Lyrics St. James Infirmary (From the Album - The Story of the Blues) - Della Reese

St. James Infirmary (From the Album - The Story of the Blues)

It was down in Old Joe’s barroom
On the corner by the square
The usual crowd was assembled
And big Joe McKinney was there
He was standing at my shoulder
His eyes were bloodshot red;
He turned to the crowd around him
These are the very words he said:
I went down to the St. James Infirmary
I saw my baby there
She’s laid out on a cold white table
So so cold, so white, so fair."
Let her go, let her go, God bless her
Wherever she may be
She may search this wide world over
She’ll never find a sweet man like me
Oh, when I die, bury me
In my high top Stetson hat;
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
God’ll know I died standing pat
I want six crap shooters for pall bearers
Chorus girl to sing me a song
Put a jazz band on my hearse wagon
Raise Hell as I roll along
Roll out your rubber tired carriage
Roll out your old time hat
Twelve men going to the graveyard
And eleven coming back
Now that I’ve told my story
I’ll take another shot of booze
And if anyone should happen to ask you
I’ve got those gamblers' blues