Lead Belly
The Bourgeois Blues
Lead Belly was a blues pioneer from Mooringsport, Louisiana. His work has inspired numerous artists, including Odetta, Kurt Cobain, and Bob Dylan.
Written in 1937, in response to discriminatory Jim Crow laws, this song was recorded by Alan Lomax, for the Library of Congress, in 1938. The song has a traditional 12-bar blues structure and it is written in the key of Bb. The song has been covered and reinterpreted by numerous artists, including Pete Seeger and Billy Bragg.
Lord, in a bourgeois town It's a bourgeois town I got the bourgeois blues Gonna spread the news all around Home of the brave, land of the free I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie Lord, in a bourgeois town Uhm, the bourgeois town I got the bourgeois blues Gonna spread the news all around Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs We heard the white man say "I don't want no niggers up there" Lord, in a bourgeois town Uhm, bourgeois town I got the bourgeois blues Gonna spread the news all around Well, them white folks in Washington they know how To call a colored man a nigger just to see him bow Lord, it's a bourgeois town Uhm, the bourgeois town I got the bourgeois blues Gonna spread the news all around