Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy, and Sonny Boy Williamson (#1): Life Is Like That (1947)

You got to cry a little, sigh a little And sometimes you got to lie a little Life is like that – that’s what you got to do And if you don’t understand, peoples, I’m sorry for you. Sometimes you’ll be held up, sometimes held down, Well, and sometimes your best friends don’t even want you around... There’s some things you got to keep, Some things you gotta repeat People, happiness is never complete Sometimes you’ll be helpless, Sometimes you’ll be restless, Well, keep on strugglin’ So long as you’re not breathless. Performed by Memphis Slim, vocal and piano; Big Bill Broonzy, guitar; and Sonny Boy Williamson #1 (John Lee Williamson), harmonica. Recorded by Alan Lomax at Decca Studios in New York City, March 2, 1947. * In 1947 Alan Lomax recorded bluesmen Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Slim, and Sonny Boy Williamson on a Presto disc recording machine at Decca Studios in New York City after a concert they had