Black Snake Blues

    (Johnson, Spivey)

Transcribed from vocals by Maude Mills, recorded June, 1927.
From Fats Waller 1926-1927; Chronological Classics 674.

'Cause my left eye is jumping,
And my flesh begins to crawl,
I said my left eye is jumping,
And my flesh begins to crawl,
You can bet my last dollar
There's another mule kickin' in my stall.

Oh, I ain't gonna tell you no more,
I said oh, I ain't gonna tell you no more,
Stay away from my window,
Don't you knock at my door.

I'd rather be a catfish swimming in the deep blue,
Lodged beneath a submarine, behind a floating boat,
I'd rather be a catfish,
Swimming in the deep blue sea,
Than to stay in Texas, let 'em try to mistreat me.

Oh, I ain't gonna tell you no more,
I said oh, I ain't gonna tell you no more,
Stay away from my window,
Don't you knock at my door.

It's a mean black snake that's carried me this gate,
Taught me my mistake, treated me hard to take,
It's a mean black snake that's doing me this way.
If I ever go back south, I'm going back there to stay.

Return to the Heptune Jazz and Blues Lyrics Page.
 

Published 12/28/01.

Fats Waller, excellent autobiograhy by son Maurice Waller.

You can find transcriptions of what Fats Waller actually played in Thomas "Fats" Waller: The Great Solos, 1929-1941, transcribed by Paul Posnak.

Look for Fats Waller sheet music, at sheetmusicplus, below:

	ArtistSongAlbumComposerCompositionInstrument