1 - Most Blues begin “Woke up this mornin...”
2 - “I got a good woman” is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line, like “I got a good woman with the meanest face in town.”
3 - The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes - sort of: “Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yeah, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pounds.”
4 - The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch - ain’t no way out.
5 - Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don’t travel in Volvos, BMWs or sport utility vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft an’ state-sponsored motor pools ain’t even in the runnin’. Walkin’ plays a major part in the Blues lifestyle. So does fixin’ to die.
6 - Teenagers can’t sing the Blues. They ain’t fixin’ to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, “adulthood” means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7 - Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or anyplace in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle are probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City are the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the Blues in anyplace that don’t get rain.
8 - A man with male pattern baldness ain’t the Blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg ‘cause you skiing is not the Blues. Breaking your leg ‘cause an alligator be chompin’ on it is.
9 - You can’t have no Blues in an office or a shopping mall. The lightin’ is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.
10 - Good places for the Blues: a. Highway, b. jailhouse, c. empty bed, d. bottom of a whiskey glass. Bad places: a. Bloomingdale’s, b. gallery openings, c. Ivy League institutions, d. golf courses
11 - No one will believe it’s the Blues if you wear a suit, ‘less you happen to be an old ethnic person, and you slept in it
12 - Do you have the right to sing the Blues?
Yes, if: a. you older than dirt, b. you blind, c. you shot a man in Memphis, d. you can’t be satisfied.
No, if: a. you have all your teeth, b. you were once blind, but now can see, c. the man in Memphis lived, d. you have a 401(k) or trust fund.
13 - Blues is not a matter of color. It’s a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the Blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the Blues.
14 - If you ask for water and your darlin’ give you gasoline, it’s the Blues. Other acceptable Blues beverages are: a. cheap wine, b. whiskey or bourbon, c. muddy water, d. nasty black coffee. The following are NOT Blues beverages: a. Perrier, b. Chardonnay, c. Snapple, d. Slim Fast, e. single malts.
15 - If death occurs at a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it’s a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can’t have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or getting liposuction.
16 - Some Blues names for women: a. Sadie, b. Big Mama, c. Bessie, d. Fat River Dumpling
17 - Some Blues names for men: a. Joe, b. Willie, c. Little Willie, d. Big Willie
18 - People with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie and Heather can’t sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.
19 - Make your own Blues name starter kit:
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jakeleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore (Well, maybe not Kiwi)
20 - I don’t care how tragic your life, if you own a computer, you cannot sing the Blues
21 - World’s shortest Blues song: “Well, I didn’t wake up this mornin’.”
― luna (luna.c), Monday, 26 April 2004 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)