Blues in the Night
Words & Music by Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen, 1941
Recorded by Rosemary Clooney, 1952 (#17)
Written for a film called Hot Nocturne, this song became so popular that the movie
was re-titled Blues in the Night
A
My mama done tol' me, when I was in kneepants,
A7
My mama done tol' me, "Son,
D7
A woman'll sweet talk, and give ya the big eye,
B7 E7 A
But when the sweet talkin's done,
E7 Am7 E7
A woman's a two-face, a worrisome thing who'll leave ya t' sing
A D9 A
The blues in the night."
Refrain:
A7 E7 Am7 D7
Now the rain's a-fallin', hear the train a-callin',
A
"Whoo-ee." (My mama done tol' me,)
D9 Dm6 E7
Hear that lonesome whistle blowin' 'cross the trestle,
A
"Whoo-ee." (My mama done tol' me.)
E7
A whoo-ee-duh whoo-ee,
B7 E7 A D9 A
Ol' clickety clack's a-echoin' back the blues in the night.
D9 Dm6
The evening breeze'll start the trees to cryin'
E7 C7 B+ F#7-5 Am6 B7 E7 Dm6 E7
And the moon'll hide it's light when you get the blues in the night;
D9 Dm6 E7 C7 B+
Take my word, the mockingbird'll sing the saddest kind of song,
F#m7-5 Am6 B7 E7 Dm6 Gm6 E7
He knows things are wrong, and he's right.
From Natchez to Mobile, from Memphis to Saint Joe,
Wherever the four winds blow;
I've been in some big towns and heard me some big talk,
But there is one thing I know:
A woman's a two-face, a worrisome thing who'll leave ya t' sing
The blues in the night.
Refrain:
Coda:
A A7 B7 E7
Oooo - oooo - oooo, oooo - oooo - oooo,
B7 E7sus4 A
My mama was right, there's blues in the night.
