One thousand stories, one thousand years 
Each song it goes from hand to hand 
They tell of kings, they sing of war 
And the news of far off distant lands 
They sing of how the blues came to be 
Their own king sold them into slavery 
The sad chords melt 
Where the sadness came to be 
When their own king sold them 
Into slavery 
One thousand stories, one thousand years 
The truth of guilt and shame 
But a king who sold his people out 
To a world of whips and chains 
The sound of pain the smell of fear 
A treason born in hell 
The king who sold his people out 
It's a song they know so well 
Cross the music, as you cross the sea 
Cross your loved ones broken bones 
Cos forever never to be free 
Oh the king who sold his own … 
Oh the king who sold his own …