Twelve-bar Blues - Lyrical Patterns

Lyrical Patterns

Most commonly, lyrics are in three lines, with the first two lines almost the same with slight differences in phrasing and interjections.

I hate to see the evening sun go down,

Yes, I hate to see that evening sun go down

'Cause it makes me think I'm on my last go 'round

W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues"

However, many songs exist that are written in the blues chord progression do not use the three-line form of lyrics. For instance, "I'm Moving On" has a verse in the first four bars and a chorus in the final eight bars:

That big eight-wheeler rollin' down the track

Means your true lovin' daddy ain't comin' back.

I'm movin' on, I'll soon be gone

You were flyin' too high for my little old sky

So I'm movin' on.

Hank Snow's "I'm Moving On"

Here is an example showing the 12 bar blues pattern and how it fits with the lyrics of a given verse. One chord symbol is used per beat, with "-" representing the continuation of the previous chord:

I - - - IV - - - I - - - I7 - - -

Woke up this morning with an awful aching head

IV - - - IV7 - - - I - - - I7 - - -

Woke up this morning with an awful aching head

V - - V7 IV - - IV7 I - - - I - V V7

My new man had left me, just a room and an empty bed.

From Bessie Smith's "Empty Bed Blues".

Another example, "Johnny B. Goode" (written and first recorded by Chuck Berry), applies a "shuffle" or "light 'swing'" rhythm to one of the more common twelve-bar progressions:

Another progression, D-D7-G7-A7, appears in this collection (Axelsson & Strängliden 2007, 55).