It's Easy To Bluff: Blues P.2

This week we are going to talk about blues lyrics!

It's a rare blues artist that makes his or her name popular from instrumentals only... So sooner or later you gonna have to sing or even worse still, write your own blues lyrics.

Just have a look at Blind Lemon Jefferson's 'Matchbox Blues” :

„I am sittin' here wonderin', matchbox hole in my coat,

I am sittin' here wonderin', matchbox hole in my coat,

I ain't got no matches but i sure got long way to go”

Not exactly W.B. Yeats right? And whoever said that 'coat' rhymes with 'go' anyway? Have a listen to this songs and you'll be sure that this man really feels that he hasn't got any matches.

You cant have a blues lyric about sex, school, drugs etc. because that drives you more towards Rock 'n' Roll. Other themes have already been snapped up by Coutry players so avoid writing about blind dogs with no parents, disability and „taking another cup of moonshine”.

If you want to write a blues lyric you have to choose a subject that's a bit a downer, but not life-threatning. Talk about it as you were born in Alabama not Strandhill and most importantly, sing it like you mean it.