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The Bourgeois Blues Lyrics
Me and my wife went all over town
And everywhere we went people turned us down
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
I tell all the colored folks to listen to me
Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC
`Cause it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
And everywhere we went people turned us down
Lord, in a bourgeois town
It's a bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
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
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
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
Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC
`Cause it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
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Im guessing this song, From looking at these lyrics and lyrics from other versions (Which have alot of Leadbelly's side chat) That this song is about when he went North with Alan lomax and went looking for a place to stay while he recorded/played to audiances.
Since this was the Pre-Civil rights era Him and his wife were not allowed in any of the Establishments unless they were accompanied by one of the lomax's, I believe he means Burgeois as in "Rich white folk", as he says in side chat on a version of this song. this song is generally about how Blacks were looked down apon in those times.
This is one of the foremost protest songs of all times, let alone the 1930s. This is a song that was many years ahead of its time. The song more or less speaks for itself. I understand that the word, "bourgeois" is used because Leadbelly just learned it on the car ride up to D.C. with Lomax and simply loved how it sounded.