They heard the breeze in the trees making weird melodies   And they made that the start of the blues   And from a jail came the wail of a down-hearted frail   And they played that as part of the blues      From a whippoorwill high on a hill they took a new note   Pushed it through a horn till it was worn into a blue note   And then they nursed it and rehearsed it and gave out with the news   That the southland gave birth of the blues   That the southland gave birth of the blues