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Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us about Suffering and Salvation

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Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us About Suffering and Salvation by Stephen J. Nichols was definitely a great find. As one who knew practically nothing of the blues, this book opened my eyes to the soul behind the most soul-filled music ever created. Nichols also did an extremely well job of sticking to the thesis of this book and incorporating the very visible theological themes within this passionate genre of music.

The book doesn't stray far from the Delta River Blues and Blues musicians. As one of the oft-mentioned artist said, "Blues is the roots, the rest is the fruits." Nichols compares this area with that of Eden, a place where something more extrordinary began, but also a place where much torment and separation are always before your eyes and the back of your mind.

Nichols turns the Blues, which are generally thought of as extremely secular, into lessons on Christ, Suffering, Salvation, and Eternal Life in an extremely intricate way. You could definitely find some comfort in this book if you connect with the disheartened, and bedraggled of the world.

The only thing that really hindered my reading was the amount of lyrics inserted between Nichols own words to make his point. I can understand that attempting to make a point about a bunch of songs is difficult, especially when attempting to write for an audience that isn't familiar with these songs, but this made it seem like a college research paper. The points could have been made without so many. But, I would still recommend this book, it just may take a while to work through.

"The blues is a congregation that sings on Saturday night in expectation of Sunday" (171). The blues forces us to deal with the realities of life. The woman who "done me wrong," the death of friends, the strong allure of drink, smoke, and other vices. Yet at the same time, while in the fray of dealing with so much trouble, the blues points us to the hope of things to come. That glorious Sunday morning when all will be made right and salvation will surely come.

In his book, Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us About Suffering and Salvation, Stephen J. Nichols takes us on a musical journey through the early 20th century Mississippi Delta in search of a theology in the minor key. Too many American evangelicals, he states, live life as though it is always "spring and summer without winter or fall. Or always Easter and never Good Friday" (14). This attitude, for the author, is simplistic and naïve at best, borderline blasphemous at worst. This is because it is a rejection of the experience and intent of Jesus Christ, who, though fully God, left the spring and summer of heaven to take on flesh and dwell in the winter and fall of earthly life.

Half history book, half theology book, Getting the Blues delves into how the blues can give us insight for living in this constant tension between reality and the hope to come. Comprised of six chapters, this book begins with an orientation to the world of the blues--its musical characteristics, origins, key players--as well as an introduction to the theological themes of the blues in a chapter entitled, "What Hath Mississippi to Do with Jerusalem." The second chapter, "I Be's Troubled," explores the relationship between what both the blues and the Bible have to say about the human condition. "Man of Sorrows" turns to the individual, casting King David as perhaps the earliest blues singer, drawing parallels between many of the lament Psalms and Mississippi Delta blues. Men are not the only ones to sing the blues, however, and Nichols next turns to the experience of women in the Delta and Naomi from the book of Ruth in "Woman of Sorrows."

After spending a fair amount of time in the fall and winter of life through the lens of blues singers and Biblical characters, Getting the Blues starts the journey toward Sunday, first in chapter 5, "Precious Lord." This chapter discusses Christ as the answer for the curse that all of us feel the effects of, and that blues singers so often sing of. Finally, chapter 6, "Come Sunday," brings us home, showing us the preferred answer of the blues singers to life's struggles and hardships. Nichols concludes, "The blues is ultimately an eschatology" (166): the blues acknowledges and deals with suffering, works to make things better while we're here, and looks forward to the day when everything is new and right.

This was quite a fascinating book to read on several points. The history of the early blues singers that the author presents is quite impactful and is a history that has largely been lost or passed over in American culture, though that history provided much of the foundation, especially musically, for later 20th century culture.

The theological themes that the author was able to find in the blues are an important corrective to the prevailing timbre of modern American evangelicalism. Though the struggles of life are somewhat acknowledged by this group, as evidenced by the plethora of "self-help" type books that line the shelves of Christian bookstores, much of American evangelicalism has no framework for how to deal with such struggles. Nichols, and the blues music he presents, calls evangelicals to fully acknowledge and embrace the trials of life as a universal experience to life under the curse. But at the same time, he urges looking to the person and work of Jesus, the only one who can rescue the downcast soul and who promises to bring his people home safe and sound.

If there is one fault of the book, it is back and forth between history of the blues and exploration of theological themes in the blues. While the history is certainly important for context, there was almost too much of it, at least in a book that's only 179 pages long. Because there was so much recounting of history, there was not as much theologizing on the blues as I had expected in approaching this book, and even much of what was there was, at times, bogged down by lengthy strings of quotes.

Despite this, however, I would absolutely recommend this book. The last chapter alone is well worth the price and launches the discussion of the blues's place in modern evangelicalism into a couple of very fascinating trajectories. Perhaps there will one day be entire volumes dedicated to developing the blues as an eschatology or the blues as an ecclesiology.

Getting the Blues is certainly an enjoyable and informative read, and one that would do many, especially evangelical Christians, good to read. Having been a blues fan for much of my life, this book has given me a deeper sense of what it means to have the blues, to sing the blues, and to find hope and life in the blues.

While I am not going to argue with Paul's words in Philippians, reality is also found in James 1:2 where we are told to rejoice "when trials come upon you," not "if." The blues deal with real life and Nichols does a great job of tying blues music to the gospel.

