• I Cast Fist
    link
    fedilink
    English
    41 year ago

    As a non native english speaker, what does “have the blues” mean?

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      61 year ago

      Lol. I’ll try, as a white, affluent, middle-aged male. I’ll volunteer “having the blues” means “feeling sad/hopeless from life’s many relentless challenges”

    • RoundSparrow @ SJW
      link
      fedilink
      English
      61 year ago

      The general phrase is pretty well described by Elton John/Bernie Taupin’s song… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons

      He puts emphasis on how “things can only get better”, being at the bottom of life. Separated from long-term desires.

      “In the 19th century the English phrase blue devils referred to the upsetting hallucinations brought on by severe alcohol withdrawal. This was later shortened to the blues, which described states of depression and upset, and it was later adopted as the name for the melancholic songs that the musical genre encapsulates.”