Background
The Blues were heavily influenced by the struggles of Black people, both socially and economically. White people in America still held power and instilled the Jim Crow laws, along with many other racial resistance such as lynching, segregation, loss of jobs to immigrants, and the lack of voting rights. Black people had come to the realization that there was no American Dream for them, despite being free. The genre of the blues is generally sung by a solo male who plays a single instrument or a solo female that is accompanied by a male playing an instrument. One of the most respected part of the blues is the use of improvisation, which was widely used through song lyrics, melodies, and instrumentals.
Text
The lyrics of the Blues generally speak about oneself and expresses their feelings and emotions. The genre expresses realism and seriousness, without the hesitation to speak on deep feelings of sadness. The most popular topics being love, sex, unemployment, poverty, work, travel, drugs, etc. The Blues are sometimes considered the devil’s music because of it being seen as not in the standard for polite society.
