Why I Sing The Blues by B.B. King

[Verse]
C7
Everybody wants to know
 
Why I sing the blues
     F7
Yes, I say everybody wanna know
      C7
Why I sing the blues
                G7
Well, I've been around a long time
F7                    C7
I really have paid my dues
 
     C7
When I first got the blues
 
They brought me over on a ship
 
Men were standing over me
 
And a lot more with a whip
F7
And everybody wanna know
               C7
Why I sing the blues
                G7
Well, I've been around a long time
F7                      C7
Mm, I've really paid my dues
 
 
[Verse]
C7
I've laid in a ghetto flat
 
Cold and numb
 
I heard the rats tell the bedbugs
 
To give the roaches some
F7
Everybody wanna know
        C7
Why I'm singing the blues
               G7
Yes, I've been around a long time
F7                   C7
People, I've paid my dues
 
  C7
I stood in line
 
Down at the County Hall
 
I heard a man say, "We're gonna build
 
Some new apartments for y'all"
F7
And everybody wanna know
 
Yes, they wanna know
        C7
Why I'm singing the blues
               G7
Yes, I've been around a long, long time
F7                               C7
Yes, I've really, really paid my dues
 
(Now I'm gonna play Lucille)
 
 
[Solo]
C7
F7    C7
G7  F7   C7
 
 
[Verse]
   C7
My kid's gonna grow up
 
Gonna grow up to be a fool
 
Cause they ain't got no more room
 
No more room for him in school
F7
And everybody wanna know
 
Everybody wanna know
        C7
Why I'm singing the blues
                G7
I say I've been around a long time
F7                         C7
Yes, I've really paid some dues
 
               C7
Yeah, you know the company told me
 
Guess you're born to lose
 
Everybody around me, people
                                F7
It seems like everybody got the blues
 
But I had 'em a long time
     C7
I've really, really paid my dues
           G7
You know I ain't ashamed of it, people
F7                     C7
I just love to sing my blues
 
 
[Solo]
C7
F7    C7
G7  F7   C7
 
 
[Verse]
  C7
I walk through the cities, people
 
On my bare feet
 
I had a fill of catfish and chitterlings
 
Up in Downbill Street
F7
You know I'm singing the blues
       C7
Yes, I really
 
I just have to sing my blues
G7
I've been around a long time
F7                   C7
People, I've really, really paid my dues
 
    C7
Now Father Time is catching up with me
 
Gone is my youth
 
I look in the mirror everyday
 
And let it tell me the truth
F7
I'm singing the blues
    C7
Mm, I just have to sing the blues
G7
I've been around a long time
F7                    C7
Yes, yes, I've really paid some dues
 
 
[Solo]
C7
F7    C7
G7  F7   C7
 
 
[Verse]
      C7
Yeah, they told me everything
 
Would be better out in the country
 
Everything was fine
 
I caught me a bus uptown, baby
F7
And every people, all the people
 
Got the same trouble as mine
C7
I got the blues, huh huh
                G7
I say I've been around a long time
F7               C7
I've really paid some dues
 
One more time, fellows!
 
C7
Blind man on the corner
 
Begging for a dime
 
The rollers come and caught him
                                      F7
And throw him in the jail for a crime
 
I got the blues
        C7
Mm, I'm singing my blues
          G7
I've been around a long time
F7                        C7
Mm, I've really paid some dues
 
 
Can we do just one more?
 
C7
Oh I thought I'd go down to the welfare
 
To get myself some grits and stuff
 
But a lady stand up and she said
                                       F7
"You haven't been around long enough"
 
That's why I got the blues
    C7
Mm, the blues
  G7
I say, I've been around a long time
F7                       C7
I've really, really paid my dues
 
Fellows, tell them one more time
 
[Solo]
(Ad lib)
C7
F7    C7
G7  F7   C7
 
Ha, ha, ha. That's all right, fellows
 
Yeah!

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Guitar Transcription

Why I Sing The Blues