by Lame Mango Washington
(attributed to Memphis Earl Grey with revisions by Little Blind Patti
D. and Dr. Stevie Franklin and help from Uncle Plunky)
1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this
morning."
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 ugliest
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 ugliest 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 an' 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. Breaking your leg cuz
an alligator be chomping on it is.
9. 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.
10. Good places for the Blues:
a. highway
b. jailhouse
c. empty bed
d. bottom of a whiskey glass
Bad places:
a. Ashrams
b. gallery openings
c. Ivy League institutions
d. golf courses
11. No one will believe it's the Blues
if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be an old ethnic person,
and you slept in it.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. If you ask for water and Baby give
you gasoline, it's the Blues.
Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. wine
b. whiskey or bourbon
c. muddy water
d. black coffee
The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. mixed drinks
b. kosher wine
c. Snapple
d. sparkling water
15. 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.
16. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling
17. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie
18. Persons with names like Sierra,
Sequoia, Auburn, and Rainbow can't sing the Blues no matter how
many men they shoot in Memphis.
19. Make your own Blues name (starter
kit):
a. name of physical infirmity (Blind,
Cripple, Lame, etc.)
b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi,etc.)
c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.)
For example, Blind Lime Jefferson, or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc.
(Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")
20. I don't care how tragic your life:
you own a computer, you cannot sing the blues. You best destroy
it. 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.
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