MIDNIGHT BLUES
B Thompson / Spencer Williams

as rec by Bessie Smith  June 15th 1923 New York

also rec by Ethel Waters & her Jazz Masters '23


Daddy, daddy, please come back to me,
Daddy, daddy, please come back to me,
Your mama's lonesome as she can be!

You left me at midnight, clocks were strikin' twelve,
Left me at midnight, clocks were strikin' twelve,
To face this cruel world all by myself!

Woke up at midnight, sad and blue,
Missed my daddy from my side.
Left alone to bemoan my fate,
That's why I'm sighin', cryin',
I just can't refuse.

I feel so troubled, heartbroken too,
Woe, misery I can't hide;
At twelve o'clock I unlock my hate,
I've got the meanest kind, lonesome midnight blues!





(Contributed by Peter Akers - May 2009)