Memphis Blues

[Verse 1: Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald]
Folks, I've just been down, down to Memphis town
That's where the people smile, smile on you all the while
Hospitality, man, they was good to me
I couldn't spend a dime, had the grandest time
I went out a-dancing with a Tennessee dear
Met a man named Handy with a band you should hear
And while the dancers swayed, all the fellas played real harmony

[Chorus: Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald]
I never will forget the tune they called the Memphis Blues

[Verse 2: Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald]
They've got a fiddler there who always slickens his hair
Folks, he sure does pull a mean bow
And when the big bassoon seconds to the trombone's croon
It moans just like a sinner, ooh, on revival day
That melancholy strain, ever haunting refrain
Is like a southern sorrow song
Here comes the very part, wraps a spell around my heart

[Chorus: Ella Fitzgerald]
It sets me wild to hear that loving tune again
The Memphis Blues

[Verse 3: Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald]
Mississippi River, long, deep, and wide
Got myself a rowboat and I pulled for the other side
And when I heard the music, I coulda laid right down and died
Ah, you shoulda heard the singin' come floatin' out across the tide

[Outro: Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby]
Get on your fanciest dancing shoes
And ask the leader to play the blues
The M-E-M-P-H-I-S, boy
I need the Memphis Blues
I need the Memphis Blues
Thank you, Ella
Thank you, folks
Thanks also to the Firehouse Five, too, for some mighty fine blastin' there