Lyrics and Music by Al Smyth, 2005
[Verse]
There was a dude who just moved up from Memphis
he had snakeskin shoes
they really loved him a lot - he played the same old blues
[Verse]
There was a local elder blues statesman
he won this year and the year prior too
well of course he did - he played the same old blues
[CHORUS]
They played the same old blues...
They played the same old blues...
Well we didn't stand a chance against the same old blues
[Verse]
Well I tried to give 'em slide delta
in 20 minutes we did 5 tunes
but that wasn't good enough - they wants the same old blues
[CHORUS]
They played the same old blues...
They played the same old blues...
Well we didn't stand a chance against the same old blues
[Verse]
We gave 'em our best originals
and we threw in some Hound Dog too
that made no difference - where was the same old blues?
[Spoken - in a sarcastic voice]
Well, the judges ya really gotta respect 'em a lot - all the bands were so good and all sounded so much like each other that you could understand how hard it was for them to pick.
Gee the one feller played guitar behind his head - I don't think I've ever seen that done before !!!! (wow) And when you have 20 minutes then why not just get a 6 piece band with horns and do 3 songs?
[Verse]
Well horns and 12 bar sells
songs not too old or new
like reality TV and Paris Hilton - give 'em the same old blues
[Verse]
okay maybe I lost points due to cussin'
on stage a bad attitude
I just gotta learn to smile - and play the same old blues
ZZ Top, Mustang Sally, SRV, Jimi Hendrix... sorry. I can't begin to count the number of bands that put the same old songs by these artists on their song list and then post it on the web - like we're supposed to be impressed (Wow - can you really do Pride and Joy ? I don't think I've ever heard a band play that!!!). But then again, it makes for a hell of a good wedding band or battle-of-the-same-old-blues. And sadly yes, the general public seems to like it - but where would Van Gough be if all he painted was what the general public wanted ? Okay so he cut off his ear and died poor - so maybe that was a bad example - but ya get my point.
- Allen Smyth