One of the more wrong-headed notions about the blues is that the lyrics always deal with depressing topics. If you want to blow holes through that blues stereotype real quick, just listen to Louis Jordan, for example. A list of his greatest hits — "Let the Good Times Roll," "Choo-Choo Ch'Boogie," Caldonia," and "Saturday Night Fish Fry" — reads like a roll call of everything worth celebrating in life.

Nevertheless, the blues does contain some downright disturbing subject matter that wouldn't surface in your average pop song. When Lightnin' Slim sings about a herd of bedbugs eating holes in his hands and feet in "Bed Bug Blues," he isn't complaining about the condition of the hotel room, folks.

Blues music dealt with the harsh realities of life long before pop musicians decided to make their lyrics "relevant." With subject matter that included insect plagues and floods, grinding poverty, and abusive treatment at the hands of the plantation boss, blues tackled these topics fearlessly. Even with the universal themes of love longed for and lost, the blues addresses them in a far more direct and down-to-earth way than pop music ever did (or could). After all, you won't find a recording of Peggy Lee warbling "hellbound on my trail" anymore than you'd find one with Muddy Waters reminiscing about "chestnuts roasting on an open fire."