Why Are Blues Associated With Sadness?

The word blue in the English language is indeed related or associated with the emotion of sadness. The reason lies in ancient Greek mythology. Blue is related to the phenomenon of rain and even storms. In Greek mythology it was said that when the King of the Gods, Zeus was sad he made it rain and when he was angry he unleashed a storm. Thus the colour blue became associated with sadness. Perhaps rainy weather generally makes a person feel morose or sad and hence the reason ascribed to Zeus of causing the rain could have been a very human emotion.

The style of music that has been referred to as the blues is thought to have been so named as a result of the extraordinary hardship faced by generation after generation of African Americans.