By

Glenn Davis Meine

I have spent my entire life trying to get to what makes Blues music so engaging and so real. I have come up with no grand secrets or monumental revelations, other than the knowledge that the quest itself is the reward.

In that process I have figured out this much: to feel the Blues is to have an overwhelming sense of being of good intention . . . and to know that it makes no difference in the outcome of any given situation. You love that woman, or you love that man, and despite your willingness to do anything to that end, it will make no difference whatsoever as to whether they love you. You’re a person who has the Blues big time. Maybe you are sorry for screwing up and you want to apologize, but now the apologizee won’t even hear your repentance. That’s the Blues. These tiny glimpses are all you get in the quest for understanding the Blues.

The Blues is about being in a situation that is far beyond your control. It is knowing that someone is lying to you, and they have covered all their bases to prevent the truth from being spoken. It is learning that the D.A. is in cahoots with the cops, and that you can no more win your case than catch a flea with a fishing net.  These are the sorts of things I’m talking about.

Sometimes it’s people who cause the Blues. Say, for example, that a person wants to open a dog grooming facility in a town. They have all the permits, own the building, and have been given the proper zoning clearances. But the person next door to the proposed business sits on the city council and really doesn’t want dogs next to their domestic paradise. This government official now uses their position to spread disinformation, and to disrupt what has been a proper and legal process. If you were that dog grooming business owner you would have the Blues in your heart. You have jumped through all the hoops and it didn’t make any difference.

Sometimes Fate or Nature can cause the Blues. Say you are a tsunami victim living along the Indian Ocean. Your fishing boat, which was the core of your existence, has been smashed to smithereens and now sits in a tree. You have prayed faithfully your entire life, and the Powers That Be granted you a family and modest yet honest lifestyle. Now, as you look around you can’t find your family except by searching the morgues, and you don’t have a cup of clean water to drink. Well what do you think? Yes, that person has the Blues, and they are of Biblical proportions. Some Blues are a lot tougher than others.

The Blues is, as the cliché goes, a reflection of life itself. It’s about not pulling punches, it’s about telling it like it is. In the church they call it testifying. It is a self-rewarding and liberating experience. Now, in the church you don’t use certain language and you don’t call people out by name. But whether you testify in His name or on the secular fly, you are doing the same thing. You are crying – or crying out – in the hope that the process will liberate you from your darkest feelings.

I struggle with a lot of things these days. I know that spreading freedom is a good thing. Yet I know that if that is true then it should naturally follow that those who want freedom in the rest of the world would agree to the process employed. I also know that the way to deal with violent thugs is not to send a letter to the editor expressing your dismay with anti-social behavior - it’s probably smarter to kick some butt. But in that process innocent people can get hurt real bad, and the process had better be thoroughly vetted in order to make the net effect righteous.

Yes, many things give me the Blues these days. I struggle with an infrastructure of conflict that teaches our children too much about the glory of war, lines the pockets of politicians and weapons barons, writes off the sins of war, and ignores the concept of beating swords into plowshares. These kinds of things give me the Blues. We the People are the allies in the fight against thugs, We are the eyes and ears of a nation still grieving the horror of cataclysmic events. No voice should be marginalized. The inaugural motorcade should slow down, not speed up! Yeah, I’ve got the Blues. The Blues will set you free, yet somehow I don’t feel as free as I used to.

The Blues isn’t really about politics - it’s about truth. A Bluesman can handle the truth, as long as it's the real truth, and not just somebody’s truth. And what is the net effect of it all? Wisdom is the goal. The Bluesman learns from experience and then tells stories to help others understand. Let’s see . . . disappointment, sorrow, the Blues, understanding, wisdom . . . How many Blues tunes do you wanna hear?

So when someone tells you something is true, ask questions. Is it really true? Demand answers. Insist on accountability, because you may be living in a fun house full of curved mirrors and circular hallways. I don’t live my life like that. I’m a Bluesman.

Glenn Davis Meine is a hard-working American whose trade is playing music, and who is simply not content to sit around and take things as they come any longer.