The Bourgeois Blues (1938)

[Intro]
Aw in a bourgeois man
Livin' in a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
And I'm sure gonna spread the news all around

[Spoken]
Yes, I'm gonna spread it, everywhere I go. I just saw a man about "Bourgeois Blues". I and Miss Monica and Mr. Alan Lomax, and his wife and my wife we's riding 'round over Washington D.C. And anything you want to know about Washington, D.C. please talk to me 'cause I can tell you about it

We rode all around in the rain. No colored people would let me in 'cause I was with a white man. And thats a bourgeois place 'cause its scared to let in colored people if they're with white people

[Verse 1]
Me an Miss Monica, went on town
I heard a colored man say you can't come around
He's a bourgeois man
Woo living in a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
And I'm sure ugonna spread the news

[Spoken]
We went in a colored fellow's place, wanted to eat something. He had beer there, too. And we wanted to eat some food, but I had so many white people with me, he wouldn't let me in. But he told me just before I left, the colored woman did, that, when I come back
And bring some white men I couldn't eat. But I got back I found the man, he was the manager. I asked him, he wouldn't say nothin' but he just nod his head. But he shook it know that she couldn't stand there. And one of the boys with me was worth $90,000. His name was Kip Keeler. That's a bourgeois town. But we leave

[Verse 2]
Me and Martha, standing upstairs
I heard a white man say "I don't want no niggers up there"
He's a bourgeois man
Woo, livin' in a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
And I'm sure gonna spread the news all around

[Spoken]
Now me and Martha's standing upstairs. We done been there all night, but the man didn't know we was there. But we's going out and coming in to and fro. So we met the man. So Martha and I went on in front of Mr. Lomax and them. But I heard the white man, probably with Mr. Alan Lomax's wife and Miss Monica. So Mr. Alan Lomax get him something told, what I mean she talk to him. And me and Martha's standing up there, Martha says to me, "Baby I think they're talking about us." I say "Yeah" and I stop and turn my radio on again to listen in. And you know what I heard him say?

[Verse 3]
Me and Martha, standing upstairs
I heard a white man shout "I don't want no niggers up there"
He's a bourgeois man
Ooh, livin' in a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
And I'm sure gonna spread the news

[Verse 4]
I'm gonna tell all the colored people
I want them to understand
Washington ain't no place for no colored man
'Cause it's a bourgeois town
Ooh it's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
I'm sure gonna spread the news

[Verse 5]
The white folks in Washington they know how
To chunk you a nigga just to see a nigga bow
It's a bourgeois town
Woo, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
I'm sure gonna spread the news

[Instrumental Verse]
Ah, shake it
Ah, bring it

[Spoken]
'Cause this is Christmas, right behind Christmas Day. Better known as the 26th day of December. Everybody always remember these Bourgeois Blues

[Verse 6]
I got here to tell you, that before I go
I want everybody to know
Lord, it's a bourgeois town
Ooh it's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
I'm sure gonna spread the news

[Verse 7]
I want to tell all the colored people to listen to me
Don't ever try to get a home in Washington DC
'Cause it's a bourgeois town
Ooh, it's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues and I'm sure gonna spread the news

[Outro]
Ah, whip it
Oh, sing it
Oh, shake it
Whip up the bourgeois, will you?
Oh whip it up, [?] thing