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