We Need To Talk About Blues Lyrics

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Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) As promised, here's the list! (Note: These aren't in any particular order. Taft didn't sort them by frequency.)
x-formulas:
-I have the blues
-I come to some place
-I go away from some place
-I have a woman
-I quit my woman
-I love you
-I tell you
-I treat you good/bad
-I woke up this morning
-I am worried
r-formulas:
-I have the blues
-I cry
-What am I going to do
-Everywhere I go
-I will be gone
-I’m going back home
-It won’t be long
-Some thing is on my mind
-I treat you right
-I’m leaving town
2) So… about the lyrics on Every Day I Have The Blues. If you know the song, they probably sounded wrong to you, because you're probably familiar with the B.B. King version, but I wanted to use the Sparks Brothers original because it fit better with the time period I was discussing. Problem is, Memphis Slim rewrote a lot of the lyrics in the 40s and most later performances used his version. I looked up the Sparks one but the recording quality wasn't quite good enough for me to be confident in my transcription. I'm sure it ends in "if I had you to lose", but I'm not entirely sure what he says in the clause before that. It could also be something like "forgive me, my love", although that doesn't make as much sense to me.
3) Lyric formulas exist in other genres too! In fact, one thing we can do with them is demonstrate that Blues formulas overlap significantly with classic Country formulas, giving us yet another piece of evidence for the already well-proven claim that the division between the two genres was much more about the race of the artists than the musical or cultural qualities of the music.
4) Taft's book goes into a lot more detail about the connective structures of these formulas so if you want to learn more, it's called The Blues Lyric Formula and I highly recommend it.

When you sing the blues, you gotta sing the first line two times
When you sing the blues, you gotta sing the first line two times
And when you sing the last line, just makes sure that it rhymes

The second line of a blues song, is always the same as the first
Said the second line of a blues song, is always the same as the first,
The next lines are a vehicle for the sadness- driving it home like a hearse.

I woke up this mornin'.

John Finnemore (English Radio comedian) 'I ain't got the blues, I got the pinks / I got the pinks real bad' 😅😅
Basically a sketch where a blues singer is trying to sing the blues but he can't because his life is pretty happy and lots of good things have been happening for him recently.

“Rock and roll is just the blues marketed to white people”
As a white dude that plays the blues, this is perfect.

with no formal study of music, this exact topic has been a vested interest of mine. great to hear about it from someone more qualified than wikipedia

Great video. People forget that the Blues is not guitar music at its heart it is sung and accompanied by an instrument. Most early blues didnt have a guitar at all. What makes the blues what it is is how its song and why its sung that way.

Around the 11 min mark regarding work songs. "It didn't matter if you hadn't done the thing yourself because it wasn't about you. It was about the community." Somehow I found that phrase very moving. Like, maybe the world would be a better place if we spent more time in "It's not about you, it's about the community"-mode.

Fun side note: "On" in Japanese literature is called a "Mora" in non-Japanese linguistic literature. All language have Morae, its just that most poetic forms play around with syllables, the unit above Morae. The same consonant can either count as a Mora or not depending on where in the syllable it falls (Onset/Nucleus/Coda) (Beginning/Middle/End). Its a hard line to walk between exoticizing Japanese by using their terms, and respecting the fact that the study of the Japanese language has its own history separate from Western™ linguistics. Great video my dude.

I remember the first time I heard someone other than Johnny Cash sing Ghost Riders in the Sky (it was Scatman Crothers), and when I heard it in jazz style instead of country style, I suddenly realized it was a blues.

Also I love the Blues and it’s nice to to see a piece discussing such an important aspect of the Blues

i like how you compare this to music theory, but i still think what you did in this video is closer to poetry analysis than musical analysis. it is fascinating how blues uses lyrics though, it’s hard to think of any other genre that does something like that. excellent video as always

10:32
The blues using these stock story elements to weave stories reminds me of how Greek bards like Homer are thought to have done something similar to tell their epics, such as the Odyssey. I recommend OSP's video on Homer, as that's where I learned about this Greek tradition.

