Blues Music: A Tragic Analysis

It has been shown, that blues music is music that comes from the heart. The artists tell stories through their music about bad times and good times in which they have gone through. They make these songs relatable so in which people can try to understand what the artists went through. Something that blues music does is making light out of something sad that has happened. The quality that most defines the blues aesthetic is the tragic comic portion of it. The characteristic of tragic comic affirms American culture. It has been shown that many people try to disguise their sadness with comedy. While blues music tries to “make fun” of the sadness rather than disguise it, the concept is still the same. The main question is why? Well, when people are sad, upset, or just going through a hard time, they usually feel as if they do not have control. However, laughing and telling jokes gives them a sense of control (Staff, 2015). Musicians and just regular people have troubles in their lives that make them lose control, having something that is easily able to use in order to gain control back is very handy. Many blues artists from years past and even today use the concept of

The artists use the tragic comic in order to make fun of something bad that has happened to them. It is their way of talking about it, but still remaining happy. While Ma Rainey was arguing with Cutler about the managers, she says “ As soon as they get my voice down on them recording machines, then it’s just like I’m some whore and they roll over and put their pants on”(Wilson, 79). I feel as if this statement was Ma’s way of getting across what she thought she meant to the managers, but in a way to make the reader laugh. She did not feel appreciated by Irving and Sturdyvant for all she did for them which caused her to have the reaction she did when they did not have her coke ready for