"Blue Note"

by Jonathan (J.P.) Marsch

I am Blue. I don’t garner a great deal of respect. I am the color of melancholy, sadness, and despair. I am the color of emptiness and the color of an abyss.

I wish I had more respect. When someone is depressed and low, that person isn’t brown or gray, they’re "blue". It would make sense to anyone living in Northern climates in January to feel gray, but when you are down and out, you are just "blue."

Labeled as downtrodden and lonely, I’m not even important enough for a stoplight. Other colors seem to have a leg up on me. Red has elements of danger (a bullfighter’s cape, the button to launch a missile, abrupt octagonal signs) and sexuality (seamy Red Light Districts, ravishing formal dresses, and that flushed feeling after the ideal embrace). Orange claims its own citrus fruit and corners the market on blazing sunsets. Green gets to put its arms around all the earth’s plants while also being everyone’s eco-friend. Even Yellow, the color of cowardice, lays claim to the radiant sun, daffodils, and even colby cheese. What about Blue? What do I get? I keep the very unsexy trio of hypothermia, the K-Mart Blue Light Special, and the laughable "Blue Lagoon."

But things are not as dire as the lyrics of my musical genre would lead one to believe. I am worthy enough for many of the world’s flags, and dazzling enough to impress early civilizations through tiles of lapis lazuli. I can also boast my own berry, and possess a delicious premium wheat beer (Blue Moon).

I helped heighten the world of painting and popular culture. Picasso would have been a Spanish also-ran without his "Blue Phase," and Van Gogh’s "Starry Night" would not have been five-star quality without me. I also helped teach millions of 1980s American children the differences of good and evil through my colony of engaging Smurfs.

Lastly, one only has to look up to see my influential grandeur. My skies stave off those dour inklings of depression and provide spectacular views of cities and mountains. When the mundane grays of the heavens are replaced with my powerful hues, I allow the suns rays to help crops to grow, and help you get that tan you need for your wedding or prom. I ebb and flow with the tide, keeping things in perspective while the other primary and secondary colors wash up ashore like stale driftwood. Whatever tragedy or disaster may happen tomorrow, I will bring countless smiles to others who wake up and see my shades of periwinkle and azure when they look skyward.

I am Blue.