# I don't like blues music. There, I said it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674 "2014-07-21T16:41:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/41 "2014-07-21T22:23:09Z")
I _love_ The Blues! I’ll have yours! In fact, I’m listening to blues, blues, blues, jazz, blues, blues, blues, blues, rock n’ roll and blues! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/42 "2014-07-21T23:34:40Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > True dat. OP, you agree that people who dismiss whole categories of music are idiots, having done that in the OP. Help me understand - your dismissal is different how? I totally respect anyone’s right to not like something. I understand how someone may not like the “rules” or “sound” of blues in general, so tend not to like much and to not listen to it. But if there isn’t a scattering of blues tunes that just moooove ya, then, well, that’s just a shame. Makes me wanna write a song. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/43 "2014-07-22T01:26:17Z")
I used to say I hated “the blues” too, but my horizons were broadened by several people. I now like Delta blues and especially Swamp blues, the kind of blues that makes you want to hop and dance, rather than slit your wrists. Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band’s kind of blues. You just TRY to slit your wrists listening to them! [“Clap Your Hands”](http://youtu.be/9Ra0DsbiNs0) [“Left Hand George”](http://youtu.be/gzrYLpeEG3E) [“Shut The Screen”](http://youtu.be/uSbtL5QAQrg) (Live) [“Mama’s Fried Potatoes”](http://youtu.be/2N2FkBjdXS8) This is not hoppy blues but it’s still fun as hell. I heard tell that the video was banned in the UK! [“Devils Look Like Angels”](http://youtu.be/sRWMwpPlm28) I do like some wrist-slitting blues in small quantities, like Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Bessie Smith. I love dirty blues, where the lyrics make you go :eek::eek::eek:😃 like Lucille Bogan’s [“Shave 'em Dry”](http://youtu.be/2ko2VXpW7_g) (WARNING: NSFW!!!) I have to say I like some white girl blues too, like [Duffy](http://youtu.be/9rHNOTtShwM), [Carmel](http://youtu.be/u3TMc22m7tE), Janis Joplin and Amy Winehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/44 "2014-07-22T02:43:56Z")
What makes your big head so hard!? ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/45 "2014-07-22T03:01:48Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Here’s the Dead Milkmen’s take on blues music. Cheeky. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEc9ATJ9RQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEc9ATJ9RQ) I do love me some Dead Milkmen. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Tell me this: have you tried listening to blues music when you’re blind drunk on rye in a smoke-filled juke joint, shortly after your no-good woman took all your money and ran off with your best friend? If not, you’re not really getting the full experience. This sounds like the recipe for a dopefest. Let’s all meet up someplace in Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/46 "2014-07-22T06:07:57Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > OP, you agree that people who dismiss whole categories of music are idiots, having done that in the OP. Help me understand - your dismissal is different how? It’s specifically the “I like everything but country and rap” (not hip hop) people who tend to be idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/47 "2014-07-22T06:18:05Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > … It’s the songs themselves I don’t like. Too many of them seem to be little more than excuses for a guitar solo. Oh yeah. A friend–a very talented guitarist, and a great guy overall–loved the blues, and loved to play them. Problem was, that at local jams, he’d almost monopolize the session, because he insisted on putting 12-minute guitar solos into every song. No problem watching the game with him, or discussing current events with him, or having a beer with him. But don’t give him a guitar in a blues jam and tell him to play, because then he Just. Won’t. Stop. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/48 "2014-07-22T06:41:53Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m enjoying watching the second season of _The Wire_, years after seeing the first on HBO, now that the whole series is streaming on Amazon Prime. But I can’t stand that fucking theme song, which is a way more annoying version BTW than in the first season. They always jump into it from the teaser with no warning, too, before I can hit the mute button. > > I just don’t understand the appeal of blues, and I hate that whenever I mention this in casual conversation, people look at me like I just said I club baby seals as a weekend hobby. Thank you, my brother! And, if I’m not too far out of line: Robert Johnson sucks! Fuck you, Robert Johnson! You aren’t the greatest guitarist, and your music sucks because it’s blues, and sucky blues at that! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/49 "2014-07-22T10:24:32Z")
The op hurts my brain, I don’t like blues Tom Waits song that isn’t blues referenced profit? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/50 "2014-07-22T11:39:48Z")