I like the point you made about the phrase "I woke up this morning" containing a symbolic reference to the process of coming to some sort of greater recognition. Especially the 3 eyed elephant ;) I know your discussion wasn't meant to be exhaustive but it's easy to see why that's one of the lines you chose to work on, since it's so rife with potential meaning.
A way to read into it I think is fun and hope you might like too, (full of fun tangents I keep erasing like how ok sometimes when you wake up you still remember what you were just dreaming) is how for the first few seconds or fractions of a second after a person wakes up they're not really thinking anything (see overture to Swann's Way by Proust for a flowery description) and how great a thing that is to reference at the very beginning of a narrative structure, because it mimics the listener's being at the beginning of the narrative and similarly not having any information to build upon. And yet, the first things that cross one's mind in the morning (or, ok, afternoon :) ) are generally regarded as having great importance (citation needed.) So that by the use of only six syllables, a listener already feels caught up on the background of the narrative, and knows that the following line is going to be of great importance. Neat trick!

I've been watching this man for years, and I didn't notice his fingernails till a few weeks ago, and I will never be able to un-see them.

10:36 Mirabel singing "I never meant this to get autobiographical"

The term you're looking for to describe the sound divisions of Japanese is "mora" (pl. "morae"). It's thought that Classical Latin used morae rather than syllables based off of patterns observed the the poetry of the day.

Hello 12tone, i am a fellow fan of your channel and since im here so fast id like to say i appreciate you and your videos. :)

I wrote a song so bluesy, that it made me happy, and being happy gives me the blues.

3:26 “Like, take the sonnet. This is a traditional form of European poetry originally from Italy which consists of fourteen lines in what’s called iambic pentameter.”
This may have been intentionally simplified for the video, but sonnets vary a bit in stress and rhyme scheme. Most people only know them as ABAB CDCD EFEF GG in iambic pentameter because that’s what most of Shakespeare’s sonnets used (counterexample would be Sonnet 145, which is in iambic tetrameter) and was a popular form during the English Renaissance, but if anyone reading this is interested in learning about other types of sonnets like Petrarchan (ABBAABBA CDCCDC or ABBAABBA CDECDE in iambic pentameter), Spenserian (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE in iambic pentameter) Miltonic (same as Petrarchan but with heavy use of enjambment), Terza Rima (ABA BCB CDC DED AA in iambic pentameter), Curtal (ABC ABC DBCDC or ABC ABC DCBDC in something called sprung rhythm), or the many non-English forms that follow other rules (many Spanish sonnets use 11 syllables per line), I recommend starting with the Wikipedia page and reading a whole bunch of them. Sonnets are super fun! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet

Coming from a background of literature and linguistics, with music as an important hobby, this was really interesting. A good and thought-provoking effort.
I have been thinking for a long time about a feature you didn’t discuss in depth: the idea of ”floating stanzas”.
Of course a short video cannot contain everything. 🙂
I think the folk tradition rewards some elaboration: for example, in Robert Johnson’s era, blues lyrics often consisted of ”floating” lines everybody used. I think the floating stanzas make improvisation easier: with ”I woke up this morning” you set a theme and at the same time give yourself some time to think about how you are going to formulate what you want to say regarding your theme. Reverting back to some floating lines again during the course of a song gives you some time to think about what’s going to happen next.
You did touch upon these issues, but I thought I’d share the thought. 🙂
I think your effort in discussing the formulas of a still living folk is a heroic effort. 👏👏

"Loss" caught me completely off guard. I love it.
I'm starting to try and write music and this kinda helps me think about lyrics more thoughtfully. Thank you for somehow always making videos that are relevant to me lol

