The Blues
Tony Toni Toné Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

He's gonna tell you 'bout his dear old mother
Burned up in a factory in Springfield Mass.
He's gonna tell you 'bout his baby brother
Hustlin' down the city streets
And selling his ass for a dollar bag
He's gonna tell you 'bout his Uncle Neddy
Locked up in a prison out in Oregon
He's gonna tell you 'bout his best friend Eddie
Killed in a bar fight with a pair of Marines
And a sailer
Oh

He's got the blues this boy
Has got the blues
You can hear it in his music
He's got the blues, this boy
He's got the blues
You can hear it, you can hear it

When I was nine years old
My daddy ran away
With a woman he met on a train, oh
His little boy
Ran to the room
Where his piano
Lay in wait for him
He played and he played
He played and he played

He's got the blues, this boy
Has got the blues
You can hear it, you can hear it
He's got the blues, this boy
Has got the blues

A year ago I met a girl
I thought we'd hit a massive groove
But she dumped me
And all we'd hit were the blues

He's got the blues, this boy
He's got the blues
You can hear it in his music




He's got the blues, this boy
Has really got the blues

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Tony Toni Toné's "The Blues" are raw and poignant, telling stories of tragedy and heartbreak. The song begins by introducing several characters and their personal struggles, including the singer's own experiences with abandonment and heartbreak. The first verse tells of a man who lost his mother in a factory fire and whose brother is selling himself on the streets. He also has an uncle locked up in prison and a friend who was killed in a bar fight with military personnel. The second verse tells of the singer's own personal experiences with heartbreak, including his father running away when he was young and being dumped by a girl he thought he had a deep connection with.


Line by Line Meaning

He's gonna tell you 'bout his dear old mother
He is going to talk about his mother who died in a Massachusetts factory fire


He's gonna tell you 'bout his baby brother Hustlin' down the city streets And selling his ass for a dollar bag
He's going to talk about his younger brother who is selling himself for drugs on the street


He's gonna tell you 'bout his Uncle Neddy Locked up in a prison out in Oregon
He's going to talk about his uncle who is serving time in an Oregon prison


He's gonna tell you 'bout his best friend Eddie Killed in a bar fight with a pair of Marines And a sailor
He's going to talk about his friend Eddie who was killed by Marines and a sailor in a bar fight


He's got the blues this boy Has got the blues You can hear it in his music He's got the blues, this boy He's got the blues You can hear it, you can hear it
The boy has the blues and expresses it through his music


When I was nine years old My daddy ran away With a woman he met on a train, oh His little boy Ran to the room Where his piano Lay in wait for him He played and he played He played and he played
The singer recalls his father leaving him and how he turned to playing piano as a way to cope with the pain


A year ago I met a girl I thought we'd hit a massive groove But she dumped me And all we'd hit were the blues
The singer talks about a past relationship that ended badly and left him feeling down


He's got the blues, this boy He's got the blues You can hear it in his music He's got the blues, this boy Has really got the blues
The boy is truly feeling down and expresses it through his music




Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: RAPHAEL SAADIQ, DWAYNE P. WIGGINS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Comments from YouTube:

@DaPhilthyDog

Please teach this generation how to make real music like this!!!

@KingSausage74

The talent of this generation isn't the same.

@musicmusikmann5215

​@@KingSausage74 q

@coreys.knight1664

This young generation will think it's corny. You will have to be on Bruno Mars/ Silk Sonic level- They'll never understand

@emeraldspeights8050

That moment you realize Tony Toni Tone never came out with any bad music

@tyannaist

Never, it was all good 👍💯

@kakarat1369

Not once did I say "oh I don't like this song" lol

@Mauricio125Ok

@@tyannaist I I'm Afroamerican You Believe Me

@Mauricio125Ok

@@tyannaist I I'm Afroamerican People

@Mauricio125Ok

@@tyannaist I I'm Afroamerican People

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