Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an … Read Full Bio ↴Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Centerville, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".

Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas. That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander. (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.

Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.

Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.

Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.".

Grievance Blues
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Grieving over you, babe, darling, I have almost lost my mind
I been grieving over you, babe, till I have almost lost my mind
Yes, you know, it have settled on my brain, and it almost drove me blind

You know, I can't eat for thinking, you know, and I can't hardly see for crying
You know, I can't eat for thinking, I can't hardly see for crying
Yes, you know, it have settled on my brain, and it have almost drove me blind

I done grieved over you, woman, till I done got weak in my knees

I done grieved over you, baby, till I done got weak in my knees
Yes, l'm just wandering around this world and I ain't got nobody to care for me

Overall Meaning

In "Grievance Blues," Lightnin' Hopkins sings about his overwhelming grief and heartache after a relationship ended. He describes how the pain of this loss has affected him both physically and emotionally. He repeats the phrase "grieving over you" throughout the song, emphasizing how deeply he is suffering. Hopkins even admits that he has "almost lost [his] mind" due to his grief. He is consumed with thoughts of his lost love and cannot find solace in anything else.

Line by Line Meaning

Grieving over you, babe, darling, I have almost lost my mind
I am deeply saddened by your absence to the point where I am on the verge of losing my sanity.

I been grieving over you, babe, till I have almost lost my mind Yes, you know, it have settled on my brain, and it almost drove me blind
My sorrow for you has affected me so much that I can't stop thinking about you and it is causing me to become visually impaired.

You know, I can't eat for thinking, you know, and I can't hardly see for crying Yes, you know, it have settled on my brain, and it have almost drove me blind
My mind is preoccupied with thoughts of you that I can't even eat and my constant weeping is making it difficult for me to see, and this has left a significant impact on my psyche.

I done grieved over you, woman, till I done got weak in my knees I done grieved over you, baby, till I done got weak in my knees Yes, l'm just wandering around this world and I ain't got nobody to care for me
My grief and sorrow for you have made me so weak that I can barely stand. I am wandering aimlessly in this world, feeling lost and alone with no one to care for me.

Contributed by Jayden C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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