ELLA FITZGERALD - The Real American Folk Song lyrics

rate me

Near Barcelona, the peasant crooned

The old traditional Spanish tunes

The Neapolitan street song sighs

You think of Italian skys

Each nation has a creative vein

Originating a native strain

With folk songs plaintive and others gay

In their own peculiar way

American folk songs, I feel

Have a much stronger appeal

The real American folksong is a rag

A mental jag

A rhythmic tonic for the chronic blues

The critics called it a "joke song" but now

They've changed their tune, and they like it, somehow

For it's innoculated with a syncopated sort of meter, sweeter

Than a classic strain, boy you can't remain, still or quiet, for it's a riot

The real American folksong

Is like a fountain of youth

You taste, and it elates you, and then, invigorates you

The real American folksong, the masses coaxed on, is a rag

(instrumental break)

The real American folksong is a rag

A mental jag

A rhythmic tonic for the chronic blues

The critics called it a "joke song" but now

They've changed their tune, and they like it, somehow

For it's innoculated with a syncopated sort of meter, sweeter

Than a classic strain, boy you can't remain, still or quiet, for it's a riot

The real American folksong

Is like a fountain of youth

You taste, and it elates you, and then, invigorates you

The real American folksong, is a rag