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The Bluesman

In the 1960's American Country Blues became fashionable, and a lot of the old blues singers from the 1930's were re-discovered. Some were working on farms and others were working in various jobs in the towns and cities. Many of them hadn't touched a guitar in years. Some were thrust into the limelight by promoters who saw the opportunity to exploit them.

 

Oh the years they fell away from him
As he picked up his guitar
But his eyes they were weary eyes
They were eyes that had travelled far
"In my Time of Dying" was a song he’d often sung
But none of us who looked at him realised his time had come


They found him in a downtown bar
With whiskey in his hand
They studied the fading photograph
They knew they'd found the great bluesman

 

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They took him to the studio
And gave him a new guitar
He played the blues for them all night long
As he smoked their cheap cigars

 

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They dressed him in a gold lame suit
And put him on the stage
They made him tour all Europe
He was looking half his age

 

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He felt the need to be back home
He'd had bad news from his wife
But they'd tied him up in contracts
He'd signed away his life

 

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Some said his last performance
Was the best he'd ever done
We analysed the meaning
In the words of every song

 

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