it's an epidemic it's a crisis
it's the worst thing to happen since happiness
it'll color ever word that you dare to mutter
leave you broke down like an engine sputtering in the gutter
it's the blues bug!
...it'll bring you down

it'll bore a dark hole
like a boll weevil in your soul
it feeds off of bitterness
and slowly takes control
it'll make you think that you ain't worth a cent
but when you're on the brink, you can not prevent
that mean old blues bug!
...he'll leave ya down in the ditch!

I'll eat the hottest peppers
that grow on the planet
and burn out every part of me
that ain't made of granite
that blues bug...
I'm gonna burn him out!

well I was fearing that old blues bug was gonna do me in
so I went to the doctor to pick up a prescription
he told me you could drown it out with whiskey or with gin
I said, "don't worry mama, I won't let him win!"
that mean old blues bug...
won't drag me into sin!

they say you can't catch it from a kiss
but if it's the last one before parting
I promise you this:
you'll get fever
cold sweat
you'll shiver
but you won't soon forget
that mean old blues bug...
cuz he ain't through with you yet!

and if you so happen to make it out alive
you'll swear that you'll never catch it again
but soon some pretty person
will come walking through the door
and the blues bug will be waiting to
take you down once more
that mean old blues bug...
he can never be cured.