blues
blues — noun
1. a style of slow, soulful music born among Black communities in the American Sout
a style of slow, soulful music born among Black communities in the American South, marked by melancholy melodies and lyrics about hardship, lost love, or daily struggle.
Élise grew up listening to her father play the blues on an old guitar.
collocation: play the blues
The bar in Chicago has hosted live blues every Friday night for forty years.
noun modifier: live blues / blues night
Hassan studies the history of the blues at a music school in Memphis.
Many rock songs of the 1960s borrowed their chord patterns from the blues.
Caio could not sing the blues without thinking of his grandmother in Bahia.
- rhythm and blues
broader urban genre that grew out of the blues; faster and more dance-oriented
- soul
later style that fused blues with gospel; emotional but less guitar-centred
文法句型
the blues
play/sing the blues
用法筆記
Almost always takes the definite article 'the'. Used as both a count-style label for the genre and as a modifier (blues band, blues guitarist, blues festival).
常見錯誤
2. a mood of low spirits or gentle sadness, often mild and short-lived rather than
a mood of low spirits or gentle sadness, often mild and short-lived rather than a serious illness; the kind of dull, flat feeling that comes from loneliness, bad weather, or things not going well.
Sivan always gets the blues during the long, grey weeks after the holidays.
pattern: get the blues + time phrase
Karim had the blues all weekend after his closest friend moved away to Berlin.
pattern: have the blues + cause clause
A walk along the river usually chases away Apinya's blues.
Many new parents feel the blues in the first few weeks at home with a baby.
Christopher cooks a big pot of soup whenever the winter blues hit.
- the doldrums
very similar but stresses being stuck in low spirits without energy
- low mood
neutral, slightly clinical; lacks the casual flavour of 'the blues'
- melancholy
literary; deeper and more lingering than 'the blues'
- high spirits
the opposite mood — cheerful and energetic
文法句型
have the blues
feel the blues
get the blues
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (the music): this sense is always paired with verbs of feeling — 'have', 'get', 'feel', 'fight off' — and is usually mild. For clinical depression, English uses 'depression', not 'the blues'.
常見錯誤
3. a single song or instrumental piece written in the blues style, typically built
a single song or instrumental piece written in the blues style, typically built on a twelve-bar pattern with three-line verses that repeat the first line.
Reuben opened the set with a slow blues in the key of E minor.
pattern: a blues in [key]
The album closes with a quiet blues about leaving the city for good.
pattern: a blues about [topic]
Nila composed a twelve-bar blues for her grandfather's birthday concert.
Femi recorded three blues for the soundtrack of the documentary.
- blues number
musicians' slang for a single blues piece in a set list
- twelve-bar
names the song by its standard structure rather than its genre
文法句型
a blues
play a blues in [key]
用法筆記
Only sense that is countable. Distinguish from sense 1 ('the blues' = the whole genre) — here 'a blues' or 'three blues' refers to specific musical pieces in that style.