# Why do Blues singers repeat themselves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907 "2008-02-09T05:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/1 "2008-02-09T05:51:55Z")
I know this must have been asked before, but in every blues song you hear the lines repeated before the hook. I know many of the artists were blind, but deaf too? SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/2 "2008-02-09T05:59:13Z")
Since this is about music, it’s better off in CS, better off in CS,\* I say,\* better off in CS. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/3 "2008-02-09T06:02:25Z")
Got up this mornin’ Thought it was better off in CS. I got up this mornin’ Thought it would be better off in CS. Heck, why does a Shakespearean sonnet have a particular form? It sounds cool. It may have something to do with the evolution of Black gospel. Son House, beginning as a preacher, recorded _John the Revelator,_ which is a repetitive song where the phrase is echoed by the church congregation. _Who that writin?_ chorus: _John the Revelator_ _Who that writin?_ etc. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/4 "2008-02-09T06:16:33Z")
[From Wikipedia’s “Call and Response” page…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_and_response_(music)) > [@](#): > > In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. It corresponds to the call-and-response pattern in human communication and is found in many traditions. > In Sub-Saharan African cultures, call and response is a pervasive pattern of democratic participation – in public gatherings in the discussion of civic affairs, in religious rituals, as well as in vocal and instrumental musical expression. It is this tradition that African bondsmen and women brought with them to the New World and which has been transmitted over the centuries in various forms of cultural expression – in religious observance; public gatherings; sporting events; even in children’s rhymes; and, most notably, in African-American music in its myriad forms and descendants including: gospel, blues, rhythm and blues, jazz and jazz extensions. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/5 "2008-02-09T13:33:34Z")
In 12 bar blues the lyric might be the same and the melody might be the same, but it’s not _just_ a repeat. The first time through it’s all over the tonic and the second time it’s over the IV chord returning to the tonic. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/6 "2008-02-09T14:12:23Z")
Folk music tends to be repetitive, musically and lyrically. If your culture isn’t literate, you can’t write lyrics or melody down, so it has to be easily memorized or it’s forgotten. Also, I’ll bet much of the blues was originally improvised, so repeating the first line gives you an opportunity to think of the second. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/7 "2008-02-09T14:49:06Z")
Blues it’s all about the feeling, a line can be re-emphasized as many times as necessary…either for the performer to be able to move on or for the audience to get it. A trait that was also carried over into the rock world. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/8 "2008-02-09T15:11:17Z")
All good comments so far. Some thoughts: - Why the heck did those monks chant \*\*Kyrie Eleison \*\*some many darn times? 🙂 There is a power to repeated phrases and the meditative effect they can have on individuals and groups. - You think words get repeated, have you listened to John Lee Hooker? That guy will freakin’ \*moan \* for an entire song (based on one chord) and somehow make it work. - \*\*hawthorne \*\* is onto something - the repeated phrase is \*not \* the same, either musically or in intent. The sub-dominant/IV chord in the blues scale demands resolution back to the Tonic, or 1st chord (“Do”). So you have that built in return effect, well suited to Call and Response structure. And typically when the singer sings the second line, they hit it harder and start with an emphatic “I said…”! Everyone has experienced a situation where they, or someone they are talking with pauses and re-states an important point: they \*mean \*it. - It’s the nature of any form that has been in existence long enough to be canonized with a set of rules to involve repetition; heck, the rules are usually based on \*when \*, \*what parts \* and \*how often \*are supposed to be repeated. The repetitions define the form. That’s all I got for now… ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/9 "2008-02-09T15:22:35Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Got up this mornin’ Thought it was better off in CS. I got up this mornin’ Thought it would be better off in CS. [/QUOTE] Ohhhhhhhhhhh…and why it was ever in Gen-er-al Questions…this ol’ mod could never guess… ~~ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-na-ner…bome bome _bome_…~~ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/10 "2008-02-09T15:53:40Z")
[QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated] Ohhhhhhhhhhh…and why it was ever in Gen-er-al Questions…this ol’ mod could never guess… ~~ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-na-ner…bome bome _bome_…~~ [/QUOTE] That may not be the blues, but it makes me really sad. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/11 "2008-02-09T15:57:36Z")
It is the basic form of the blues. I got a woman so mean she always breaks my heart. I got a woman so mean she always breaks my heart. She gets so mad every time I light my farts. So it is Statement, repeat statement, illustration of the statement. Now the repeated statement, the singer will ‘jazz it up’ by maybe bending some notes or playing with the rhythm a little. But the basic answer is, that’s how you sing the blues. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/12 "2008-02-09T16:08:06Z")
In addition to the aforementioned call-response aspect, it made it easier for the singer to improvise lyrics: repeating the first line gave him/her more time to come up with the third line. In some very old blues songs, the same line was repeated _three_ times. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/13 "2008-02-09T16:14:00Z")
[QUOTE=Nzinga, Seated] Ohhhhhhhhhhh…and why it was ever in Gen-er-al Questions…this ol’ mod could never guess… ~~ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-na-ner…bome bome _bome_…~~ [/QUOTE] _Sing it!_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/14 "2008-02-09T16:30:25Z")
**Zebra** is right that it’s the standard form. But _why_ is it the standard form? Well, part of 12-bar blues is improvisational lyrics. If you’re improvising a rhyme, repeating the lead-in verse gives you time to come up with one. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/15 "2008-02-09T17:07:24Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] It is the basic form of the blues. I got a woman so mean she always breaks my heart. I got a woman so mean she always breaks my heart. She gets so mad every time I light my farts. [/QUOTE] Ah…the seldom-heard Frat Boy Blues… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/16 "2008-02-09T19:23:33Z")
Blues singers also pass around often-used bits of lyrics. It seems a little lazy sometimes. There’s the math lesson: Two and two is four, four and four is eight, Way you treat me, baby, I just cannot tolerate. Let’s tweak that a little: Half of twenty’s ten, half of ten is only fi’, Kiss me, baby, I’m hard as the square root of pi. Geography: The river run to the ocean, ocean run to the sea, I got a razor in my pocket, don’t you mess with me. Or maybe: Creek run to the river, river to the estuary, Ain’t had no sweet woman, since last February. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/17 "2008-02-09T20:13:16Z")
When you sing the blues, the first line is always the same as the second line I SAY! When you SING the blues, the first line is ALWAYS the same as the second line They do it that way…so you can think of a rhyme ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/18 "2008-02-09T21:28:00Z")
How about we do it Broadway style? > [@Starlight Express](#): > > Oh the first line of the blues is always sung a second time (oh yeah?) > > First line of the blues is always sung a second time (kinda smooth!) > > So by the time you get to the third line you’ve had time to think up a rhyme. > > Oh there ain’t no law that says the third line has to be different at all. > > No, no, there ain’t no law that says the third line has to be different at all. > > No there ain’t no law that says the third line has to be different at all. > > Never borrow a mouth organ - not even from your best friend. > > No, no, no, never borrow a mouth organ - not even from your best friend. > > 'Cos you may survive the blowing, but the sucking’s gonna get you in the end. Oh yeah! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/19 "2008-02-09T21:44:56Z")
I ask this in every Blues thread. A heard this song standing on a ladder adjusting a satellite dish. What is the title? You know I got a lot of bad habits, baby. You know I got a lot of bad habits, baby. But the one I going to lose is you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907/20 "2008-02-09T22:38:29Z")
It’s a link to West African musical tradition. It’s not “lazy.” The question posed earlier, “why are Shakespearean sonnets composed the way they are?”, is very apt. Why is a haiku structured like it is? Because it’s a haiku. Same thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blues-singers-repeat-themselves/436907.md?page=2)