If you ever find yourself tiring of the happy-clappy joy-joy treacle found on Christian radio you should read this book. Not too many artists in the CCM scene have a name that starts with "Blind," like so many of the blues artists'. There are times when life is painful and the blues deal with that.

Being a blues musician I have always felt the blues is a biblical music. If you read the Psalms its easy to see that David had the blues. I believe David was a blues guitar player. Nichols calls the blues "theology in a minor key" and shows how this music relates to biblical themes of salvation and suffering. If you love music or history you should read this book. The author also includes some lyrics he has written. If you read the bible thinking about the blues you will see that every major character had the blues at one time or another and you will also see how God moves in their lives to save and deliever them. As a blues guitar playing Pastor of a local Church I recomend this book to you. Visit my blog www.marksgottheblues.blogspot.com

Great, no holds barred, history of the pioneers of American music that permeates our culture. I teach a course on the Psalms at private Christian school and Nichol's work has provided a great backdrop to explore the variety of expressions by people of faith.

This review originally appeared at [...] on 1/5/09.

Special thanks to Caitlin from Baker/Brazos for a review copy of this book.

I've already reviewed one book by Stephen J Nichols, Jesus Made in America, which made my top 5 new reads of 2008. I was so impressed, in fact, that I was genuinely excited when I heard he had a new book coming out, Getting the Blues: What Blues Music Teaches Us about Suffering and Salvation. This was not only due to the fact that Nichols is an interesting and excellent writer, but it's a genuinely unique book. I know more about blues music than most 20-something white guys from New England, but I'll still admit most of what I know has to do with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, which isn't exactly old-school blues. Nichols' book deals with "Delta Blues," the blues music that sprang up from the Mississippi Delta in the early 20th century.

I was also intrigued by the irony of a book written by an educated, relatively affluent white man living in Lancaster PA dealing with the Delta Blues, a form of music developed and mastered by the black community living in a time when gross injustice and suffering was a daily reality in that region. This, of course, isn't a knock on Nichols or any kind of statement that he somehow ought not to write such a book. I simply found it interesting. In fact, he notes in his book that he is on the outside looking in, an approach that may lead to thoughtful insights for the rest of us in the same position.

Nichols sets out to attempt "a theology in a minor key... I am not a musician, but a theologian, and so I offer a theological interpretation of the blues" (14). Noting that evangelicals tend to avoid dealing with the difficult aspects of life and the Bible, the blues can offer us something we desperately need: an honest look at the difficulties of life.

To be sure, Nichols shows us that the difficulties we encounter in blues music fall into different categories: women, racism, floods, insects, alcohol, etc. Sometimes those difficulties are to be expected- you run around with loose women, they'll probably leave you for another man. Sometimes those difficulties are an unfortunate reality- natural disasters, for example. Other times those difficulties are injustices that ought to be righted- racism and the refusal to allow a better life for the sharecroppers living in the Delta region.

So the greatest strength of Nichols book is that he exposes us to more than just the blues music, he reveals the reason the blues existed, and even the theology (though I doubt any of the old blues singers would have used that word) behind it all. We are living in a painful and cursed world, awaiting the day when God sets all things right but striving to change our world for the better in the meantime. God's ways are difficult to understand, but He is still merciful and present.

The tour of the world of the Delta Blues is fun in its own right. Some of the singers are well know: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Ma Rainey. Others are folks I hadn't heard of: Son House, Charley Patton and Thomas Dorsey (well, I should note that I never knew Dorsey had any connection to the blues). I even find myself inspired to start nicknaming some of my friends, though I noticed that they tend to be slightly repetitive in the Delta Blues world (Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie Johnson and The Reverend Blind Gary Davis).

Admittedly, there are times Nichols lapses into repetition, though its fewer than 200 pages. I suppose he can't help that, after all, the subjects of blues songs don't stray too far from the short list given above. And, this being my second Nichols book, I find myself contemplating the contrast between Nichols' treatment of the blues singers and his treatment of contemporary Christian music in Jesus Made in America. He blasts (sometimes rightly so) contemporary Christian songwriters for their often shallow and trite lyrics, whereas he praises the blues songwriters for the depth of their insight into the human condition. I guess I can't help but wonder if part of this is due to the fact that Nichols simply likes the blues more than CCM pop-candy. Mind you, I can't blame him. If I had to choose between listening to Muddy Waters or Rebecca St James, it's a no brainer.

But, in the end, the "theological" key is that the bluesmen (and women) are writing out of their pain and the pain of those around them. They recognize injustice and call it out when they see it. True, there may not be a strong variety in their lyrics (it doesn't take long to notice some of the phrasings get recycled), but there probably wasn't a strong variety of experience for them either. They weren't allowed the luxury of variety. Thus, they lamented the pain and sought relief, sometimes from the bottle, sometimes from God, often from both.

Nichols is to be commended for writing another outstanding and incredibly fascinating book. It's worth reading just for the insight into blues music. But more importantly, it's worth reading because it helps us remember that there is a "minor key" to theology. There are times to lament and times to cry out for justice. Admitting that we live in a fallen and cursed world is not a lack of faith, it's reality. The Delta Blues, perhaps more than any music form in recent times, helps us connect to this reality.

I am grateful for this book. It ranks with "Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption" by Steve Turner. These books offer encouragement to those who want to reap the benefits of great, deep recorded art on their Christian journey.