THE THREE B's
From the Broadway Show "Best Foot Forward" (1941)
(Hugh Martin / Ralph Blane)

June Allyson, Victoria Schools & Nancy Walker (Broadway Prod.) - 1941
June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven & Nancy Walker (Film Soundtrack) - 1943
Liza Minnelli, Kay Cole & Renee Winters (Off-Broadway Revival) - 1963



GLORIA:
I never wanna hear Johann Sebastian Bach
JUNE:
And I don't wanna listen to Ludwig Beethoven
NANCY:
And I don't give a hoot for ol' Johannes Brahms
ALL:
The B's we want are these, the B's we want are these
JUNE:
They're the barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie
GLORIA:
And the blues
ALL:
Yes, the barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie and the blues!

JUNE:
Oh, the barrelhouse makes you want to carouse
NANCY:
Every boogie beat will raise your heat
GLORIA:
When they start to play the blues
ALL:
You'll never choose to lose the blues
GLORIA:
Oh, the blues will really get you
JUNE:
And the barrelhouse is bound to upset you
NANCY:
And the boogie-woogie beat will drive you straight to distraction
Hey, let's go professor, get a solid reaction!
From a barrelhouse, the boog-boog-boog-boog boogie and the blues
ALL:
Yes, the barrelhouse, yeah, the boogie-woogie and the blues

ALL:
When a Dixieland band gets up on the stand
You'll hear the trombones slide and start to ride
So make 'em play those dirty
Dirty hurdy-gurdy barrelhouse, boogie and blues
The barrelhouse, boogie and blues
The barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie and the blues
We're up a tree now, we don't know which to choose
The barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie or the blues

NANCY:
I love the boogie 'cos it tickles my spine
I love the boogie 'cos it's fresh and it's fine
Just like a cigarette with modern design
That's why I love the boogie-woogie (Yes! Yes!)
It seems to knock the wind right out of my chest
It's so darn good it makes a fool of the rest
Just goes to show you that the boogie's the best
That's why I love the boogie-woogie (Yes! Yes!)
It's right as rain, low as a thunder
Light as a cloud, sweet as a cake
It's got a kick like mountain liquor
And it's as slick and hard to take as Veronica Lake.
It picks you up and then knocks you right down
It makes you laugh and play and act like a clown
No other music has the right to the crown
'Cos there's nothing that will raise your heat
Like the boogie-woogie beat
JUNE:
Don't mean the barrelhouse
NANCY:
Like the boogie-woogie beat
GLORIA:
Don't mean the blues
NANCY:
I love the boogie-woogie beat!

GLORIA:
I love the boogie too, but not when I'm feeling blue
I get the blues in the mornin', the blues at night
I even get the blues when I'm feelin' all right
'Cos it sounds so good and it feels so good
And it is so good, my best jazz music there is

JUNE:
I love the blues as well, but not when I'm feeling swell
When I'm feeling kind of chummy and I wanna join the scrummy
I go barrelhouse, barrelhouse
The atmosphere is squalid, but the band is really solid
They play barrelhouse, barrelhouse, they really go to town
The beat is steady as a rock there
They play till five or six o'clock there
You'll be mighty glad you found 'em
It's great to be around 'em
Oh they sock it, beat it, kill it
The barrelhouse will make you hot on jazz

ALL:
It's the barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie and the blues
That's the barrelhouse, the boogie-woogie and the blues
Talkin' about those three B's
Talkin' about those three B's
Talkin' about those three B's
One, two, three B's
One, two, one-two-three B's