Almost Like the Blues
Almost Like the Blues - meaning Summary
Worn Down by Witnessing
The poem describes a witness confronted with violence, starvation, and war who feels overwhelmed and retreats into emotional numbness. Guilt and self-reproach recur as the speaker notes murderous thoughts, bad reviews, and frozen feeling as defenses. Family voices and cultural references complicate identity, while religious claims and an offered "invitation" raise questions of salvation. The repeated phrase "almost like the blues" registers bitter understatement and weary irony toward suffering.
Read Complete AnalysesI saw some people starving There was murder, there was rape Their villages were burning They were trying to escape I couldn't meet their glances I was staring at my shoes It was acid, it was tragic It was almost like the blues It was almost like the blues I have to die a little Between each murderous thought And when I’m finished thinking I have to die a lot There’s torture and there’s killing And there’s all my bad reviews The war, the children missing Lord, it’s almost like the blues It’s almost like the blues So I let my heart get frozen To keep away the rot My father says I’m chosen My mother says I’m not I listened to their story Of the Gypsies and the Jews It was good, it wasn't boring It was almost like the blues It was almost like the blues There is no God in heaven And there is no Hell below So says the great professor Of all there is to know But I've had the invitation That a sinner can’t refuse And it’s almost like salvation It’s almost like the blues It’s almost like the blues Almost like the blues... (Almost like the blues)
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