The price we paid for the blues
Gitty music that grips the soulCalling out truths which need be told With all the pain a voice can hold The price we paid for the blues Out from deep-south cotton landsWhere singing took hurt by the handsLed it to far remembered landsThe price we paid for the blues Sweated out from a Negro's backWhipped from chains rarely slackCried from the walls of a wooden shackThe price we paid for the blues On out into each ghetto townThe only place for those pressed down Just because of a skin too brownThe price we paid for the blues This music is a legacy Handed down with each memory Of just how cruel men can be The price we paid for the blues