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

The memphis blues