So that’s why BB King is so downhearted…..
From Psychology Today:
Creativity’s Bum Rap
The propensity for rumination often leads the artist to the blues.By: Willow Lawson
Serious depression strikes writers, artists and musicians up to 10 times as often as the general population, a tendency often attributed to the creative spark.
But according to a study, it’s the artist’s propensity for rumination that often leads to the blues, not creativity itself. In a study of young adults, psychologist Paul Verhaeghen of Syracuse University in New York found no direct relationship between creativity and depression. The tendency for self-reflection, however, seems to breed both depression and creative behavior. The study appeared in Emotion
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Stratoblogster // Nov 20, 2008 at 12:42 am
Writers, artists and musicians attract suppressive people. The joy of creating is a joy, but we’re livin’ in a tough world to trust while trying to create and survive amidst destruction.
The psychs might also evaluate creative people as “too detached from reality” in the case of those who don’t exhibit symptoms of depression in sufficient degree to be labeled as such. Either way, nobody escapes psych evaluation, which does very little to assist, promote or restore harmony within the society.
That’s the artist’s job. And it’s burden to shoulder in a culture being labeled and over-prescribed by “experts” in the field of the mind and mental healing.
BB King shows are extremely uplifting. The Blues are about overcoming.
2 Jeff // Nov 20, 2008 at 12:56 am
Agreed. Although the Blues is often about things that are not the way the artist ideally wants them to be, it is an anthem of strength and all about having the strength to handle and overcome life’s obstacles and set backs.
It’s all about perseverance.
And you are right. Blues shows can be so emotional for the artist and the audience, that you leave feeling great and uplifted with positive emotion.
Music is awesome.
3 Stratoblogster // Nov 20, 2008 at 12:47 pm
The Blues “formula” involves digging into misfortune and dues paying in order to connect with people in real life and get them pumped up about getting through no matter what happens. No human is immune to loss. I think even death metal resonates with certain people to help them feel more at cause & in control over the dangers they perceive. Lyric content brings up other issues, but lyrics have to do with language & poetry– not melody and harmonic structures.
An absence of music on the planet would result in widespread depression.
Psychologists, psychiatrists & cows corner the market on “propensity for rumination”.
Music and musicians ARE awesome!
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