“The blues” is a popular expression in American culture that derives from a popular from a popular musical style, blues. The actual origin of “the blues” and blues music in general is not actually known, with many attributing it to W.C. Handy and his song “St. Louis Blues,” but others claim that blues music was an evolution of slave songs that were carried down for generations among southern African Americans.

The phrase, “the blues,” or “having the blues” means to be down on your luck, and it is often equated with sorrow or loss. In reality, however, this phrase was not coined by the blues artists in the early. It originated from record producers who were attempting to categorize black folk music in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Once recording technology began to advance in the early 1900s, record producers sought to label and market different types of music to certain groups of people. Blues music was directed at African Americans.

Much of the original music that was categorized as “blues” was actually closer to ragtime or sometimes even a primitive kind of jazz music. “Having the blues” came as a result of marketing blues artists, not because of what the performers were singing. Although some of the songs were sad, it was not an overarching theme. After the blues fad began to pass, record producers sought to make blues music marketable to whites, and thus marketed the music as a nostalgic nod to older days. This meant that the music had to be simplified and stripped down, so it ended up sounding more like the original black folk music. This is where popular blues music gets its patented sound: 12 bars, highly rhythmic songs of sorrow.

More information about the blues is available on the Blues Foundation website.