Lyrics Bessie Disappears - Bessie Smith

Well, one time um
Bessie disappeared
Couldn't nobody find her
For over a whole week
Jack was looking for her and Mr. Walker
And everybody else who get along Bessie
Couldn't find her

And one day
The phone rang
And some man said, "I'd like to speak to Ruby"

And I got on the phone
And it turned out to be Bessie
I got this man to call me
For she and the man it was
In a hotel
On a 145th street hotel in Lenox Avenue

And she been up there crying and laying up
Laying with this guy
For this
For this whole week

So she was afraid to come home
So she thought she'd call me and
Find out for me how the land is

Told me to get a cab come there right away
I forgot the name of that hotel
Well, anyway
I went there and uh

I have some good topic go up to this room
And Bessie was in there with this
Little young cat
Very attractive

She always went for the young chad (hmm)
And uh
I told her Jack was saying he gonna kill her
When he seen her and

And he was so mad
They've been looking everywhere and
They said if you ain't home
They gonna get the cop

We're gonna call the police station
So uh
She said, "What can we do?"
There's the
For me to get home without anymore excitement

So I said, "Maybe if you act like you had an awful accident
And then you get some doctor said that they brought you here the hotel
And kinda tip the people off"
So she did

Hmm
She did
And you know what Bessie did?

Come out there, losers
It's staircase, can you come down?
Yeah

In a hotel to come down?
From up where the rooms where you come down
To a little hole owing in and out on the street

Bessie fit in, peppers me
Fell down then steps in
Got a knock a-
Hahaha, wait

And lay there for a while
And I come over there running to her
Said, "Go away, go away
I'm trying to act like this is true"

And the man saw us
And he heard her reply and got scared
So she says, "Well, nevermind
I'll let it go if you tell 'em all I had an accident"

He ended out being here a week
And the man agree with this (uh-huh)
Without having to pay out any money

And do you know I took uh
We got the cab
And I brought him and she was wrapping and

She has got this excess of tape of her across here
And I told a lie
I told him I had found Bessie
Up at the hotel
The man had called me and I went up there

And Bessie was in the
In the hotel, I brought her home
So Charl, she got away with that
For a whole week, I couldn't find her (hmm)

She could do all the things
(Do you remember when that was approximately?)
Whoo

Thank god
(Were there other times when she get scared?)
Oh my god, how many times?

She did that quite often
Hahahahaha
But she wasn't a

She-she goes off after she's got all the recordings done
(Yeah) and see Jack
More so conservative

He-she couldn't bawl with him (hmm)
He-he was so strict
Hmm, he wasn't Bessie's life at all (hmm)

She-he was alright for her when she felt like she want to
Be quiet and
No drinking and
And just be a wife

A homebody
Jack was alright for that but when he comes to a good time
And she get them spells
And wanna go out

And have a ball
Jack wasn't the one (yeah)
That's why she always had to go and mess around with the young men

That was out her
Her breed
That the what
Could keep up with her (yeah)

Her zap was a strong woman with a beautiful
Strong constitution
And she love a good time
She was strictly show business (yeah)

And sitting around is alright for her by the month or so
But that as far she could go without
Going out and clown
And she go out, she stay out two and three weeks

Bawled and she's ready to keep quiet
For about a month or so
That's when Jack come in handy to her (yeah)

She but Jack couldn't see it like that
That's why everytime he look
He walking around and knocking her down or
Catching her coming out of her place or going in her place