By Tony Procell
Living in the flatted fifth
Belly full of lead
Bid goodnight to my sweet Irene
Texas father, I am lemon blind
Going to the crossroad
Hellhounds please trail behind
The preacher’s Son
I’m down at Parchman Farm
Then to good ole Chicago
Living in the flatted fifth
I hop the lightening rod
Down the grassroots of the Delta
It hurts in Mississippi
Till I get my wings from Noah’s dove
Freight train, freight train going so fast
The muddy water drips its purple wine
Says the Hoochie Coochie man
The stones they come a rolling
Living in the flatted fifth
The highway holds the key
Got to deal the slow hand
In the presence of the Lord
The three Kings come to me
Alive at the Regal
The thrill is never gone
Teardrops roll back up my street
Sky please stop the crying
The poem, “Living in the Flatted Fifth,” the “blue note,” traces the blues, not from its birth, but from the general time period we first witnessed it. The poem covers about 100 years of the blues, from the turn of the 20th century to the mid 1990’s. A blues connoisseur will catch the many allusions to blues greats, from Lead Belly to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Sprinkled throughout are references to iconic blues songs that have been staples among the blues, folk, and even rock community. Current carriers of he torch are Gary Clark Jr., Joe Bonamassa, Samantha Fish, Keb Mo, Chris Buck, among a score of others, with Eric Clapton still plugging away. I hope you are inspired to pop up W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues,” a Memphis Minnie tune, or a B.B. King classic, and get emotionally swept away.
