St James Infirmary Blues

Delphine Matthews

The bass drum beat out the funeral rhythm of the opening number then the horns took up the melody and the curtain drew back to reveal a tall, leggy and stunningly beautiful dark skinned woman wearing a blue mask that picked up her blue eyes. As the piano tripped into the song, she swaggered into the centre of the stage.

"I went down to St James Infirmary to see my baby there. She was lying on a long white table, so weak, so cool, so fair." To her right, a long surgery table was spotlighted on which a blonde haired woman was lying.

"I went up to see the doctor." A man in a long white coat appeared at her elbow. "'She's very low,' he said. I went back to see my baby. Great God she's lying there dead." The doctor pulled a sheet across the form of the girl as Delphine put a hand over her mouth.

"I went down to old Joe's barroom on the corner of the square. They were serving drinks as per usual and the usual crowd was there. On my left stood old Joe McKinley, his eyes were bloodshot red." A man was spotlighted. He was tall, unshaven and bleary eyed, wearing a cowboy hat, boots and a leather jacket.

"He turned to the crowd that were standing around him and these were the words he said: 'Let her go, let her go. God bless her wherever she may be. She may search the whole world over but she'll never find a man like me. When I die won't you please bury me in my high topped Stetson hat. Put a gold pice on my watch chain so they'll know I died standing in pat.'" Out came the man's watch chain, which he twirled.

"'Get six gamblers to carry my coffin and six chorus girls to sing my song. Put a jazz band on my tail gate so they can raise hell as we go along.'" True to form, six men and six women appeared. The six women walked the old man off, draping him with a feather boa and appearing to giggle when he pinched their bottoms. The six men fanned out behind Delphine.

"Now that's the end of my story. Let's have another round of booze and if anyone should ask you tell them I've got the St James Infirmary Blues." As the band struck up to play them out, the six men lifted Delphine by her arms and legs and marched her out as if she was a coffin.