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Hong Kong Blues Lyrics
It's the story of a very unfortunate colored man
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong
And now he's poppin' the piano just to raise the price
Of a ticket to the land of the free
Well, he say his home's in Frisco where they send the rice
But it's really in Tennessee
That's why he said, "I need someone to love me
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there
Oh, I need someone to lend me a fifty dollar bill and then
I'll leave Hong Kong behind me for happiness once again"
Won't somebody believe
I've a yen to see that Bay again?
But when I try to leave
Sweet opium won't let me fly away
I need someone to love me
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there
That's the story of a very unfortunate colored man
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong
Of a ticket to the land of the free
Well, he say his home's in Frisco where they send the rice
But it's really in Tennessee
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there
Oh, I need someone to lend me a fifty dollar bill and then
I'll leave Hong Kong behind me for happiness once again"
I've a yen to see that Bay again?
But when I try to leave
Sweet opium won't let me fly away
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong
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As I suspected:
from http://corbiniansbear.blogspot.ca :
"Now, "kicking old Buddha's gong" was not some transgression at the local temple, as the Bear had always thought.
"Kicking the gong" was slang at the time for visiting an opium den."
"Kicking Buddha's Gong" was fairly common slang at the time. Cab Calloway used it in Minnie the Moocher:
She messed around with a bloke named Smokey She loved him though he was cokey He took her down to Chinatown and showed her How to kick the gong around