20. This is the story of the blues

I’m a fairly obsessive character, not giving up easily, I could go on, but you will probably stop listening. During my song writing career I have become a bit obsessed with the blues, probably my favourite music type. The genre has many sub genres like Delta blues ( my favourite),Country blues, early Chicago blues, jump blues, west coast blues ,Texas Blues ,and soul blues amongst others. I also like blues rock. For me it’s a great medium to listen to lyrics, rather lose sight of them in over produced tracks with too many sounds etc    

The Blues started with the spiritual struggle of black slaves. Now its about pain, heartbreak, poverty, betrayal etc. The songs usually fight back and confront the problem with humour and sometimes celebration. There’s often an element of longing.

‘Laugh, I nearly cried’ is a line I use often in daily life- ask my children !

The blues is also the root of most modern music, like jazz, rock n roll, RnB and soul, all of which I have utilised in my 140+ songs. Its great fun experimenting to see what fits the best. Check out the Rolling Stones for those blues baby. I’m taking the time to listen to all the blues classics ( e.g. BB King) , when I can sit still long enough. In the meantime, I recently saw the Teskey Brothers  ( an Australian band) – wow. I wrote to them offering to write a song lyric for them, alas no reply. I also love Tracy Chapman  ( e.g  Fast car with Luke Combs) and for those old enough to remember, Canned heat with their Blues Rock  ( e.g. ‘On the road again ‘). There are 50,000 blues artists , who have released tracks on streaming sites etc. There’s also 500 dedicated blues festivals.

Ironically this track is not really a blues track, more like neo soul. But it talks about a relationship break up as ‘this is the story of the blues. She sings, ‘My mouth, is dry. Sorry, I’ve made mistakes. It's not about you, don’t cry.’ She asks ‘was our love for real’ .Then the killer blow , ‘Now, the hard part. Time won’t heal the scars. I want out, a new start’ – the last line is particular brutal. I bet she went to the same school of diplomacy as I did. I'm still not sure what the scars are, and I wrote the song !

Then the crushing chorus ‘There’s no, coming back. This is the story, of the blues. I won’t ever say, I do This is the end, I choose’ – not sure I can see any blues humour in any of this ?  Maybe I should write a song about ‘different ways to leave you lover – or has that been done ?.Singing ‘I wont ever say I do’ takes marriage firmly off the table, which I think ends it anyway. She then goes on to suggest that the split would be good for him also (it's not you it's me –is as old as the hills !). She sings ‘You need a rethink.; Need to escape, the pain ’ and then ‘ You won’t regret it. You’ll be fine’ – so she is taking him on  a journey out of the relationship to avoid his blues ! Interesting tactic.

The final nail in the coffin is when she sings ‘Smiling, despite the hurt. Not facing, more questions. Digging, for more dirt’ – depicting a much more positive life for him post relationship. At this point the decision to split has become a ‘we’ decision rather than an ‘I’ decision ( an old trick). She reconfirms , ‘This is the story, of the blues. This is the end WE choose’ – so it’s a song about the blues, pain and heartbreak, agreed by both of them !!! If you need help to move on, listen to my song ! My singer is an expert