
10De man ah love would not gone nowhere.
11Got de St. Louis Blues jes blue as ah can be
12Dat man got a heart lak a rock cast in the sea
13Or else he wouldn't gone so far from me.
14     Dog-gone-it! me
15Been to de Gypsy to get ma fortune tole
16To de Gypsy done got ma fortune tole
17Cause Im is wile bout ma Jelly Roll.
18Gypsy done tole me, "don't you wear no black
19Yas she done tole me "don't you wear no black
20Go to St. Louis you can win him back
21Help me to Cairo make St. Louis by maself
22Git to Cairo find ma ole friend Jeff
23Gwine to pin ma-self close to his side
24If ah flag his train I sho can ride.
25I loves dat man lak a school-boy loves his pie
26Lak a Kentucky Col'nel loves his mint an rye,
27I'll love ma baby till de day ah die.
28     Dog-gone it! die
29You ought to see dat stove pipe brown of mine
30Lak he owns de Dimon Joseph line
31He'd make a cross-eyed 'oman go stone blin'.
32Blacker than midnight, teeth lak flags o' truce
33Blackest man in de whole St Louis,
34Blacker de berry, sweeter are the juice
35About a crap game he knows a pow'ful lot
36But when work-time comes, he's on de dot
37Gwine to ask him for a cold ten spot
38What it takes to git it he's cert'nly got.

Notes

3] dis: this. Back to Line
4] lak ah: like I. Back to Line
6] ma: my. Back to Line
7] wid: with. Back to Line
9] 'Twant: were it not. Back to Line
14] Dog-gone-it! polite form of "God damn it." The score notes that this line is spoken. Back to Line
17] Im is wile: I am wily (?).Jelly Roll: sweetheart, "lay." Back to Line
21] maself: a true rhyme with "Jeff" as sounded in the southern United States. Back to Line
22] Cairo: city in Illinois. Back to Line
23] Gwine: going. Back to Line
28] The score notes that this line is spoken. Back to Line
29] stove pipe brown: dark-coloured man, thin as a stove pipe. Back to Line
30] Dimon Joseph line: Diamond Joe line of steamers (the owner was Joseph Reynolds), an Iowa business. Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2010
Rhyme
aaabbbccddeee
Form
13-line stanzas
Special Copyright

This is in the public domain.