People have been brainwashed into believing that it's got to be down or it wouldn't be blues. But it's not so. It's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be blues.
Willie DixonRead
The whole of life itself expresses the blues. That's why I always say the blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling and understanding. The blues can be about anything pertaining to the facts of life. The blues call on God as much as a spiritual song do.
Interpretation
The blues reflect the realities of life, capturing its emotions and truths through music and lyrics.
In this quote, Willie Dixon emphasizes that the blues genre encapsulates the essence of human experience, articulating the joys, sorrows, and struggles we all face. He suggests that the blues not only convey profound feelings and insights about life but also connect to spiritual elements, similar to other forms of spiritual expression.
In practice
In a speech about music's power to heal, one could quote this.
People have been brainwashed into believing that it's got to be down or it wouldn't be blues. But it's not so. It's got to be a fact or it wouldn't be blues.
The blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits.
The blues will always be because the blues are the roots of all American music.
The blues has been the foundation of all other American music since the beginning.
The Blues are the true facts of life expressed in words and song, inspiration, feeling, and understanding.
When I started to sing like myself - as opposed to imitating Nat Cole, which I had done for a while - when I started singing like Ray Charles, it had this spiritual and churchy, this religious or gospel sound. It had this holiness and preachy tone to it. It was very controversial. I got a lot of criticism for it.
I learned from Jimi Hendrix. They all wanted him to do the tricks, and at the end of his career, he just wanted to play. I lived longer than he did, and I can see how those pressures can really play with your head.
As long as there are kids who are pissed off and have no real way in venting out that anger, heavy metal will live on.
The Official Bulletin declared that the Poles should be as proud of me as the Germans are of Mozart; obvious nonsense.
I have been accused of being a very simplistic, very lyrical player, and that's okay. That just comes from the blues, which is my background. But every day you wake up and transcend. You can't ever rest on your laurels.
If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.
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