Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: singer-songwriter
Song Meaning of “Tea Bag Blues” by Billy Bragg
Tea Bag Blues is a soulful bluesy number by the talented British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. A jaunty guitar riff is accompanied by a slow shuffling beat to provide the backdrop for Billy’s tale of the metaphorical heartache and emotional turmoil experienced by a man after his lover has left him.
The song paints a vivid picture of a man whose love-struck heart has been broken and unraveled and is in deep distress. He is left feeling helpless as he sees the tea bag he used with his beloved floating to the bottom of the cup, a constant reminder of how his life has been shaken by his loss of love. He longs for his former lover, yearning for the days when things were easier, “Before you left me, nothing was too hard to do”.
The lyrics also reveal the man’s inner turmoil as he grapples to come to terms with his heartache. The way he is feeling becomes clearer as he references a tornado, “The winds, they come, blowin’ so strong, on my heart and mind”, and a night sky filled with stars, “The night, it comes, like a thousand stars, makin’ me blind”. He attempts to camouflage his emotional turmoil and bury his pain with alcohol, “Whiskey keeps me warm but sometimes it only carries me down.”