The Blues and inversions of sadness
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Hi!
I recorded a cover yesterday. Video below.
"Blues Run the Game" is a 1965 song by the American singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank.
Frank's was a sad story. He had mental health problems. Check out his wiki page. Yesterday was world mental health awareness day. I'd set up my camera and a mic to do a practice session - it's been a while and I'm trying to get it together. Opening a notebook of covers I have, the first entry I saw was this song, and having just been reading about mental health, I decided to play it.
I've been thinking about negativity and creative expression a lot. Lots of people find sad songs make them feel ... sad. This makes sense, but I'm far more like Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. Check out these lyrics from the end of one of their songs:
"the end of paralysis, I was a statuette, now I'm drunk as hell on a piano bench, and when I press the keys, it all gets reversed, the sound of loneliness makes me happier"
That's me, too. Sad songs let me know that I'm not the only one to feel that way, and in that shared experience there is solace.
Thanks, as always, for your attention.