a blue 1921 fox-trot song
words by Charles Jefferson Tyus
music by Effie Tyus
This song was written and first published in Omaha, Nebraska. It was performed as a minstrel piece by the authors, then Mamie Smith, Sophie Tucker, and many others.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
- I can’t see how it can be
Everybody has a sweetie but me
No matter how I try, I don’t see why
It hurts me so, it makes me sigh and cry
Please won’t someone come and take a chance with me
Love me like a mother would a baby on her knee
Chorus
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
I want someone to cuddle me
Call me Turtle Dove
Lots of lovin’ is just what I crave
Love me when I’m dead and in my grave
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
- Sometimes I feel sad and blue
I don’t know what in this world to do
Sometimes I lay awake ’till the break of morn
Regretting the day that I was born
I am just as lonely, lonely as can be
Want someone to buzz around me like a bumble bee
Chorus
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
I want someone to cuddle me
Call me Turtle Dove
My sweet mama she is six feet tall
She sleeps in the kitchen, puts her feet in the hall
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
Chorus
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
I want someone to cuddle me
Call me Turtle Dove
Big rocks in the mountains, big fish in the sea
A red-headed woman made a wreck out of me
I’m free, single, disengaged
Looking for someone to love
Sung here by Fred Feild: