Bumble Bee
Memphis Minnie Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning

Bumble bee, bumble bee
Please come back to me
Bumble bee, bumble bee
Please come back to me
He got the best old stinger
Any bumble bee that I ever seen

He stung me this morning

I been looking for him all day long
He stung me this morning
I been looking for him all day long
Lord, it got me to the place
Hate to see my bumble bee leave home

Bumble bee, bumble bee
Don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee
Don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee
And you're needed here at home

I can't stand to hear him
Buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee
Want you to stop your fuss
You're my bumble bee
And you know your stuff
Oh, sting me, bumble bee
Until I get enough

Bumble bee, bumble bee
Don't be gone so long
Bumble bee, bumble bee
Don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee
And you're needed here at home

I don't mind you going
Ain't going to stay so long
Don't mind you going
Don't be gone so long
You's my bumble bee
And you're needed here at home

I can't stand to hear him
Buzz, buzz, buzz
Come in, bumble bee
I want you to stop your fuss
You's my bumble bee
And you know your stuff

Oh, sting me, bumble bee
Until I get enough

Overall Meaning

The song "Bumble Bee" by Memphis Minnie tells the story of a woman who is desperately searching for her lover, a bumble bee, who has the best stinger she has ever seen. She recounts how he stung her that morning and how she has been searching for him all day long. She pleads with him to come back to her and not be gone for too long as he is needed at home. Despite her frustration with his constant buzzing, she cannot help but be drawn to him and begs him to sting her until she can get enough.

The song can be interpreted as a metaphor for an abusive relationship, with the bumble bee representing a partner who hurts their significant other but who they cannot help but return to. The woman's pleading for the bumble bee to return to her despite the pain he has caused her reflects the cycle of abuse and the difficulty of leaving an unhealthy relationship.

However, the song can also simply be interpreted as a lighthearted tale of a woman who is infatuated with a bumble bee and cannot bear to be without him. The playful tone and catchy melody showcase Memphis Minnie's signature style of blending blues and folk music.

Line by Line Meaning

Bumble bee, bumble bee
Memphis Minnie is calling out for her bumble bee, whom she dearly misses.

Please come back to me
She wants her bumble bee to come back to her, possibly because he has left her.

He got the best old stinger
Minnie admires her bumble bee because he has the most impressive stinger she has ever seen.

Any bumble bee that I ever seen
Compared to all the other bumble bees Minnie has encountered, her bumble bee stands out.

He stung me this morning
Minnie reveals that her bumble bee has stung her earlier in the day.

I been looking for him all day long
Minnie has been searching for her bumble bee for the whole day.

Lord, it got me to the place
The sting has affected Minnie emotionally, and she now feels brokenhearted.

Hate to see my bumble bee leave home
Minnie does not want her bumble bee to leave her.

Don't be gone so long
Minnie pleads for her bumble bee to come back quickly.

You's my bumble bee
Minnie reaffirms that this bumble bee is exclusively hers.

And you're needed here at home
Minnie needs her bumble bee to be present with her.

I can't stand to hear him
Minnie is annoyed by her bumble bee's buzzing.

Buzz, buzz, buzz
This is the sound that bumble bees make when they are flying.

Come in, bumble bee
Minnie calls out to her bumble bee to come inside.

Want you to stop your fuss
Minnie wants her bumble bee to stop making noise.

And you know your stuff
Minnie believes her bumble bee is an expert in what he does.

Oh, sting me, bumble bee
Minnie wants her bumble bee to sting her repeatedly.

Until I get enough
Minnie wants to be stung enough times that it satisfies her.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MINNIE MCCOY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Memphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.

Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. Read Full BioMemphis Minnie (born Lizzie Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973) was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter from the late 1920s to the 1950s, one of the most influential country blues musicians to have ever recorded.

Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

Deirdre Ryan

2y↑3

"Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
Bumble bee, bumble bee, please come back to me
He got the best old stinger any bumble bee that I ever seen
He stung me this morning
I been looking for him all day long
He stung me this morning
I been looking for him all day long
Lord, it got me to the place
Hate to see my bumble bee leave home."

All comments from YouTube:

murp h

3y↑16

She's so wonderful __ should be considered as one of great blues singers EVER

Paul Jeavons

3y↑3

she was accepted as a true blues player by the best male blues players of that era and the truth is the blues belong to women, they are the ones that suffer the most . listen to fado or morena

gj3072

11y↑3

this lady had a great singing voice, I love it.

wailflower

6y↑2

Driving groove...RIP Minnie

cora Visser

This is such a beautifull one she was great a real great legende.Thank you so much for uploading Novonine

Sergio Osório

I'm in love with a woman more alive than most

Ann Marie Kavanagh

6y↑6

check out tempo increase . great voice . serious ta lent . legend.

