Jeremy’s Sametime Status Proudly Presents:
Music Fact Check Week!
Elton John never really explained why they
call it The Blues
Really? Even with all that time on his hands?
So, the color Blue is interesting. It means many things, depending on what you think it means. It can mean something corrupt, dirty, sad, loyal, regal, businesslike, cold, or Finnish. The color blue has been used to describe a melancholy feeling since at least the mid 16th century, and nobody's entirely clear as to why. Old timey naval ships would fly blue flags and paint blue stripes on the hull if a command officer was lost over the course of a voyage. It's just really really sad, okay?
"The Blues" is a form of music. Over the years, it's become standardized as a 12-bar pattern common in jazz and rock and roll music with a progression through 3 chords. That's what gives rise to the common expression that rock and roll musicians only know 3 chords. Basically, every rock song Elvis ever recorded was in Blues form.
The Blues as a musical form gets its name derived from George Coleman's 1798 play "Blue Devils" which premiered in London. The play depicts the difficult times in the lives of slaves in the American deep south, with particular emphasis to their musical stylings. The term "Blue Devil" came to describe the music, which later got shortened to "Blues." By 1912, the genre had been solidified, and the first song officially categorized as "Blues" was produced: Hart Wand's "Dallas Blues."
"I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" is a soft rock song performed by Elton John. It is, perhaps ironically, not written in the Blues form, and features no explanation as to why anything is called the Blues. It's simply describing a sad Elton John. Sure, he may be feeling blue, but he offers no exposition whatsoever into the etymology of "The Blues." So, you're left at the end of the song "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" with no further understanding as to why they call it the Blues.
That makes me sad.
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