St Louis Blues
by 
W.C. Handy 
recording of 1924-1925 
from 
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2 (1924-1925) (Columbia/Legacy C2K-47471) 
I hate to see the ev'nin' sun go down 
Hate to see the ev'nin' sun go down, 
'cause my baby, he done left this town 
Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today 
Feel tomorrow like I feel today, 
I'll pack my trunk, make my getaway 
St. Louis woman with her diamond rings 
Pulls that man 'round by her apron strings, 
't'want for powder and for store-bought hair 
The man I love, would not gone nowhere, 
got the St. Louis blues just as blue as I can be 
That man got a heart like a rock cast in the sea, 
or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me 
Been to the gypsy to get my fortune told 
To the gypsy, to get my fortune told, 
'cause I'm most wild about my 
jelly roll 
Gypsy done told me, "Don't you wear no black" 
Yes, she done told me, "Don't you wear no black, 
go to St. Louis, you can win him back" 
Help me to Cairo, make St. Louis by myself 
Gone to Cairo, find my old friend Jeff 
Goin' to pin myself close to his side, 
if I 
flag his train 
, I sure can ride 
I love that man like a schoolboy loves his pie 
Like a Kentucky Colonel loves his mint and rye 
I'll love my baby till the day I die 
You ought to see that stovepipe brown of mine, 
like he owns the diamond Joseph line 
He'd make across-eyed old man go stone blind 
Blacker than midnight, teeth like flags of truce 
Blackest man in the whole St. Louis 
Blacker the berry, sweeter is the juice 
About a crap game, he knows a powerful lot, 
but when work time comes, he's on the dot 
Goin' to ask him for a cold ten spot, 
what it takes to get it, he's certainly got 
A black-headed gal make a freight train jump the track 
Said a black-headed gal make a freight train jump the track