It’s Monday, right? I’m not the type to sing the Monday blues, because that’s just not my style. Every day when I can wake up and do what I love is a blessing to me.

Now that my “positive thinking” public service announcement is out of the way, let’s move on to the meat of the matter.

The blues.

Everybody gets them at one time or another for all types of reasons, but today I’m going to focus on the love blues.

“The blues are the roots, everything else is the fruits.” – Willie Dixon

What is the blues? The blues have their origin in slave songs, field hollers and spirituals. For my purposes here, the blues is what you sing and/or feel when you are feeling sad.

You lost a lover. You never had a lover. Your lover loves someone else. So you sing the blues. Somehow knowing that someone else, somewhere in time was and/or is going through the same thing makes you feel not so alone in the world. The brotherhood of mankind has kinship in sadness.

“I can’t sleep at night
I can’t eat a bite
Because the man I love
He don’t treat me right….”
– Crazy Blues – Mamie Smith

Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Ooh everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worryin’ baby, yeah it’s you I hate to lose
– Everyday I have the Blues – B.B. King

Now that we know what makes us sing the blues, what blues do you sing? What sad song do you listen to when you’re feeling low?

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