I was listening to this trying to figure out how many of the things my bluesiest lyric did...
Oh girl I miss you,
I think I want to die
Oh girl I miss you,
I think I want to die
You been out drinking baby,
Messing round with another guy
I've been down at the old bar room,
Drinking whiskey-rye
I've been down at the old bar room,
Drinking whiskey-rye
I've been down at the old bar room baby,
Gonna find that other guy
Gonna tell him he can have you
Come by pick up your things
Gonna tell him he can have you
Come by pick up your things
Only thing I want back baby
Is my grandmama's diamond ring
(break)
I thought about acting badly
When I thought about what you'd done
But I ain't waistin' my time on you
If you ain't the one
If you ain't the one baby
Hurry up, git, go on
I could break the lines so it's AAB, but that misses the internal rhyme (well, okay, just the repeat of the words) and when I sing it I really do think it's six lines per verse, not three. My band only did one recording of it, and the rest of the guys had only had one chance to play it through before we recorded. It starts really strong but we went into a solo bit after the lyrics that probably should have been much shorter. As a 3 minute recording I think it's pretty good... at 5 1/2 in definitely feels too long.
I guess now I need to write a 'I wish I had one good recording' blues. We had so many songs that felt like we nearly nailed them but never quite did. I was pretty happy with my harp work on it though. Filthy riff starting on the 2 blow... Oh well... that's life.

"I woke up on a morning"
the phrase that came up when i saw the title of this video

It's funny that you say "You'd never hear a blues singer say 'I don't have the blues'". Captain Beefheart repeatedly sings the line "I ain't got the blues no more, I said" in his song "Ah Feel Like Ahcid".
Now, whether you count Captain Beefheart as a bluesman or a blues-rock singer will determine whether that example "counts," but that song is from his earlier, more bluesy years before he really started getting experimental.
Somewhat similarly, Muddy Waters opens "Mannish Boy" with the line "Everything's gonna be alright this mornin'". There seems to be a prominent category of feel-good blues songs from mid-century, at least in my limited experience.

Wasn't expecting a haiku reference in a music theory video. That was TIGHT.

Brilliant. I wonder why no one on youtube (that I'm aware of) came with this before.

Thanks for covering this topic. I translate tango lyrics and Taft’s study sounds intriguing. The formulae you mention sound like what are called commonplaces (topoi) in literary studies; treating them as interchangeable content cells is a really potent idea!

Just found this channel and as a blues musician this really made me feel appreciated :)

I just started learning how to play blues guitar and this pops up in my feed. Made my day. Thank you!!!

"It could be anyone!" * Draws an Among Us character *
Well done, Cory. Well done.

Lyrics are very underrated. Thank you for the video.

Thank you for the interesting and thoughtful analysis. I've listened to a lot of Blues songs but never really thought of the lyrics like this. I'd be all about more Blues videos. Keep on rockin'!

Definitely more videos about blues

The connection experienced between listener and performer with Blues lyrical content, IMO, is less about the actual experience, action, or plans to do something, go somewhere, or some interaction with significant other, like confrontation, or just going to see them, or there is lack of interaction or connection, it could be a purposeful avoidance of the interaction, "I ain't seen my baby since the night before last..."
I could rattle off a half dozen examples of each of these but the blues lyric is less about the things sung about in the song in concrete terms, like the the actual plan to go somewhere, the actual interaction etc, it is far less about that then it is about the reason, or reasons, for the things being some about in fairly concrete terms. Generally, a significant reason, significant cause, for the singer, and the listener, to have this shared root motivation, the root of the story of the song is the commonality between the person singing the song and the audience listening (and singing along). While the listener and the singer may or may not have a shared/similar experience of the betrayal or betrayals, possibly having been cheated on by spouse, former spouse former lover and, or partner that lied constantly about spending money and hiding the purchases, or was lying about going out and drinking, the shared emotional baggage, the pain come in the mistrust the constant wondering persons cheating again, zooming a friendship with someone who wanted to be more than a friend on a long, at your apartment right about it that leaves you with a hurts that hurts is what is shared. Damage done, and the changes in our person chooses to have acts, how the person feels and response to certain things, what is inside the person now, or what is different inside the person now, because of how they are responding to the dishonesty, the lies, the deceit, the shared experience of feeling completely betrayed and heartbroken because somebody that you cared about,, that you love more than anybody you ever loved, not even knowing loving someone this much it's possible, only to have that ripped and tore up inside you by this deceit. That is what is shared between the person singing the blues lyrics being sung and listener.

