2.
“I got a good woman,” is a bad way to begin the Blues, ‘less
you stick something nasty in the next line, like “I got a good woman with
the meanest face in town.”
3. The
Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find
something that rhymes … sort of: “Got a good woman - with the
meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher - and she weigh 500
pound.”
4. The Blues are not about
choice. You stuck in a ditch: You stuck in a ditch, ain’t no way
out.
5. Blues cars: Chevys and Cadillacs
and broken down trucks. Blues don’t travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport
Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound
train. Jet aircraft and state-sponsored motor pools ain’t even in the
running. Walkin’ plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does
fixin’ to die.
6. Teenagers
can’t sing the Blues. They ain’t fixin’ to die yet. Adults
sing the Blues. In Blues, adulthood means being old enough to get the electric
chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.
7.
Blues can take place in New York City, but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada.
Hard times in St. Paul or Tucson is just depression. Chicago, St.Louis, and
Kansas City still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues
in any place that don’t get
rain.
8. A man with male pattern baldness
ain’t the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg
cuz you skiing is not the blues.
9.
Breaking your leg cuz a alligator be chomping on it
is.
10. You can’t have no Blues in
an office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking
lot or sit by the dumpster.
11. Good
places for the Blues: a) highway b) jailhouse c) empty
bed
Bad places: a) Nordstrom’s b)
gallery openings c) Ivy League institutions d) golf
courses.
12. No one will believe
it’s the Blues if you wear a suit, ‘less you happen to be a old
black man, and you slept in it.
13. Do
you have the right to sing the Blues? Yes, if: a) you’re older than dirt
b) you’re blind c) you shot a man in Memphis d) you can’t be
satisfied.
No, if: a) you have all your
teeth b) you were once blind but now can see c) the man in Memphis lived d) you
have a retirement plan or trust fund.
14.
Blues is not a matter of color. It’s a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods
cannot sing the blues. Gary Coleman could. Ugly white people also got a leg up
on the blues.
15. If you ask for water
and Baby give you gasoline, it’s the Blues. Other acceptable Blues
beverages are: a) bad wine b) bad whiskey or bad bourbon c) muddy water d) black
coffee. The following are NOT Blues beverages: a) mixed drinks b) kosher wine c)
Snapple d) sparkling water.
16. If it
occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it’s a Blues death. Stabbed in
the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric
chair, substance abuse, and dying lonely on a broken down cot. You can’t
have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or getting
liposuction.
17. Some Blues names for
women: a) Sadie b) Big Mama c) Bessie d) Fat River
Dumpling. Some Blues names for men: a) Joe b)
Willie c) Little Willie d) Big
Willie.
Persons with names like Sierra,
Sequoia, and Rainbow can’t sing the Blues no matter how many men they
shoot in Memphis.
18. Make yer own Blues
name (starter kit): name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.) last name of
President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example, Blind Lime
Jefferson, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore,
etc.
19. I don’t care how tragic
your life: you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues. You best destroy it -
with fire, a spilled bottle of Mad Dog, or get out a shotgun. Maybe your big
woman just done sat on it. I don’t
care.