Blues Lyrics...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Are there any blues-format lyrics that haven’t been already written like 71,255 times? I’ve got this song that has been kicking my ass for like 6 months. It’s fully produced and done, but it doesn’t have any vocals, because I haven’t been able to think of something that isn’t derivative of, like, every song ever.
This is especially annoying because it’s the very last song for this album, and as soon as I get the vocals recorded, I can move my studio in to the house. (It’s cold out here!) Fuck! Shit! Fuck!
UPDATE: Hey, look! The world’s most useless web page! I knew I’d find it eventually.
22 comments
You could write some blues lyrics about being stuck in a cold studio while failing to come up with original blues lyrics....
you've got 2 choices here. ok 3.
1. cocaine
2. women
3. chicago
they're only overused because they work.
W
Anti-war blues? We need some new ones.
No we don't. There's nothing more obnoxious than whiny protest folk songs. (Unless they somehow manage to be really really funny, which is rare.)
I'm in agreement with space_monkey in that regard. Joan Baez can choke on my left nut.
-CR
Well I think Nick Cave's "No Pussy Blues" is quite poignant although most y'all are married it seems to maybe it wouldn't be 'real' haha.
"No we don't. There's nothing more obnoxious than whiny protest folk songs. (Unless they somehow manage to be really really funny, which is rare.)"
I said Blues, not folk, you fucktard.
well, "road to peace" ain't bad!
screamin' jay & howlin' wolf wrote some pretty surreal shit.... I don't think the well's run dry.
I heard a Howlin' Wolf song on the radio in New Orleans (on their absolutely phenomenal community radio station) and I thought it was Tom Waits. Once I got past the disconnect, I went out and bought 3 Howlin' Wolf records.
So, you've got a point there. I don't care for Screamin' Jay, though. Just personal preference.
-CR
This is why I hate the blues. There is exactly one blues song, and I think we all get it.
"I said Blues, not folk, you fucktard."
folk, blues, punk, whatever. Unless you have what it takes to make it a brilliant work of satire you're better off refraining from bitching about social injustice in your songs, or despite (or because of) the very best of intentions, you are likely to come off like a total wanker. If you do have what it takes to make a great satirical song, by all means, go ahead. There are many great examples of that genre out there. There's Taxman;
There's a 30s song called "Prohibition doesn't work" sample lyrics:"the policeman, he'll arrest you, and he'll throw your ass in jail. Then he'll drink up all your whisky and he'll let you out on bail."
There's a 200-odd year old song called "arthur mcbride" about a couple of strapping irish lads who kill a recruiting seargeant and his corporal when they try the hard sell.
There are a lot of great examples of the genre, and I didn't say don't ever do it, ever. That said, it's really hard to do without coming off like a whiny little bitch. ("hardcore" armchair revolutionaries are also stunningly lame.)
Sorry if I came off a little strong there, but I'm from Oregon, so I've heard way way more than my share of protest songs, many of them sung by the same kind of people who have cars plastered with environmental bumperstickers, etc. etc. and completely fail to see the irony. The world really doesn't need another one anymore than it needs another one of those nauseating schmalzy-ass "patriotic" country western music videos extolling the virtues of dying for our god-given right to drive enormous SUVs everywhere.
See if you can make it a tribute to someone you respect by getting their permission to use their lyrics over it or something? I don't know. Or make it an instrumental. Have a chorus of retarded children sing about space.
I think the problem may be that you are looking to use a somewhat classic genre without using the classic formula. If your going to stick to blues format lyrics, your probly going to have to stick to something thats been done 71,255 times because its been around for so long. Maybe write a song about something that happened to you at a really bad time?
Or maybe write something about trying to finish of an album during a power outage? Nothing says blues than something as self indulgent as that while the world is falling apart.
frank zappa's "road ladies" off of the chunga's revenge album. ive grown a strong disliking of the blues for all the reasons mentioned, but i keep turning back to this song.
Awesome.
Anyways, I think it comes to this: I have over 300 published songs, and I'm running out of interesting things to say.
-CR
take some magic mushrooms
& call me in the morning
regards
dr roberts
Problem solved. I just ad-libbed 'em. They may be shallow, but not any more shallow than the following:
My baby done left me, think I'm gonna cry
Oh, my baby done left me, think I'm gonna cry
Or I might just lay down my head and die
-CR
"Sorry if I came off a little strong there, but I'm from Oregon,"
(snip)
That explains it. I'm from Orange County, where the only "protest songs" are about abortions (I think they're against them). Anyway it is easy to be self-righteous in a song, be it political or no. I do like Billy Bragg - is he self-important? Yeah I guess, but if you like his songs that doesn't matter. OTOH a bad songwriter who's humble is still a bad songwriter.
Anyway every Blues song is a protest song, in a sense. Consider- what's the subtext of "I'm a Man?"
Blues is a lot like your Grandmother telling you the story of Snow White. Some Grandmothers are very good at it; others not so good and very few can tell the story so it makes your hair stand on end. IMHO what makes Blues special is the delivery, not the content.
Protest songs, on the other hand have near identical delivery and varying content (for CR, just add Ethel Merman to Bob Dylan and you've got Joan Baez). Here it's the content that makes the song special.
Work in a country feel. The basic premise is that your women left you. Now work in the three major ingredients:
1. truck
2. dog
3. bottle of whiskey
Man,
note: if the writer/listener calls it a protest song, they've probably missed the point.
also: Some people just don't understand the blues.
When a man sings "I’ve got the blues," it's not because he's a writer. It’s not because he's had a bad day, or he's drunk, or he's cold in Chicago, or whatever. It’s because he's got the god damn blues. If you don't have it, don't fake it. The blues aren't about getting 'em, they're about living them.
There’s creative, artistic blues, where there's a story to tell. Robert Cray is excellent at this. His songs read like a book, feel like a sketch, whatever.
Then there's visceral blues, which just comes out of people. Nothing matters, all bets are off, they can fill an album with the same damn thing thirty times if they want, because they just are the blues and everyone knows it. John lee hooker comes to mind. He’ll make it up on the spot every time, at any time, and it will always be different and exactly the same. Wake him up in the middle of the night, press record, and bingo. Perfect.
There’s infinitely many other blues. It works a million (71,255?) times because it’s personal and there is absolutely no way anyone will do them the same. everyone has got their thing. who are we trying to please anyway?
Either sit down and pour it out, or figure some way to entertain. Play the guitar with your teeth, or tell us how happy you are about getting a job, or getting laid, or getting off the wagon. Tell us it's too cold in Acapulco if you want. Groan some nonsense. Just make it right.
CR, ad-libbing was probably the best thing you could have done. hope it worked out.
There's only one blues song because that's what Clapton, Beck, friggin' Fleetwood Mac, et al up'd and ran with: the songs they cribbed from Muddy Waters. Prior to WWII, There was a whole world of stuff beyond that one song. Skip James, Charlie Patton, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Blake ...
The blues was killed by the 10-minute guitar solo.
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