Did not come here to learn more about Japanese, but knowing about On being a named thing make actually help with learning that language because I'm working on the pronunciation part. I guess I already know they did this but it having a name kinda helps address it. The whole pitch enthusis thing and watching On length to not accidentally say something I didn't mean is hard right now.

My take on blues lyrics go to the need of the genre in the first place, healing, comforting, empathetic. The blues is about good people stuck in a bad situation, and yet, usually with optimism. In the 12-bar, three line form, the first line of usually about that bad situation. Blues, as developed from earlier forms and performed in its beginnings, is a communal 'call and response' form, so the second line repeats the first, sometimes for emphasis. Third line is often some sort of resolution, or optimism for the first, or sometimes something worse with implied dark sarcasm, so lessening the tragedy of the first line. If I were to compare this to say ... the more light 'sounding' melodies of traditional Irish ballads coupled with their own dark lyrics, it feels like in blues ... Things are serious, but never hopeless. In traditional Irish ballans, things are hopeless, but never serious.

The thing about the (delta) blues is that the licks are all free use. They’re shared. Blues at its core is made up of the same licks. You make the poetry, though, and the performance, and that’s what’s unique

"Just Can't Seem to Get the Blues" by Rev. Billy C. Wirtz might be a parody, but it is the blues.
People, life can be frustratin' when you're just, just not born to lose.

Dr. Adam Gussow...a 40-plus-year veteran Blues musician and Professor of Literature and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi...has written extensively on a phenomenon knows as Signifying in Blues lyrical tradition. Consider, within the context of Jim Crow, that the Devil (so often referenced throughout the Blues) is most often a _metaphor_ for White folks, and songs about domestic violence are often _actually_ about revenge for often-violent racial oppression. When considered in this light, Blues isn't "just" the most important and influential genre in music history; it is _also_ home to some of the most brilliantly subversive protest poetry ever written, telling _two_ (or more) stories simultaneously with just _one_ set of lyrics...the "surface" story White folks hear, _and_ the deeper story Black folks _understand!_ Sadly, many Blues songs (some of the very best, in fact) _are_ autobiographical, and because similar living conditions subjected so many Black folks to similar experiences, the art is _both_ individual _and_ collective.
Your opening remarks about the importance of lyrics...especially in Blues...are _spot on!_ As a writer of lyrical _and_ non-lyrical music, I can confidently say that if a piece of music _has_ lyrics, they're usually the _reason_ for the song! With that in mind, the challenge many people don't appreciate is that, once the _structure_ of the first verse, chorus, etc. has be established, the _rest_ of the story must _also_ be told in a way that strictly _fits_ that structure...ideally while _also_ rhyming and telling the story _well enough_ to inspire an emotional response/connection in the listener(s). Referencing the above notion of songs that serve individual _and_ collective purposes, I intentionally _avoid_ using names, pop culture references, etc. specifically so _my_ usually autobiographical expressions remain just "generic" enough for _others_ to say, "Man, I know what that's guys goin' through,"...and, in so doing, help _others_ to feel understood.
P.S. If you haven't heard Big Mama Thornton's _original_ recording of Hound Dog, you haven't _heard_ Hound Dog!

Utterly fascinating! I loved this video.

With all the focus on syllables and metre you forgot to mention the turn or volta of sonnets. And haikus have a contrast between the first 2 and the last phrases too.
The blues has these structures too, posing a question or painting a problem in the AA and then resolving in the B, after which there's room for instrumental improvisation (often in question-response forms) and then there's the turnaround to the next verse.

Blues is more felt than thought. There really isn't a set formula for the blues. Yes, there are alot of common themes and stylistic points, but there are also several different styles of blues.

