Bessie

From the foot of Lookout Mountain,
On the banks of the Tennessee,
Came a girl from deep depression,
With a spirit wild and free,
She crawled up from the gutter,
She performed in streets and bars,
From the time she was a little babe,
She was lookin’ up at the stars.

Bessie, Bessie, reachin’ for the golden ring,
Bessie, Oh Bessie, Lordy that girl could sing.

She learned from Old Ma Rainey,
How to polish up a song,
How to put her soul into the words,
How to bring the crowd along,
She sang of love forever gone,
Of poverty, loss, and booze,
She sang of lonely darkened roads,
She was the Empress of the Blues.

Bessie, Bessie, reachin’ for the golden ring,
Bessie, Oh Bessie, Lordy that girl could sing.

And then Fate brought out a hammer,
And put out Bessie’s flame,
And since that day on that highway,
The world ain’t been the same,
It seems no one has filled her shoes,
No one has had the fire,
Now she has found the Promised Land,
And she’s singin’ up in that choir.

Bessie, Bessie, reachin’ for the golden ring,
Bessie, Oh Bessie, Lordy that girl could sing.