Things Are So Bad

And earlier in the night, I listened to an old Yazoo title: St. Louis Blues (1929-1935): The Depression, which has some amazing, moving cuts from Henry Townsend, Charley Jordan, Georgia Boyd, Peetie Wheatstraw, and Hi Henry Brown. Such pure, raw sounds are timeless, and are perhaps especially meaningful today.

Kurt Vonnegut had this to say:

During the Great Depression, African-American citizens were heard to say this, along with a lot of other stuff, of course: "Things are so bad white folks got to raise their own kids."

It made me laugh. Kurt Vonnegut knew how to tell a joke. And had I listened to anything else last night, I'm sure he would have had something funny to say about it, too.

COMMENTS
mrlowry's picture

Stephen-Have you ever listened to Robert Johnson? It was recorded around the same time and it still feels fresh and relevant.

Stephen Mejias's picture

Oh yeah, Robert Johnson is amazing. He's probably the first blues player I ever really paid attention to.

geoff's picture

My favorite Vonnegut quote: "Life is a bucket of shit, with the handles on the inside"

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