Big Blue Note

Album: Honky Tonk University (2005)
Charted: 55
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a girl who breaks up with her boyfriend and all she leaves him is a big blue note. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Bob - Rio Vista, CA
  • Keith said of this song: "I've never written anything quite like it. It's just one of those things that happens to you as a songwriter. You're going to write enough of them that one's going to end up psychedelic or something. It went where it went. It's a great "dear john" letter song. The title came out somewhere and it's kind of a recitation. The last verse just ties it all together. He folds that note up into a paper airplane and says if it don't come back he'll accept the fact that she's gone. I like to say on those that we happened to be the only writers up that night when that one floated by."

Comments: 1

  • Connor Wheeler from Dartmouth, NsI love this song. it is also very easy to play on guitar.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy B. SchmitSongwriter Interviews

The longtime Eagle talks about soaring back to his solo career, and what he learned about songwriting in the group.

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.