The Story Of The Blues (Part Two) (Talkin’ Blues)

Lyrics

[Spoken] Well, that's my story and i'm sticking to that So let's have another drink and, let's talk about the blues Blues is about dignity It's about self-respect And no matter what they take away from you That's yours for keeps I remember how it was, how every medium The TV and papers and radio And all those people were saying "You're on the scrap-heap, you're useless" And I remember how easy it was to start believing that I remember how you'd hear people Take it for granted that it was true Just 'cause someone with an ounce of power said so And that's a problem now Too many oddballs, too many pocketbook psychologists And would-be philosophers with an axe to grind But there's a solution It's not easy, but it's a matter of Coming to terms in your heart with situation you're in A matter of choosing how things go for you And not having things forced upon you There are plenty of forces against you Forcing you against your will, your ideals You've got to hope for the best And that's the best you can hope for You've got to hope against hope I remember something Sal Paradise said He said 'The city intellectuals of the world are debauched from the full body blood o the land and are just rootless fools' So listen When the smile The condescending pat-on-the-back comes and says 'We're sorry, but you're nothing, you've got nothing for us and we've got nothing for you' You say, 'No' And say it loud, 'No!' And remember People who talk about revolution and a class struggle Without referring explicitly to everyday life Without understanding what is subversive about love And what is positive in the refusal and constraint Such people have a corpse in their mouth