Yaller lyrics

Dark folk, white folk, but never a hand,

They say to this man,

"You're yaller, you're yaller, you're yaller, you're just a yaller."

Black folk, white folk, I'm learning a lot,

You know what I am, I know what I'm not.

Ain't even black, I ain't even white,

I ain't like the day and I ain't like the night.

Feeling mean, so inbetween, I'm just a high yaller.

Ain't even bad, I ain't even good,

I don't understand and I ain't understood,

Not a friend sticks to the end when you're yaller.

Take me to a church and make me pray,

Make me sing a psalm there;

You better leave my soul in a crude cafe,

I don't even belong there.

Oh Lord, can't you make a sinner a saint,

Why did you start me but run out of paint,

Pass me by, a no-'count yellow man.

Lord only knows, I'm trying to rest,

I want to be down with a load on my chest.

Make my bed; wish I were dead,

A yaller man.

• Artist:Cab Calloway
• Album:1930 - 1931 (1990)