Why is it called the blues? (2023)

Why is it called the blues?

The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression “the blue devils,” for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to “the blues,” it came to mean a state of agitation or depression.

(Video) Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
(Elton John)
What does it mean to hear the blues?

idiom. : feeling sad and discouraged. He's been singing the blues since he lost his job.

(Video) I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (Remastered)
(Elton John)
Whats the blues?

The blues is a form of secular folk music created by African Americans in the early 20th century, originally in the South. Although instrumental accompaniment is almost universal in the blues, the blues is essentially a vocal form.

(Video) Elton John I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues Lyrics
(Josh Lloyd)
Which feeling is the blues known for expressing?

Blues is both a musical form and a musical genre. Blues gets its name from its original association with melancholy subjects and sounds: when we have 'the blues', we're feeling sad.

(Video) Elton John- I Guess That's Why they Call it the Blues
(Josh)
Where did the blues come from?

Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture.

(Video) Elton John - I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues (Miami Arena 1998)
(Elton John)
What was the saying about blues?

"When you ain't got no money, you've got the Blues. When you ain't got no money to pay your house rent, you've still got the Blues. A lot of people holler 'I don't like no Blues', but when you ain't got no money, and you can't pay your house rent, and can't buy no food, you damn sure got the Blues!" life."

(Video) Daniel Castro - I'll Play The Blues For You
(Don's Tunes)
Why are the blues so important?

The social significance of Blues music resides in the revolutionary element of African Americans creating their own aesthetics. Blues music represented the opposing voice that refused to be silenced by oppression and segregation. The Blues expressed this with unprecedented clarity, honesty and simplicity.

(Video) Is Blues the Mother of All Modern Music?
(Sound Field)
What is the blues about emotionally?

If you have the so-called blues, you might feel sad or tearful, want to spend time by yourself, and lack your usual energy or motivation. These feelings usually tend to be pretty mild, though, and they generally pass before too long.

(Video) I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
(Alessia Cara)
Why do the blues feel so good?

They remind you that you're not the first to struggle with situations such as relationships or money problems. They give you perspective. You start to think maybe your problems aren't as bad as you think they are. You find humor in your situation and laugh about it.

(Video) Still Called The Blues - Johnnie Taylor
(True Soul Music)
How many types of blues are there?

Blues comes in many different flavors, roughly 25 of them, each with their own nuances and style. Here are a few of the most popular genres of blues music and how you can recognize them from the first note!

(Video) I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues - Elton John (Michael Cavanaugh Cover)
(Michael Cavanaugh)

How do you describe blues music?

Traditional blues music is often characterized by emotive lyrics, guitar-driven accompaniment, and a twelve-bar AAB song form that blues musicians can embellish as they wish. Blues bands and solo artists can play the style of music on acoustic or electric instruments.

(Video) Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (Live)
(35jeydee)
What does cry the blues meaning?

(idiomatic, by extension) To complain, especially in order to obtain sympathy for one's own purportedly sad situation.

Why is it called the blues? (2023)
Can the blues be happy?

Musically, Blues is a scale and chord progression that expresses the emotions of being depressed very well, but it CAN have happy lyrics.

When did blues start?

The earliest references to blues date back to the 1890s and early 1900s. In 1912 Black bandleader W.C. Handy's composition “Memphis Blues” was published. It became very popular, and thereafter many other Tin Pan Alley songs entitled blues began to appear.

How do you overcome blues?

Tips for Beating the Blues
  1. Nurture Physical Health. Eat and Move. Eat healthy and get some exercise no matter what — even during vacations, holiday seasons and stressful times. ...
  2. Care for Emotional and Spiritual Health. Be Honest. ...
  3. Make Time to Relax. Move Gently. ...
  4. Minimize Stress. Don't Overbook.

Who first started the blues?

The blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th Century. Its inventors were slaves, ex-slaves and the descendants of slaves—African-American sharecroppers who sang as they toiled in the cotton and vegetable fields.

Is blues the mother of all music?

The blues are often referred to as the mother of modern musical forms.

Why was the blues born?

The origins and birth of the blues

Enslaved people would sing work songs while working the plantations and religious spirituals in church. Combined with the African rhythms, these musical styles were the foundation of blues. Work songs were sung rhythmically in time with the task being done.

Why do they call it blues and two's?

blues and twos noun earlier than 1985

Blues and twos is a colloquial British phrase referring to the blue flashing lights and two-tone siren of a police car or other emergency vehicle which is responding to some incident (although the lights are no longer necessarily blue, nor the siren necessarily two-tone).

Who coined the term the blues?

Muir, pianist, composer and lecturer, explains that a piano work titled I Got the Blues (1908), written and published in New Orleans by Antonio Maggio, is the first both to include the word blues and to use a twelve-bar blues sequence.

What is the relation between slavery and the blues?

The birth of the blues

The majority of blues musicians had descendants from Africa who were transported to America in the slave trade and were forced to work on plantations in the South, and factories in the North. Enslaved people would sing work songs while working the plantations and religious spirituals in church.

How did rhythm and blues get its name?

The term "rhythm and blues," often called "R&B," originated in the 1940s when it replaced "race music" as a general marketing term for all African American music, though it usually referred only to secular, not religious music.

You might also like
Popular posts
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Catherine Tremblay

Last Updated: 03/16/2023

Views: 6275

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (67 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Catherine Tremblay

Birthday: 1999-09-23

Address: Suite 461 73643 Sherril Loaf, Dickinsonland, AZ 47941-2379

Phone: +2678139151039

Job: International Administration Supervisor

Hobby: Dowsing, Snowboarding, Rowing, Beekeeping, Calligraphy, Shooting, Air sports

Introduction: My name is Catherine Tremblay, I am a precious, perfect, tasty, enthusiastic, inexpensive, vast, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.