Blues isn’t my favorite either. I respect it. I can listen to a song or two without going crazy. And I’m sure, if I thought about it hard enough, I could name a blues song that really moves me. But for me, blues goes in the same box as country-western music. It’s not horrible, but it’s just not my thing. It’s funny because I actually like all of The Wire’s renditions of “Down in the Hole”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/51 "2014-07-22T12:06:18Z")
[quote=“SlackerInc, post:13, topic:693674”] (not sure if I’ve heard Robert Cray, though the name sounds familiar). [Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra2Qndv_xeE) [Right Next Door (Because of Me)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP2EvSNHqh0) [Smoking Gun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gQEDwjhaDE) But let’s not forget Weird Al’s take on traditional blues: [Generic Blues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hox4QHh0C0) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/52 "2014-07-22T14:42:34Z")
> [@bup](#): > > That is incorrect. I have it from an unimpeachable source that the blues is nothing more than a good woman on your mind. I have it from a different unimpeachable source the the blues ain’t nothin’ but a pain in your heart. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/53 "2014-07-22T16:35:46Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It’s specifically the “I like everything but country and rap” (not hip hop) people who tend to be idiots. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/54 "2014-07-22T17:17:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It’s specifically the “I like everything but country and rap” (not hip hop) people who tend to be idiots. …but folks who dismiss other genres as a whole are okay? Okay, then. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/55 "2014-07-22T19:02:52Z")
Rock, country and hip hop _are_ blues (and also jazz), the same way people are monkeys and birds are dinosaurs. What you’re basically saying is that you don’t like the parts of blues that sound old. Like someone who can’t watch black and white movies because it puts them to sleep, you’re missing out on everything beautiful the world had to offer in a different era. You owe it to yourself to put the effort in, and get over your prejudice, because your world is immeasurably poorer because of it. Sure, I don’t really like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and a lot of the 60s-70s electric bluesmen. But Jimi Hendrix was essentially just a more successful direct competitor to those guys. See, like Coke Zero versus Diet Coke, genres are just marketing terms. Hendrix was marketed towards hippies and young adults, so they called his blues music “rock”, and put it in the bin next to the Beatles. BB King was marketed towards older black people and so they called it “blues” and put it in the bin next to Muddy Waters. But all of it was blues. And if you say you don’t like Jimi Hendrix, you lose the thread. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/56 "2014-07-22T21:30:10Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > Why is that? I don’t know–it’s a correlational thing, not some \*a priori \*notion (for me at least). Just something I’ve observed. > [@Critical1](#): > > The op hurts my brain, > I don’t like blues > Tom Waits song that isn’t blues referenced > > profit? You’re telling me that song is not “bluesy” whatsoever? C’mon. > [@DrCube](#): > > What you’re basically saying is that you don’t like the parts of blues that sound old. Like someone who can’t watch black and white movies because it puts them to sleep, you’re missing out on everything beautiful the world had to offer in a different era. You owe it to yourself to put the effort in, and get over your prejudice, because your world is immeasurably poorer because of it. I don’t think that assumption applies in my case. I enjoy listening to Fifties acts like Hank Snow, Frankie Lymon, the Chordettes, Peggy Lee, and Connie Francis. And even older stuff like Bing Crosby, the Carter Family, and the Roy Fox Orchestra. > [@](#): > > And if you say you don’t like Jimi Hendrix, you lose the thread. It’s funny: I never consciously would have thought “I don’t like Jimi Hendrix”. My reflex is to say that I do. But come to think of it, I had a huge CD collection at one time and no Hendrix. I now have a huge library on Spotify, but no Hendrix. So I don’t think I have ever purposely listened to a Hendrix song. I also don’t think, though, that I leap to change the station when “Hey Joe” comes on the radio. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674/57 "2014-07-22T23:06:58Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Rock, country and hip hop _are_ blues. Rap and country music are essentially the same thing, so it’s not surprising that some people exclude both from the music they like: > **[Gangstas vs. Rednecks: Weirdly Similar Subcultures \[CHART\]](https://www.cracked.com/article_19143_gangstas-vs.-rednecks-weirdly-similar-subcultures-5Bchart5D.html)** > > Not as different as they think. Also, I wish I could remember which black blues artist once said, “Country music is the white man’s blues.” ETA: Hmm, I think I need to print out that infographic for my racist dad. He’s a country music fan who never misses an opportunity to tell me how he doesn’t like that “black rap”. (Never just “rap”. _Black_ rap. Maybe I should play him some Eminem. Or some nerdcore hiphop.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-blues-music-there-i-said-it/693674.md?page=2)