High Water Friends CD - Track Four: The Thrill is Gone

          Now that we’ve completed the Davis Rogan portion of our program, it’s time to move on to Warren Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm & Blues Band. The first song from Prejean and the Zydeco Rhythm & Blues Band is the classic blues song, The Thrill is Gone. 

Warren Prejean on the Rub board 

          Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell, two blues musicians, penned The Thrill is Gone in 1951. Hawkins’ recording of the song reached #6 on the Billboard music charts in 1951. Hawkins and Darnell derived “The Thrill is Gone” from a song in Broadway revue titled George White's Scandals. That version of the song, performed by Rudy Vallée and His Connecticut Yankees, had reached the tenth spot on the charts in 1931. The Hawkins-Darnell song endured and has become a staple of blues musicians ever since. B.B. King’s 1969 interpretation of The Thrill is Gone became his biggest hit. It climbed to #3 on the R&B charts and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The recording of the song won King a Grammy in 1970. When Rolling Stone Magazine listed the 500 greatest songs of all time, it placed King’s version of The Thrill is Gone at 183. Other R&B artists have recorded their own versions as well, including: Aretha Franklin, Luther Allison, Willie Nelson, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Little Milton.

The sheet music to The Thrill is Gone

          The lyrics of The Thrill is Gone exemplify the blues. Defining the blues has always been a tricky proposition. Blues singer Alberta Hunter once tried to explain the blues this way; “Blues means what milk does to a baby. Blues is what the spirit is to the minister. We sing the blues because our hearts have been hurt, our souls have been disturbed.” The Thrill is Gone is a song about a man whose heart has been hurt—in this case by a woman. The man first expresses his anger at the woman who hurt him: “You know you done me wrong baby/And you'll be sorry someday.” The man then describes the sense of emptiness following the breakup, lamenting “The thrill is gone baby… Although I’ll still live on/ But so lonely I’ll be.” The man, however, refuses to let the breakup or the woman’s behavior keep him down permanently. After considering his sadness and depression, he rejoices at being “free from your spell.” Finally having ended the relationship he wishes her well.

This theme of mourning and forgiveness in the blues—a fusion of spirituals, call and response chants, and traditional ballads—emerged out of the history and experience of African American communities in the Deep South, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Reconciling the slave past with an uncertain present required a certain amount of lamentation, strength, and forgiveness.  

“The Thrill Is Gone”

The thrill is gone

The thrill is gone away

The thrill is gone baby

The thrill is gone away

You know you done me wrong baby

And you'll be sorry someday

The thrill is gone

It's gone away from me

The thrill is gone baby

The thrill is gone away from me

Although, I'll still live on

But so lonely I'll be

The thrill is gone

It's gone away for good

The thrill is gone baby

It's gone away for good

Someday I know I'll be open armed baby

Just like I know a good man should

You know I'm free, free now baby

I'm free from your spell

Oh I'm free, free, free now

I'm free from your spell

And now that it's all over

All I can do is wish you well