To feel or understand the blues? On the spirituality, emotionality of the blues, and its socio-cultural function

Abstract

Blues music is closely related to emotionality. There is a reason the saying “feel the blues” was coined. From the etymology of the word to the history of the origin of the genre, we find confirmation of this connection. Blues focuses on the difficulties of life and introduces the listener to the world of feelings, specifically black suffering and joy. Contemporary Black studies scholars emphasize in order to adequately analyze blues music, one must “feel the spirit,” that is, the interpreter must get into the power of Black music, reacting both to its rhythm and to the belief in the experience it confirms. Does the emotional nature of the blues, then, negate the condition of understanding it in a broader context? Or, on the contrary, in order to fully feel the blues, should one first know its history and meaning? In this paper, I will point out this interdependence of cognitive and metaphysical aspects and explain why non-African American performers and listeners of blues music should learn about the history, tropes, and functions of the blues.