I like the analysis so far. Blues is really underappreciated, despite being a base for a lot of musical styles as well as a quality genre itself. And the poetry analysis on top is even better.
Random aside, recent random thought, but have you ever considered doing a video on Maroon 5. Like, as a concept. So few bands have thoroughly changed their identity and sound to the point of being so disparate from what they used to be, and, deoending on the person's outlook, it could be seen as a rise, a fall, or both. It's just interesting.

I think it's interesting (as primarily a metalhead) how much the blues and metal are very much two sides of the same coin. I've always found it interesting when Mike Williams of EYEHATEGOD, definitely a solid part of the extreme metal sub-category described their music and "extreme blues." Then when you listen to the riffs, you really hear it.

This was interesting, I had not fully understood this. I was, however, kind of disappointed; this video did what it said on the box, don't mean to say otherwise, but I've been hoping to see someone on youtube do song analysis that actually connects specific lyrical choices to specific musical choices. It's kind of an odd gap in musictube when you think about it; this is basically the backbone of professional songwriting, so in a world where we have 3 dozen guitartubers with over 100K subs, it's kind of shocking that all of them are teaching us how to play the solo, or how to understand the chords, but none of them are teaching how to select the chords or tell a story with the solo. Maybe those who could do this are busy being professional songwriters though.

I’ve watched many of your videos and this is the first time I realized that you’re a fellow lefty. Southpaws, unite! ✊

The doodle images are perfectly edited, only handful depict what he’s actually saying.

This reminds me of the video you made analyzing rap. I have a very soft spot in my heart for rap, and would love if you analyzed some more. I appreciate your willingness to approach lyrics in general, and find your take insightful, educational and very enjoyable!

14:14 The Blues, the original "I'm gonna get out of this small town" music.

Thanks for the video. How much does this apply to the Chicago Blues style, or is this mainly about the Delta Blues?
Also, it’s “Thou dost” not “Thou doth”

This is (i mean kind of) related, so I'd like to hear a teardown of a ragtime song, maybe like the Easy Winner or Maple Leaf Rag. Thanks man!

Danke, this is great! For further in-depth studies i can highly recommend the book "Screening The Blues" by Paul Oliver. (btw, for the purpose of studying the tempo of the video really sucks and if i stream it to my TV i unfortunately cannot slow it down... )

Bro, I love this topic, but I lost my s#i+ at the *Loss* drawing.

I think it's also common for the "B" line to start with the same phrase as the "A" line.

Woke up this morning, heard some real good news
I woke up this morning, heard me some real good news
Don't worry, you're damn right I don't have the blues

This reminds me about how wrong Billie Eilish was about rap/hip hop lyrics.

I know this has nothing to do with the blues but one part got me laughing. About going home or never going home. There is an Austrian hit song by a band called STS about taking a vacation in Greece and saying that one day he would stay there and never go back (probably meaning after retirement). Then there was an Austrian metal band called Alkbottle (you may guess as to their main theme) who took the same song and lyrically told the story of a nightmare-holiday, vowing never to go on vacation again...

I was reminded a little of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg which is pretty much about popular song-writing, and maintaining an AAB form.

It'd be Adam shame to miss that next episode.

Please tell me someone wrote a Blues titled "I do not have the Blues."

As someone who sometimes sings the blues and is fast and loose with lyrics in cover songs, it's amazing how much of this I knew instinctively from just listening for so long! But I never thought to formalize it. This is why the universe made music theorists, I guess

Hey 12tone, you might miss this question completely and I understand, but here’s for if you don’t: is there any way for me to sign up for and pay for Nebula without having to get an account with CuriosityStream? I want to support you and Adam Neely and Polyphonic and everyone else that put so much work into it but I just... don’t need the other service. Nothing against them, I just don’t need it lol But if I download the app it doesn’t give me the option to sign up or subscribe or anything, it just asks for a login. Thanks in advance! Love your channel. Have a great evening!

That was absolutely fascinating

I agree that considering lyrics as separate from the music is ridiculous. Lyrics are the main thing most people hear and think about.

