To me the best tonic
For ills great and small
Is to spend a few hours
At a hot jazz band ball.

For those moments in life
When I've had some regrets
I've been quickly cheered up
By jazz clarinets.

There've been days in the past
When I've had quite a moan
But that's soon disappeared
With a tailgate trombone.

When life seems a chore
And brimming with woe
It can vanish apace
With a Dixie banjo.

And when down in the dumps
And long in the face
A smile soon appears
At the sound of a bass.

There've also been times
When I've felt quite forlorn
But my spirits leapt up
To the trill of a horn.

When come those sad moments
And life feels quite glum
The old feet start tapping
To the beat of a drum.

And on those occasions
When tempers wear thin
Bad moods are transformed
By a jazz violin.

Add saxes and keyboard
A Sousa or two
And the whole joint starts jumping
It's a hullabaloo.

Yes jazz is my tonic
More than fortune or wealth
It should be prescribed
On the National Health.

© by Nick Balmforth.
Used with the author’s permission.