Why Don’t You Do Right?

Originated as “The Weed Smoker’s Dream,” a 1936 blues song recorded by the Harlem Hamfats and written by Kansas Joe McCoy. It was later rewritten with new lyrics—shifting from a male perspective on drug-related financial ruin to a woman’s song about irresponsible men—and recorded by Lil Green in 1941, before becoming a 1942 hit for Peggy Lee.