Can you do a video on Tyler Childers and colter wall and how the sound work in their songs?

I'd love to see a video on a song like Gehenna by Slipknot that gets down to how to really make a song dark, hollow, and creepy.

Adam Neely is 100% NOT the mystery guess

Should I stay or should I go now, should I stay or should I go now
If I go there will be trouble, and if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know, should I stay or should I go
(my favourite example)

What a Haiku makes
Season Reference, Verse Cut
This is a Haikai

do you always speak at 420bpm?

The captions at 2:00: 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

woah is the thumbnail a reference to "crossroads blues"?

What’s your podcast called?

HOORAY for the Allie Brosh reference!

can you please make a video on how you make your videos

Really nice video, I wish you could understand Brasil portuguese and make a vid like this one, but about bossa nova and samba lyrics

OK kids, internalize these rules and patterns for composing blues lyrics, OR you could listen to a mess of Willie Dixon tunes + Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith, Tampa Red, Lightning Hopkins, Roosevelt Sykes, B.B. King. Guess which journey is more fun?

who been here, baby since
i been gone?
little bitty boy
derby on
there is an *efficiency* in Blues lyrics, compressing massive amounts of information in a small time-space with a profound respect to rhythm; the lyrics above from "Smokestack Lightin" tell a story of how a jealous man finds out his woman is cheating on him by finding a certain kind and size of hat (a derby)

>I got me a -cravin', ta hear the >'pinionated -ravin', o' the >music theory -man... > -
Oh yeah >I got me a -cravin' ta hear this >'pinionated -ravin', o' the >music theory -man... > -
Aww >even though I'm all al-one... >I gotta hear that ol' 12 -tone... > then I'll be -doin' the >best I can... -
(Slow 4/4 time. > is the downbeat, - is the upbeat)

About not having the blues, you gotta listen to David Bromberg's "Someone else's blues." Funny!

Timely Dr. Seuss reference. Nice reference to Animal Farm. And which Riddler is your elephant? (I am a Frank Gorshin fan, myself.)

Nice

“You’ll never hear a blues singer say “I don’t have the blues”. That violates the spirit of the genre” - challenge accepted.
I don’t have the blues, No, I’m feelin’ just fine. (2x)
I just heard some bad news, but soon we’ll be ready to dine.
I don’t have the blues, baby, you don’t have to hide. (2x)
I just heard somebody died, but baby I got you by my side
I don’t have the blues, I’m really happy we’re two. (2x)
It’s just I’m looking at that photo, baby, the way she smiles to you.
I don’t have the blues, and don’t you worry bout a thing. (2x)
If you’ll just give me a minute, Daddy’s coming soon to push your swing.

Also that's not haiku, real haiku is about specific nature themes.

You say the sonnet is from italy then define it through English? Even tho thats NOT how a sonnet is defined in latin languages? A sonnet is not about accent and NOT in iabic pentameter, it is about verse structure and rhyme and its written in endecasilabos

I didn't expect an existential crisis targeting my morning routine

This video at regular speak speed would last like 30 minutes 😆

Most of popular discourse on music is based on lyrics-way more than on music theory. Probably because talking about lyrics is more accessible to more people. Still enjoyed the video, tho.

Great googly moogly!

So are you just going to hit the origin of every song on hugh laurie's album?

What about "Santa Claus is Back in Town," by Elvis? Would that fit these descriptions?

2:25 Chuck Berry has entered the chat

Can you please do an analysis on Take Me To Church by Hozier?

Here's a curious observation: a lot of rap is the blues set to different music

I want to love these videos, but I need to increase my knowledge of music lol.

Personally I think lyrics make a song have so much more depth. It shows what the composer was thinking about when writing the song and I have a feeling thats why I can't seem to enjoy any music made since 2010. Its all so bland and at least to me doesn't feel like it has much "personality" as older songs

Ain't got adam clue, who this secret guest could be...

"Rock and Roll is just the Blues marketed to white people"
that line shouldn't have made me laugh as much as it did