[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial language. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
From The Ziegfeld Follies of 1927.
Words and music by Irving Berlin.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
There’s an old superstition way down south
Ev’ry darkie believes that trouble won’t stay
If you shake it away
When they hold a revival way down south
Ev’ry darkie with care and trouble that day
Tries to shake it away
Chorus
Shaking the blues away, unhappy news away
If you are blue, it’s easy to
Shake off your cares and troubles
Telling the blues to go, they may refuse to go
But as a rule they’ll go if you’ll shake them away
Do like the darkies do
List’ning to a preacher way down south
They shake their bodies so to and fro
With every shake a lucky break
Proving that there’s a way to chase your cares away
If you would lose your weary blues shake them away
Patter:
I gotta blues, you gotta blues
All God’s chillun gotta blues
Come and join a rebel
And we’ll shake off the devil
And we’ll shake all over
God’s Heaven, Heaven, Heaven
Anyone objectin’ to shakin’
Ain’t going there, Heaven, Heaven
Gonna shake all over God’s Heaven
I gotta shake, you gotta shake
All God’s chillun gotta shake, shake, shake
Nothing could be sweeter
Than to shake with Saint Peter
When we shake all over
God’s Heaven, Heaven, Heaven
Anyone objectin’ to shakin’
Ain’t going there, Heaven, Heaven
Gonna shake all over God’s Heaven