Robert Anderson

6y↑12

those old jazz clubs, after hours clubs, and speak easy joints must have been swinging .there was a time when Harlem was a swinging place.

RUSSVJM

6y↑3

This is actually the version she recorded for Columbia around the same time

LOGAN BOGGS

2y↑2

I have been searching 🔍 for this song for months.

Deirdre Ryan

2y↑3

Lionel Darde

👏

V. B.

3y↑3

Anyone else thinks of Canned Heat "going up the country" when they hear this song?

V. B.

3y↑1

GeneralTarik let me know if anything comes up. In the meantime, very nice meeting you. Ps: I recognize “ come on in my kitchen” in the last song you sent me. You’re absolutely right.

GeneralTarik

I can’t think of anybody who had a hit with this but it’s been recorded probably 100 times by different artist. Robert Johnson “borrowed” it and recorded it as “Come On In My Kitchen”. These guys are heavily revered as old time Blues legends. The Mississippi Sheiks - Sitting On Too of the World!
https://youtu.be/hBuK2ZOZq6o

V. B.

3y↑1

GeneralTarik oh my god 😳...thank you loads and loads. If you have more of these, pls keep them coming 🙏

GeneralTarik

Actually, check this out too:
https://youtu.be/sYy716zmXcM

GeneralTarik

Not particularly with this song but I think a lot of Old Timey Blues would give you that feeling. By chance, have you ever heard the original recorded version of “Walk Right In” by the Cannon Jug Stompers?

4lv1nt4n

11y↑1

thanks for posting, needed for homework.

Emily

6y↑1

I got her as my study in Literacy

1Riperl

10y

Surely if so they'd sound like eric clapton in the 90's?

Gershon Nundkumar

7y↑1

Big Mama Thornton mustve been channeling this when she gave this song a shot

nudge2626

11y↑1

This must have highly influenced muddy waters song "honey bee"

Marcia Ewell

4y↑2

She brought this style to chicago. She was one of the first musicans to have an electric band, guitar, drums, piano and also one of first to use a reso guitar in the 20's for her blues. It was about being heard in a loud bar and dance setting.

CretinMike27

11y↑2

If I lived back then ... Memphis Minnie would have been so hot lol ... I'm sucker for a pretty woman with a guitar especially when they know how to play it.

Rico Bullock

Stop bruh I’m cringing😭

Gaming Shorts by Façade NoFace

3y↑1

All I'm thinking about is Bioshock lol

a century of black music

7y↑24

im in love with a dead woman

PUBLISHRRR

Chill

Joe Apodaca

3y↑1

That's illegal

Shapulak

5y↑3

MEMPHIS MINNIE 3.6.2018

inkey2

12y↑4

@pakreecekennedy lol...most of these black blues players were 60 years ahead of their time

monkey eyes

5y↑1

Is there two guitars playing?

Marcia Ewell

4y↑2

Kansas Joe McCoy her first husband

rotamina

8y↑1

Thats funny. You are right.

M M

4y↑3

ghost world anyone?

DXhardy831

10y

lol definitely

inkey2

10y↑12

Eric clapton is as much a real blues player as Pat Boone was a rock & roll singer

inkey2

3y↑3

@Frank Yeah, I just watched it. No doubt he is a great player but I found his rendition of Drifting Blues" too polished and not dirty or primitive enough "sounding". It was basically a Wonder Bread version of it played on a $3000+ guitar. He has the mechanical moves right but the nuances and blues feeling is just not as good as the old time blues players of yester year. They came up from dirt poor poverty, humiliation, and not knowing when their next meal was coming. All that has to affect your inner self and how you attack the strings on a guitar...... a guitar that was barely better than kindling wood with strings on it.

Frank

Watch Eric play "Drifting Blues" Live, solo on acoustic, and you'll understand why he is indeed one of the great blues players. Eric was always at his best when he played the blues.

angel1329us

@John McCarthy Thank you, John. When I was a teenager, people painted "Eric Clapton is God" all over the place. I remember believing it, before I had an real depth of music education. Sure, there are many blues guitarists I might rank higher than Eric now, but maybe, just maybe, Eric Clapton actually is God, and he led me with respect the the source.

John McCarthy

4y↑3

isn't that rather harsh Mr. Inkey? Eric CLapton has always treated the old time bluesmen with respect that was based on admiration of their musical, guitar-picking abilities. I remember when he toured with Muddy Waters band back in the late seventies and Muddy would have him sit in with his band for several numbers. Its true he has played more rock in his long and extremely successful career but go back to the recording he did with Howling Wolf in the late sixties and see if he wasn't playing the low down, hard-driving, Lord have mercy blues right alongside Hubert Sumlin. Or listen to some of the straight ahead blues he put on two (at least) of his cd's from the early nineties.