Shanghai Blues - Robbie Robertson

Let’s go out for a ride to the old Sin City

When the king of the underworld

Ruled without any pity

He wore a silk gown, dried monkey heads on the back

A face carved outta stone and a heart painted black

He believed in omens and was very superstitious

If anyone ever crossed him, his revenge would be vicious

He got blood on his hands

He got blood on his shoes

Cuts his enemies down

With the Shanghai Blues

A Chinese godfather, an offer you can’t refuse

Or you might disappear with the Shanghai Blues

When he joined the Green Gang

He was young, hungry, and tough

Took over that crime dynasty

Had all the right stuff

He kept many concubines

And he had many wives

Hooked up with Chiang Kai-shek

That was how he survived

He ran the opium trade with gambling and prostitution

Then escaped to Hong Kong before Mao’s revolution

He got blood on his hands

He got blood on his shoes

Cuts his enemies down

With the Shanghai Blues

The Chinese godfather, an offer you can’t refuse

Or you might disappear with the Shanghai Blues

Player

When someone betrayed him

He would send them a coffin

Or maybe a knife in the back

Which happened quite often

He got blood on his hands

He got blood on his shoes

Cuts his enemies down

With the Shanghai Blues

A Chinese Godfather, an offer you can’t refuse

Or you might disappear with the Shanghai Blues

Shanghai Blues

The Shanghai Blues, yeah