How To Write The Blues

Hi friends,
Well, I don't know how you're holding up, but it seems as if the times might call for some blues. I decided to write my own last night, and since I've never done that before (and don't have enough of a working knowledge of the blues), I sought out some advice.
I found this website with the following awesome advice (complete with music/song):

Well sit back and listen
Gonna teach you how to write the blues
Well sit back and listen
Gonna teach you how to write the blues
And before this song is over
You can write a blues song too

The first line of the blues,
you gotta sing a second time
The first line of the blues,
you gotta sing a second time
And the third line doesn’t matter
But the fourth one’s gotta rhyme

Then you throw in some words like mojo
juke joint and johnny cocker root
Then you throw in some words like mojo
juke joint and johnny cocker root
Black Cat Bone, Woke up this morning
Gypsy woman and Hoochie Coochie Too

Then the band stops on the one note,
They stop once again
And after the third time, they all come in again
Then you say the name of the song
Like.. “This is How To Write the Blues”
And it helps if you’re in prison
or if your baby left your for somebody new

And then you get to the last verse
You tell the band to take you home
And then you get to the last verse
You tell the band to take you home
And then the band stops playin
And you sing the last line all alone

www.dannychicago.com...

Which gave me what I needed to write my own Coronavirus Blues. It was one way to have a good laugh at my current absurd and unstable situation.
I would really love to hear some other people's versions of the Coronavirus Blues.
If you want to get creative and maybe laugh while you're at it, try it out and post your version here!

Here's what I came up with

Coronavirus Blues

Well I’m stuck here in my house,
Been here thirty-six days
Yeah, I’m stuck here in my house
Been here thirty-six days.
And if the virus don’t get me
I just might leave in a craze.

My husband just left here
A shirt covering up half his face
I said my husband just left here
A shirt covering up half his face.
And the crazy thing about it, where he’s goin’
He won’t be the weirdest in the place.

Just to pick up a little food
You gotta gear up for to fight
Oh yeah just to pick up a little food
You gotta gear up for to fight
Get your mask on, your gloves on
Give a half mile berth to all in sight.

And a cough or a sniffle
can evoke such a fright,
You’ll be feelin ill all a sudden, you’ll be backing up in fright
That’s how we all be falling ill
From the coronavirus blues
And I ain’t never been to prison
But I’ve had some time to sit and stew.

And here is the place where I’d sing
For the band to take me home
And here is the place where I’d sing
For the band to take me home
But that’s precisely the place
Where I am trying not to go.

Happy Friday (like Friday matters anymore) and I hope you all are making the best of the times (the worst of times lol reminds me of a Dickens novel)!!

a reply to: zosimov

How To Write The Blues

1. Get drunk.

2. Make your woman leave you.

3. Burn your house down.

4. Kick your dog.

5. Go on world tour.

Good job making the best of a bad situation.

a reply to: underwerks

Lmao. Yep, that sounds about right.

I'm fairly certian I'm well on my way to achieving Step 2 at the moment.

a reply to: mtnshredder

Thank you!
I hope you've been able to find some good in the bad situation, too.

Now with music!

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: underwerks

Lmao. Yep, that sounds about right.

I'm fairly certian I'm well on my way to achieving Step 2 at the moment.

Did that about a year ago. Now I’m sitting here playing with matches.

a reply to: underwerks

Right about the time you hit Step 5 she'll realize her mistake.

And one of my very old ones:



and another:

a reply to: zosimov

Best off topic ever..

I was laughing at your external quote enough..

But than you went all Emiral on us and kicked it up a notch!

Well played, well done!

If I was a mod I would applaude




Seriously .. Thank You for the well needed laugh!

Sincerely,
~joe

a reply to: Liquesence

I was having fun with it, but you, my friend, have talent.



Hope you're doing well! Thanks for posting!

a reply to: Mike Stivic

Joe!

So good to see you, man. I hope you've been doing okay!

I'm glad you enjoyed the thread, and happy that it gave you a laugh.

a reply to: zosimov

I was having fun with it, but you, my friend, have talent.

The blues aren't fun, they pick at the scab, but thank you.

In the interest of fun, though:

a reply to: zosimov

Doing well, I told you when you invited me to the meet-up I'm a hermit..

I'm the mack daddy social distance program germ free like a og from way back..


Plus I'm on the mountain....

I hope all finds you and yours well !


Really just wishing the best to the entire Ats Fam


A too Z.

Been talking to you clowns for 10 years... I don't know if that's good or bad...lol



Respectfully,
~joe

originally posted by: Liquesence


The blues aren't fun, they pick at the scab, but thank you.

Ha. Good point! No wonder I had to Google how to write a blues song.


I laughed at that clip. That was fun, you're right! My favorite movie blues scene (I think):

a reply to: zosimov

Ha. Good point! No wonder I had to Google how to write a blues song.

Yeah the blues is about pain.

However, your lyrics are pretty awesome, because I can see the atypical cadence and meter, which is reflective of the Skip James bit I posted.

I'm curious how yours would work musically, or rather the music in your head, because blues never fits a standard rhyme scheme. Yours is atypical like that

Well done.

originally posted by: Mike Stivic
a reply to: zosimov




Really just wishing the best to the entire Ats Fam


A too Z.




Respectfully,
~joe

Yes, I'll second that. Wishing all of you guys the very best.

Good to hear you're doing well! Hope you're enjoying your garden, and being in the mountains rocks.

a reply to: Liquesence


Thanks for that, and this thread and all the comments are kind of generating an interest in me. It would be worthwhile to give some more focused energy to songwriting. If this continues long enough, I'll probably end up putting it to music and posting it here!

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: underwerks

Right about the time you hit Step 5 she'll realize her mistake.

I don’t think I could ever kick a dog. So I’m kind of screwed I guess.

a reply to: Liquesence

You might know this one, which speaks to the depths of pain, imo. It was recorded over 92 years ago! It's now on the golden record, speeding through the Kuiper belt.