I m A Jazz Vampire - Marion Harris

Say, did you ever

hear the saxophone

Let out an awful moan

Let out an awful groan?

It makes you feel so nervous

yet it’s great

It’s the saxophone a-callin'

to his mate

that sweet coquette

the clarinet

Now listen for a minute

and the birth of jazz you’ll hear

And where there is a little jazz

you’ll always find me near

For I’m a jazz vampire

Shake a foot

with me and dance, dance

Dancing is my specialty

Wise men keep out o' my way

They know I’ll lead 'em astray

They fall the minute I sway

I insist

you can’t resist a

Jazz vampire

Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me

For I am all the evil music has

Went down to the river, stood on the bank

Shook my shoulders and the boats all sank

For I’m the meanest kind of jazz vampire

I’m the wicked vampire of the jazz

Get up in the morning and I make the coffee whole

Ham and eggs turn over, put the crullers in a hole

Get upon a trolley car, the car begins to sway

Sit upon a half a dozen laps to start the day

I walk into the office and I greet the starter there

Six or seven elevators go up in the air

Sit down at my Remington and syncopate the keys

The fellow by the water stand gets water on the knees

The boss dictates a letter: «Dear sir, I’d like to state—»

The man who gets the letter has to stop and hesitate

And when the day is over and the sun sets in the west

Say I’m the only little bird who doesn’t go to rest

For I’m a jazz vampire

Take a tip, take a tip, take a tip from me

For I am all the evil music has

I stood by the ocean, no one around

Shook my shoulders and the sun went down

For I’m the meanest kind of jazz vampire

I’m the wicked vampire of the jazz