‘Am I Blue?’ is the Ed Reardon theme tune done in a trad way on the show which to be honest is a bit too hokey for my taste but that’s part of the point.
Because becalmed in Berkhamsted his Edness – he possessively of the Week – is a dinosaur. But hey the hapless one means well. And like most writers is hopelessly equipped for life in the real world.
Back to ‘Am I Blue?’ I prefer listening to a rendering from “Miss Rhythm,” Ruth Brown (1928-2006) on Blues on Broadway (1989). There you will hear some incredible time keeping from Grady Tate and what a solo from Brother Ray’s altoist Hank Crawford (1934-2009). But above all Ruth Brown convinces and you end up quite properly believing in the lyrics, a song about – as it were – losing your joie de vivre, becoming a has been and wondering about that phenomenon and musing about it after a love affair has ended. There’s no victimhood in this interpretation, just an honest reflection of what the protagonist is feeling however tear drenched. The beautiful lyrics are by Harry Akst (1894-1963) who wrote the words of the classic 1920s gem ‘Dinah‘ sung by Ethel Waters.
Words are the only things that last forever; they are more durable than the eternal hills
– William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
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