When I wrote Every Other Day, I started with the idea of doing a blues tune that would be similar to B. B. King’s “Every Day I Have the Blues”. I was playing around with the idea that white people can’t have the blues. Or at least that white people can’t play or sing the blues.
I know plenty of white guys that do a great job of playing the blues. Singing the blues is harder for white people without just trying to sound black. People who know me well know that I enjoy listening to entertainer who don’t really have the chops to perform the type of music they are trying to perform. I came up with the idea that maybe a white guy like me might be able to play the blues right at least some of the time. If B. B. King has the blues every day, maybe I could at least try to have the blues every other day. I also considered that on the days that I don’t have the blues, things would be going pretty good for me. This is the basic idea behind the chorus of the song and established what I would describe in the verses.
In the verses, the lines alternate between positive experiences (like good and happy) and negative ones (bad and sad). The song pretty much wrote itself. In contrast to a classic blues tradition of talking about how bad things are going, I would complain and then contrast it with how good life is. The swings between the mood of the song are so drastic, that I considered using “The Bi-Polar Blues” as a title.
When I recorded the song, I made no attempt at singing in a blues style. I wanted to sound as white as possible. I also consider my guitar ability to be extremely limited. It’s proba