I've seen the lights of gay Broadway,Old Market Street down by the Frisco Bay,I've strolled the Prado, I've gambled on the BourseThe seven wonders of the world I've seenAnd many are the places I have been.Take my advice folks and see Beale Street first.
You'll see pretty Browns in beautiful gowns,You'll see tailor-mades and hand-me-downsYou'll meet honest men and pick-pockets skilled,You'll find that bus'ness never closes till somebody gets killed.
You'll see Hog-Nose rest'rants and Chitlin' Cafés,You'll see Jugs that tell of by-gone days,And places, once places, now just a sham,You'll see Golden Balls enough to pave the New Jerusalem.
If Beale Street could talk, If Beale Streak could talk,Married men would have to take their beds and walkExcept one or two, who never drink booze,And the blind man on the corner who sings the Beale Street Blues.
I'd rather be here than any place I know,I'd rather be here than any place I knowIt's goin' to take the SargentFor to make me go,Goin' to the river, maybe, bye and bye,Goin' to the river, and there's a reason why,Because the river's wetAnd Beale Street done gone dry.
