This haunting song was one that I didn’t like upon hearing it the first few times. The title made me think of ways that we hurt each other physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It made me feel sad and exacerbated a feeling of hopelessness that I had felt about certain situations. My mom had just entered a rehab center to recover from her broken arm which meant spending the holidays away from home, and my mood wasn’t at the highest. I think this contributed to my initial rejection of the song.
But “Black,Blue” and especially the chorus have stalked me the last few weeks. The lyrics have echoed in my mind at really weird times like when I first arise in the morning, when I’m showering, or when I’m driving and listening to another song entirely. The powerful chorus is short and mournful.
Black, blue, her, you
White, green, him, me
8 little words with no verbs…why couldn’t I get them out of my head? I’ve intended to write about this song for the last few posts but couldn’t find the inspiration or my reason for writing about it. Suddenly, this morning it hit me: the colors and the meaning behind them. The energy behind those colors had a message worth sharing.
I have read about the spiritual significance of colors mainly in Dougal Fraser’s book, Your Life in Color. This book explores the significance that color can play in your day to day decisions. He explains how to use the energy given off by each color to help you accomplish your goals. I was fascinated by the energies held by the 4 colors in the chorus of this song.Here was my inspiration finally to write this post.
Black– I was so excited to look back at Your Life In Color in order to see what Fraser wrote about this color only to be disappointed because he doesn’t have it listed as one the energies. So a quick google search found some associations with the color black at the following site: https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-black/
Black is associated with power, fear, mystery, strength, authority, elegance, formality, death, evil, and aggression, authority, rebellion, and sophistication. Black is required for all other colors to have depth and variation of hue…Black is a mysterious color that is typically associated with the unknown or the negative. (Jennifer Bourne, http://www.bourncreative.com)
Fraser does have energies listed for the other colors. After highlighting some of the energies surrounding these colors, I will analyze why I feel this song has been stalking me lately (If you find this topic of energies behind colors at all fascinating like I do, I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of Your Life in Color. It is filled with various ways to use color to your advantage.).
Blue- positive qualities -truth and wisdom shadow side- avoidance and fear: Blue helps remove any possible denial we may experience when it comes to seeing others for who they really are as opposed to who we want them to be…just as blue must be incorporated as a base in order to create a variety of colors,a willingness to blend the truth into every situation is a primary ingredient in learning blue’s lesson (pp71-72, chapter 5).
White– positive qualities – spiritual cleansing and clarity shadow side-feeling overwhelmed by responsibility. The white light illuminates the parts of our being needing attention as well as the parts that can be released…When using white, we intend to create a fresh start in whatever we focus on.
White represents a new chapter and a new set of intentions, creating a sense of clarity in our lives (pp28-29, Chapter 2).
Now, Fraser has two types of green listed, emerald green and mint green. I was drawn more to the emerald green so here is what he says about this color.
Green- positive qualities- communication and creativity . shadow side- blocked self-expression..I find that deeper shades (of green) like emerald are best for when you want to let your creative juices flow.
On the communication front, emerald will help clear misunderstandings in your relationships and allow you to find the most perfect words to express yourself (pp93-94, Chapter 6).
I really was amazed when I finished looking up these colors and their associative energies because they not only seemed to go along with the story told in the song but also provided guidance that seemed to be tailored to some common negative situations in which many people (including myself) may find themselves. The first stanza has the narrator cutting off communication with the outside world.
Nobody will call
As long as I keep the phone off the line Not as long as I keep my voice down inside my mouth But it’s getting harder to hide.
The negative energy of the black can be read and heard in these lyrics. When someone has cut you out of his/her life like the narrator has done, you often have many unanswered questions. The mystery never leaves you thinking positively but does cause you to jump on every negative possibility that crosses your confused mind. The blue energy of avoidance and fear can also be felt when the narrator tries to shut out “…the voices that seem to come from all sides/Makes it hard to decide”. When you are shutting yourself away from others, it can be hard to know which voices are real and which are ones that your Ego is using to keep you stuck.
The green energy of miscommunication is clearly stated in how the narrator feels that people will never consider him to be “…a fine, young, upstanding man/with his ducks in a row and his 50 year plan”. But the narrator actually does worry about how and if he will grow into an older wise man. A
But it’s getting harder to see
And the time between daylight seems longer to me
And the person I am, and the person I’ll be
Refuse to meet
This dark night of the soul is eating away at this man even though others may see him as being carefree and devoid of any responsible thoughts at all. The narrator isn’t the only one in this song who feels the pressure of not reaching his potential. There is a woman who is rocking the negative aspects of the white energy when she looks at her past choices with regret.
I know a woman who said
“Oh if I could only just turn back the clock
When I was still scared and my hair was still dark
And my hands were clean
But now all my choices are spent
And the men that I’ve known, they don’t know what I meant
And Cupid’s arrow is backwards and bent
When it’s flying for me”
She is an older woman who can relate with the younger narrator in that she is faced with miscommunication of her intentions. Her hands are no longer clean because she allowed them to become stained with the fear (black) and blundered conversations (green) of her past. The shadow sides of these colors are echoed throughout the song.
The teacher in me can’t leave this grim analogy here and so I ask, where is the lesson? Is this song just a hopeless representation of how wasted a life or a connection can be? Did this song stalk me just to point out how isolated and sad life can be? No. Here is the advice (ala Dougall Fraser) I would offer in the seemingly hopeless situations represented in the song. Consider it a color prescription for your soul when you are going through these common struggles.
Issue #1– You are cutting yourself off from communicating with the ones you care about.- Look for the strength within yourself to reach out to others. If you need help, ask for it. Harness the strength associated with the color of black to help you break down the wall between you and the people you love. Keeping yourself isolated only allows the demons in your mind to take control and cause you to make mistake after mistake. If there is someone you care about that you are ghosting from your life, use the wise energy of blue to stop denying your feelings. By reaching out to heal your own heart’s wounds, you most likely will be a healing tonic for the soul of another.
Issue #2- Like the woman in the second stanza, you are feeling regret over past decisions concerning your romantic life.– Use the healing power of white to give yourself permission to start again. Whether you are 25 or 75, everyone deserves a fresh start. Use white to spotlight what the regrets are and then let them go! A perfect time to do this is when the moon is full. Take advantage of the gorgeous milky moonlight to release your regrets and to call in your next love. Set the intention to bring love into your life and use the novel energy of white to begin again.
Issue #3– You are scared over the unknowns of your future self and find others are judging you harshly– Make all your future decisions based on your own personal truths. Contemplate or meditate on what those personal truths are and then act on them. Whether your personal truth is that you are a nurturer who can no longer work in the cut-throat world of business or that your artistic side is one that you can no longer pursue only when you have time, own it and breathe life into it. Use the abundant blue in nature (i.e. sky, ocean, flowers) to inspire you to live according to your beliefs. If that means you need to stage a little rebellion, look to black to help you do so without hurting anyone else. Use the green creative energy to express yourself and use the wisdom of blue to disregard what others think or say.
I am so glad that I gave this song a chance to deliver its message (as I interpret it) and to help me reflect on what I learned about color energy. I hope it encourages you to use a rainbow to help you through the tough moments in life.
One Foot In, One Foot Back 