Jazz Baby

Louise Brooks, the ultimate Jazz Baby.

Jazz Baby

My daddy was a rag-time trombone player. 

My mammy was a rag-time cabaret-er. 

They met one day at a tango tea. 

There was a syncopated wedding 

And then came me. 

Folks think the way I walk is a fad, 

But it's just a birthday present from my mammy and dad. 

‘Cause I'm a Jazz Baby. 

I wanna be jazzin’ all the time. 

There's something in the tone of a saxophone 

That makes me do a little wiggle all my own. 

'Cause I'm a Jazz Baby, 

Full of jazzbo harmony. 

Ya’ know, that Walk the Dog and Ball the Jack 

That cause all the talk, 

Well, that’s just a copy of the way I nat’chally walk. 

'Cause I'm a Jazz Baby 

Little jazz baby that's me. 

Rocked to sleep while the cradle went to and fro 

To and fro to the tune of the Tickle-toe. 

Ever since I started in to growing 

I loved to hear the music playin’ 

See my dear old mammy swayin' 

Jazz, jazz, that's all I ever knew 

All day long; I never would get through 

Jazz, jazz, That's all I want to do. 

Play me a little jazz. 

‘Cause I’m a Jazz Baby! 

Little Jazz Baby that’s all.

Written in 1919 by Blanche Merrill and M.K. Jerome, "Jazz Baby" was a song that captured the spirit of a new era and gave a nickname to the young women of the 1920s. To hear a recording of the song, listen here.