From the July 27, 2021 Blog: The Story Behind the Song, "Green Light Blues (Why Won't People Go When the Light Is Green?":

A couple of weeks ago, my cousin's daughter plowed into a truck stopped in front of her, having her first automobile accident. It was because she saw that the light had turned green, and just pushed on the accelerator, not noticing that the truck in front of her was still stopped. She was so upset and crying so hard that the lady driving the truck comforted her, saying, it's alright, nobody was hurt ...  Of course, I had to tell my cousin that his daughter now has a theme song, "Green Light Blues (Why Won't People Go When the Light Is Green?)"!

So, what's the story behind this song? As a member of the Songwriters' Association of Washington (SAW.org), I signed up for a workshop about how to write a Blues song. I learned that it is the best song format for complaining about life, being angry or sad, or writing about a tragedy. One day, I was experimenting with some guitar licks in a Bb tuning, and it sounded bluesy, so I hunted in my songwriting notebook for the right lyrics and came across "Why won't people go when the light is green?" and other complaints about traffic. In the second verse, people laugh at the line "It doesn't get any greener!". For the final verse, I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if this song were playing on someone's car radio while they were stuck behind a car that wasn't moving at a green light?!" I would be singing about the exact situation, as if reading their mind!

A fan emailed me that after hearing my CD, "Time's Up—Your Move" the song, "Green Light Blues" — "was such a great legitimizing of what we all notice with some irritation. Putting it into a song "legitimizes" the feeling, in my opinion." Her comment really goes with my new branding motto: "Telling the Truth in Love (and sometimes humor)".

So, dear reader, do YOU have a story that goes with one of your favorite songs? Let me know. Also, please tell me — how do you listen to music? Radio? Spotify? Someone recently told me that people no longer download songs. Is that true?

Thank you so much for being there!

Singer/Songwriter Paige Powell