Editing Blues (section)

==Lyrics==
[[File:MaRainey.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|American blues singer [[Ma Rainey]] (1886–1939), the "Mother of the Blues"]]
Early [[traditional blues verse]]s often consisted of a single line repeated four times. However, the most common structure of blues lyrics today was established in the first few decades of the 20th century, known as the "AAB" pattern. This structure consists of a line sung over the first four bars, its repetition over the next four, and a longer concluding line over the last bars.<ref>Ferris, p. 230</ref> This pattern can be heard in some of the first published blues songs, such as "[[Dallas Blues]]" (1912) and "[[Saint Louis Blues (song)|Saint Louis Blues]]" (1914). According to [[W.C. Handy]], the "AAB" pattern was adopted to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times.<ref>Handy, W.C. ''Father of the Blues: An Autobiography''. Ed. Arna Bontemps. New York: Macmillan, 1941. p. 143</ref> The lyrics are often sung in a rhythmic talk style rather than a melody, resembling a form of [[talking blues]].

Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative. African-American singers voiced their "personal woes in a world of harsh reality: a lost love, the cruelty of police officers, oppression at the hands of white folk, [and] hard times".<ref>Ewen, pp. 142–143</ref> This melancholy has led to the suggestion of an [[Igbo music|Igbo]] origin for blues, because of the reputation the [[Igbo American|Igbo]] had throughout plantations in the Americas for their melancholic music and outlook on life when they were enslaved.<ref>{{cite book|title=They All Played Ragtime: The True Story of an American Music|first1=Rudi|last1=Blesh|first2=Harriet Grossman|last2=Janis|publisher=Sidgwick & Jackson|page=186|year=1958|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awHY-w8_iTsC&pg=PA186|isbn=978-1-4437-3152-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Ethnicity|first1=James G. Jr.|last1=Thomas|page=166|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8078-5823-3}}</ref> Other historians have argued that there is little evidence of Sub-Sahelian influence in the blues as "elaborate polyrhythm, percussion on African drums (as opposed to European drums), [and] collective participation" which are characteristic of West-Central African music below the savannah, are conspicuously absent. According to the historian [[Paul Oliver]], "the roots of the blues were not to be found in the coastal and forest regions of Africa. Rather... the blues was rooted in ... the savanna hinterland, from Senegambia through Mali, Burkina Faso, Northern Ghana, Niger, and northern Nigeria". Additionally, ethnomusicologist [[John Storm Roberts]] has argued that "The parallels between African savanna-belt string-playing  and the techniques of many blues guitarists are remarkable. The big kora of Senegal and Guinea are played in a rhythmic-melodic style that uses constantly changing rhythms, often providing a ground bass overlaid with complex treble patterns, while vocal supplies a third rhythmic layer. Similar techniques can be found in hundreds of blues records".<ref>[https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/what-islam-gave-the-blues Sylviane A. Diouf, "What Islam Gave the Blues", ''Renovatio'', June 17, 2019]. Retrieved August 17, 2023</ref>

The lyrics often relate troubles experienced within African American society. For instance [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]]'s "Rising High Water Blues" (1927) tells of the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]]:
{{poemquote|Backwater rising, Southern peoples can't make no time
I said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can't make no time
And I can't get no hearing from that Memphis girl of mine}}

Although the blues gained an association with misery and oppression, the lyrics could also be humorous and raunchy:<ref>Komara, p. 476</ref>
{{poemquote|Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,
Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,
It may be sending you baby, but it's worrying the hell out of me.<ref>From [[Big Joe Turner]]'s "Rebecca", a compilation of [[traditional blues lyrics]]</ref>}}

[[Hokum]] blues celebrated both comedic lyrical content and a boisterous, [[farcical]] performance style.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge Companion to Blues and Gospel Music|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00alla|url-access=registration|author=Moore, Allan F.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-00107-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00alla/page/32 32]}}</ref> [[Tampa Red]] and [[Thomas A. Dorsey|Georgia Tom]]'s "[[It's Tight Like That]]" (1928)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wirz.de/music/tampared/grafik/v1216a4.jpg|format=JPG|title=Photographic image of record label|website=Wirz.de|access-date=February 24, 2022}}</ref> is a sly wordplay with the double meaning of being "[[miser|tight]]" with someone, coupled with a more salacious physical familiarity. Blues songs with sexually explicit lyrics were known as [[dirty blues]]. The lyrical content became slightly simpler in postwar blues, which tended to focus on relationship woes or sexual worries. Lyrical themes that frequently appeared in prewar blues, such as economic depression, farming, devils, gambling, magic, floods and drought, were less common in postwar blues.<ref>Oliver, p. 281</ref>

The writer Ed Morales claimed that [[Yoruba mythology]] played a part in early blues, citing [[Robert Johnson]]'s "[[Cross Road Blues]]" as a "thinly veiled reference to [[Eleggua]], the [[orisha]] in charge of the crossroads".<ref name="cgkmik">Morales, p. 277</ref> However, the Christian influence was far more obvious.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The repertoires of many seminal blues artists, such as [[Charley Patton]] and [[Skip James]], included religious songs or spirituals.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|title=Ten Years of Black Country Religion 1926–1936 |last1=Calt |first1=Stephen |last2=Perls |first2=Nick |last3=Stewart |first3=Michael |publisher=[[Yazoo Records]] |id=L-1022 |location=New York |type=LP back cover notes |url=http://www.wirz.de/music/yazoo/grafik/1022b4.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002063218/http://www.wirz.de/music/yazoo/grafik/1022b4.jpg |archive-date=October 2, 2008 |url-status=live  }}</ref> [[Reverend Gary Davis]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://culturalequity.org/alanlomax/ce_alanlomax_profile_reverend_gary_davis.jsp |title=Reverend Gary Davis |year=2009 |access-date=February 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212215749/http://culturalequity.org/alanlomax/ce_alanlomax_profile_reverend_gary_davis.jsp |archive-date=February 12, 2009 }}</ref> and [[Blind Willie Johnson]]<ref>{{cite news|title=The Soul of Blind Willie Johnson |url=http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/blindwilliejohnson_092803.html |newspaper=Austin American-Statesman |author=Corcoran, Michael |access-date=February 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051030022838/http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/blindwilliejohnson_092803.html |archive-date=October 30, 2005 |url-status=live  }}</ref> are examples of artists often categorized as blues musicians for their music, although their lyrics clearly belong to spirituals.