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I don't think Elton John and Bernie Taupin make it very clear why they call it the blues

John Dunbar

John Dunbar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,229
"I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" is a hit song by Elton John, with lyrics penned by his long-term collaborator Bernie Taupin, but despite its title I don't really think it lives up to its promise.

The chorus goes:

And I guess that's why they call it the blues
Time on my hands could be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers
And I guess that's why they call it the blues
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Based on these lyrics, I don't really see any reason why someone might think "so that's why it's called the blues". Perhaps you could make some tortuous argument that your hands will turn blue if you sit on them for too long, but I don't find that too convincing.

The song would be more accurate if it were called "I Guess That's What's Called The Blues" since of course everyone already knows what it means to "have the blues" outside the song, but I see nothing in the lyrics to explain the origin of the term, and as a result the why of the matter remains a mystery.
 

Deleted member 2752

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,110
I looked at genius.com and it's got nothing.

Only this wrongfully downvoted comment at the end:
nszgotz.png
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,276
song plays 5x a day at work since i mandated it has to be adult contemporary or no music at all (sounds dick-ish but imo a reasonable middle ground)

lyrically the song makes pretty much no fucking sense at all
 

Swimble_87

Keeper of the White Materia
Member
Oct 27, 2017
379
I mean - isn't it just about missing someone you love?

"just stare into space
Picture my face in your hands
Live for each second
Without hesitation
And never forget I'm your man

Wait on me girl
Cry in the night if it helps"
 
Doc Laserstein

Doc Laserstein

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,576
Bernie Taupin works exclusively in gibberish. Honestly, 'I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues' might actually be the most coherent lyric he ever wrote.
 
Speevy

Speevy

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,395
Don't question. Just know that it made someone very rich.

You too can make up a bunch of bullshit. It won't make you rich though.
 
Keldroc

Keldroc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,015
It's a reference to "blue" as a euphemism for "sexual" or "bawdy." It's fairly uncommon now, but at the time the song was written it applied to "blue laws" or comedians "working blue." As the chorus says:

Time on my hands could be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers.

He guesses that's why it's called the blues because he's sad that he's not with his lover rolling like thunder under the covers, i.e. having sex a lot. So it's a pun saying it's called the blues because what you're really sad about is that you're not busy fucking like when everything was great in the relationship.

No, this is not a joke, this is actually what it means.
 

Zamorro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
269
Zombine said:
"That's why they call it the blues"

We need to establish who "they" are.
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Other songwriters. The song title is referring to other blues songs. The singer heard those songs about the blues before and is now realising he is going through those same feelings of feeling blue.

Is this a joke thread about very straightforward lyrics where everybody is pretending they are not?
 
Ishmael

Ishmael

Member
Oct 27, 2017
676
I always thought that managing to create the sound of rolling thunder under the covers was quite an accomplishment and probably annoyed the neighbors to no end.
 

Deleted member 2752

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,110
bawjaws said:
Yeah, he's not saying "This is a fully-referenced thesis as to why they definitively call it the blues".
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Dead Guy said:
I dont find it that hard to understand. He's saying he would rather be doing those things but he's not so he's sad.
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Well, the chorus makes it sound like he did give atleast a hint as to why they call it that, but he didn't. That's the problem!

Keldroc said:
It's a reference to "blue" as a euphemism for "sexual" or "bawdy." It's fairly uncommon now, but at the time the song was written it applied to "blue laws" or comedians "working blue." As the chorus says:

Time on my hands could be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers.

He guesses that's why it's called the blues because he's sad that he's not with his lover rolling like thunder under the covers, i.e. having sex a lot. So it's a pun saying it's called the blues because what you're really sad about is that you're not busy fucking like when everything was great in the relationship.

No, this is not a joke, this is actually what it means.
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I'm just going to believe this now, even if you made it all up. Blue laws are about stores closing on sundays as far as I know lol
 
Keldroc

Keldroc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,015
mnz said:
I'm just going to believe this now, even if you made it all up. Blue laws are about stores closing on sundays as far as I know lol
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The liquor stores are closed on Sunday because inebriation caused "ungodly" behavior, that is to say drunken fucking. The use of the term in the song is more directly related to "blue comedy" or "working blue," which was the polite way to describe a comedian whose act included a lot of openly sexual jokes ("Laughing like children"). The song is literally about how the singer's relationship is in a bad place and he misses the time when it was great and they were having sex all the time, and he wonders why it can't be like that again.
 
tokkun

tokkun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,428
"Love the Way You Lie" is a hit song by Eminem featuring Rihanna. One of the verses goes:

You don't get another chance
Life is no Nintendo game, but you lied again
Now you get to watch her leave
Out the window, guess that's why they call it window pane
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Based on these lyrics, I don't really see any reason why someone might think "so that's why it's called a window pane". Perhaps you could make some tortuous argument that people were imagining that a window could be used to observe a heartbreaking scene when coming up with the term "pane", but I don't find that too convincing.

The song would be more accurate if it said "Guess it's a funny coincidence that 'pane' and 'pain' are homonyms".
 
Tuorom

Tuorom

Member
Oct 30, 2017
10,960
Rassilon said:

Lyrics are hard
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I'm a man who makes potions in a travelinggggg shooo ooooo oooow
It ain't much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and
this ones for youuuuuuuuu

Keldroc said:
It's a reference to "blue" as a euphemism for "sexual" or "bawdy." It's fairly uncommon now, but at the time the song was written it applied to "blue laws" or comedians "working blue." As the chorus says:

Time on my hands could be time spent with you
Laughing like children, living like lovers
Rolling like thunder under the covers.

He guesses that's why it's called the blues because he's sad that he's not with his lover rolling like thunder under the covers, i.e. having sex a lot. So it's a pun saying it's called the blues because what you're really sad about is that you're not busy fucking like when everything was great in the relationship.

No, this is not a joke, this is actually what it means.
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Blue balls?

I always thought it was about feeling blue/sad because he was apart from his love and just wanted to spend time with her.
 
Keldroc

Keldroc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,015
Tuorom said:
I always thought it was about feeling blue/sad because he was apart from his love and just wanted to spend time with her.
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It is in part (the relationship is also not doing great and they're hoping time apart on this trip he has to go on will help), but the joke in the lyric is that while he's sad about that he's also super horny. He thought the blues were just being sad but he also really misses sex with his lover so with "blue" also meaning bawdy or sexual, he guesses that's why they call it the blues.
 
gforguava

gforguava

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,725
Why is sadness called "blue"?
Sad = missing lover
Blue = sex
The chorus highlights how he is sad and horny = blue balls

That is why they call it the blues.

edit: Keldroc already laid it out in a much clearer fashion.
 
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