Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BLUES FOR BESSIE, by MYRON O'HIGGINS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BLUES FOR BESSIE, by                    
First Line: Let de peoples known (unnh) / what they did in dat southern town
Last Line: Wid de blood (lawd) a-streamin' down
Subject(s): African Americans - Women; Blues (music); Racism; Singing & Singers; Smith, Bessie (1894-1937); Social Protest; Racial Prejudice; Bigotry


Bessie Smith, the greatest of the early blues singers, died
violently after an auto accident while on a theatrical
tour of the South in 1937. The newspapers reported
that she bled to death when the only hospital in the
vicinity refused her emergency medical attention
because she was a Negro woman.

Let de peoples know (unnh)
what dey did in dat Southern town
Let de peoples know
what dey did in dat Southern Town
Well, dey lef' po' Bessie dyin'
wid de blood (Lawd) a-streamin' down

Bessie lef' Chicago
in a bran' new Cadillac;
didn' take no suitcase
but she wore her mournin' black (unnh)
Bessie, Bessie,
she wore her mournin' black
She went ridin' down to Dixie (Lawd)
an' dey shipped her body back

Lawd, wasn't it a turr'ble
when dat rain come down
Yes, wasn't it a turr'ble
when de rain come down
An' ol' Death caught po' Bessie
down in 'at Jim Crow town

Well, de thunder rolled
an' de lightnin' broke de sky
Lawd, de thunder rolled
an' de lightnin' broke de sky
An' you could hear po' Bessie moanin',
"Gret Gawd, please doan lemme die!"

She holler, "Lawd, please hep me!"
but He never heerd a word she say
Holler, "Please, somebody help me!"
but dey never heerd a word she say
Frien', when you' luck run out in Dixie,
well, it doan do no good to pray.

Well, dey give po' Bessie
to de undertaker man;
ol' Death an' Jim Crow (Lawd)
done de job, hand in han'
Well, Bessie, Bessie,
she won't sing de blues no mo'
Cause dey let her go down bloody (Lawd)
trav'lin' from door to do'

Bessie lef' Chicago
in a bran' new Cad'lac eight
Yes, Bessie lef' Chicago
in a gret big Cad'lac Eight
But dey shipped po' Bessie back (Lawd)
on dat lonesome midnight freight

Lawd, let de peoples know
what dey did in dat Southern Town
Yes, let de peoples know
what dey did in dat Southern Town
Well, dey lef' po' Bessie dyin'
wid de blood (Lawd) a-streamin' down






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