Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A 1928 novelty song
Words and music by Alfred Francis McDermott
Sung by Barnaby Burgin
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne
Get the sheet music and accompaniment here:
sheetmusicsinger.com/comic-strip-blues
Lyrics
1. Jim Sullivan was a radio fan
Lived up North where radio bugs freeze
One night he tuned in away down South
Down where folks wore their B. V. D’s
Jim didn’t realize the room was getting cold
Till his feet were frozen
An’ the news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Jim Sullivan
CHORUS
He got the Blues, got the Comic Strip Blues
They’re the queerest kind of blues
They’re as mean as can be
You feel like Jiggs when he’s trying to sleep
And Maggie’s singing, ‘way upon “G”
Like Major Hoople
When he can’t find an easy chair
His Martha’s blue, too
And things look blue everywhere
If you’re feeling sort o’ blue
And your blues break into news
And the folks all laugh but you
You’ve got the Comic Strip Blues
2. Big Billy Moore measured “six foot four”
One fine day he buggied to town
Bill’s broncho shied at a brass-front Ford
And he kicked and he tore aroun’
Big Bill fell out and he was bruised from head to foot
His bumps measured “six foot four”
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Big Billy Moore
3. Young Pat McGuire built a roaring fire
Then he walked down Kennedy Street
Pat caught a cold, and he hurried home
He said, I’m goin’ to bathe my feet
While he was downtown an asbestos-covered crook
Stole his stove and pipes and fire
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Young Pat McGuire
4. Jack Kelly’s Dan ran for alderman
He put up a strenuous fight
Dan kissed the lips of a hundred babes
‘Electioneered every day and night
While shaking hands he swung his right arm out of joint
He fell down on ‘Lection Day
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Jack Kelly’s Dan
5. Tommy O’Brien had a “Spot” bovine
Spot would not drink our of a tub
Each day the cow hiked across two creeks
For her swig at the Country Club
Spot got arrested and her case was aired in Court
“Thirty Days,” said Judge Jack Ryan
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Tommy O’Brien
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 1928 novelty song
Words and music by Alfred Francis McDermott
Sung by Barnaby Burgin
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne
Get the sheet music and accompaniment here:
sheetmusicsinger.com/comic-strip-blues
Lyrics
1. Jim Sullivan was a radio fan
Lived up North where radio bugs freeze
One night he tuned in away down South
Down where folks wore their B. V. D’s
Jim didn’t realize the room was getting cold
Till his feet were frozen
An’ the news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Jim Sullivan
CHORUS
He got the Blues, got the Comic Strip Blues
They’re the queerest kind of blues
They’re as mean as can be
You feel like Jiggs when he’s trying to sleep
And Maggie’s singing, ‘way upon “G”
Like Major Hoople
When he can’t find an easy chair
His Martha’s blue, too
And things look blue everywhere
If you’re feeling sort o’ blue
And your blues break into news
And the folks all laugh but you
You’ve got the Comic Strip Blues
2. Big Billy Moore measured “six foot four”
One fine day he buggied to town
Bill’s broncho shied at a brass-front Ford
And he kicked and he tore aroun’
Big Bill fell out and he was bruised from head to foot
His bumps measured “six foot four”
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Big Billy Moore
3. Young Pat McGuire built a roaring fire
Then he walked down Kennedy Street
Pat caught a cold, and he hurried home
He said, I’m goin’ to bathe my feet
While he was downtown an asbestos-covered crook
Stole his stove and pipes and fire
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Young Pat McGuire
4. Jack Kelly’s Dan ran for alderman
He put up a strenuous fight
Dan kissed the lips of a hundred babes
‘Electioneered every day and night
While shaking hands he swung his right arm out of joint
He fell down on ‘Lection Day
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Jack Kelly’s Dan
5. Tommy O’Brien had a “Spot” bovine
Spot would not drink our of a tub
Each day the cow hiked across two creeks
For her swig at the Country Club
Spot got arrested and her case was aired in Court
“Thirty Days,” said Judge Jack Ryan
The news got in the papers
It made a million smile
All but Tommy O’Brien
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
