Spoken: 
Well I met the man in Montgomery, Alabama 
I was waiting on a bus and he was shining shoes 
And I heard him say: 

Chorus -------------
           G 
I'm a shoeshine man, number one in the land 
            C                             G  
A shoeshine man, make you shine where you stand 
           D  
Leave me a tip if you can 
                G 
I'm a shoeshine man
--------------------
 
            G 
Well I can sing, I can dance, I can play the harmonica too 
        C                                               G 
I got a brand new thing called the Southside Montgomery Blues 
           D                                                   G 
You better stick around and watch me cause I'm an entertaining fool 
 
Chorus 
 
Well I learned my trade from that rag poppin' daddy of mine 
Shined a pair of alligators, made a hundred dollar bill one time 
Says when that meat gets scarce, he'd shine two or three pairs for a dime 
 
Chorus 
 
I had a girl who helped me, she had a lot of hoochie coochie ways 
She was bumpin' and grindin?, paid that girl a dollar a day 
But she was shy on age and the law come and took her away 
 
Chorus