You can never tell what’s in a man’s mind And if he’s from Harlem, there’s no use of even tryin’ Just like the tide, his mind comes and goes Like March weather, when he’ll change Nobody knows, nobody knows
The man I love, well, he just turned me down He’s a Harlem brown Oftentimes I wish that I were in this ground Six feet underground He idolized me as no other could, Lord Then he surprised me, leaving me a note sayin’ he’s gone for good
And since my sweetie left me, Harlem Well, it ain’t the same old place Though a thousand dandies smile right in my face I think I’ll mooch some homemade hooch and go out for a lark Just to drive off these mean old Harlem blues
You can have your Broadway, give me Lenox Avenue Angels from the skies stroll 7th and for that, thanks are due From Madam Walker’s beauty shops to the Pro-Ro System 2 Then made those girls angels without any doubt
There are some spots up in Harlem Where I’m told it’s sudden death To let somebody see you, even start to catch your breath If you’ve never been to Harlem, then I guess you’ll never know The power of these mean ol’ Harlem blues
Ah, there’s one sweet spot in Harlem known as Striver’s Row ‘Ditty folks, some call them, there’s one thing you should know It’s that I have a friend who lives there, I know he won’t refuse To put some music to my troubles and call them Harlem blues To put some music to my troubles and call ’em the Harlem blues
Harlem, the Harlem blues Harlem, the Harlem blues Harlem