JOE TURNER'S BLUES
{W.C. Handy}

You'll never miss the water 'till your well runs dry,
Till your well runs dry.
You'll never miss Joe Turner till he says, "good-bye."

Sweet Babe, I'm goin' to leave you, and the time ain't long,
The time ain't long.
And if you don't believe I'm leavin', count the days I'm gone.

{Chorus}
You'll be sorry, be sorry from your heart [uhm},
Sorry to your heart {uhm},
some day when you and I must part.

And every time you hear a whistle blow,
Hear a steamboat blow,
You'll hate the day you lost your Joe.

I bought a bulldog for to watch you while you sleep,
Guard you while you sleep;
Spent all my money, now you call Joe Turner "cheap".

You never 'preciate the little things I do,
Not one thing I do.
And that's the very reason why I'm leaving you.

Sometimes I feel like somethin' throwed away,
Somethin' throwed away.
And then I get my guitar, play the blues all day.

Now if your heart beat like mine, it's not made of steel,
No,'t aint made of steel.
And when you learn I left you, this is how you'll feel.


[from Dorothy Scarborough & Ola Lee Gulledge's 1925 book "Negro Folk Rhymes" [1963 Folklore Associates Edition, p. 266]