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 fella there named Handy With a band you should hear And while the dancers gently swayed All the band boys played Real harmony I never will forget The tune that Handy called The Memphis Blues The got a fiddler there That always slickens his hair And folks, he sure does pull some bow And when the big bassoon Seconds to the trombone's croon And moans just like a sinner on revival day Here me, people, hear me, people, hear me, I pray I'm gonna take a million lessons 'til I learn how to play Because I seem to hear it yet Simply can't forget that blues refrain There's nothing like a Handy band That played The Memphis Blues so grand That melancholy strain Ever haunting refrain Is like a morning sorrow song Here comes the very part That wraps it's spell around my heart I can't forget the tune That Handy called The Memphis Blues I can't forget the tune That Handy called The Memphis Blues