--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues." description: "\"You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues.\" — Carol Plum-Ucci" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png" --- # You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues. ![“You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues.” quote by Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png) > “You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues.” [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success in music requires hard work and paying one's dues before achieving recognition. **In simple terms:** You must work hard to earn musical success. Key Takeaway Earn your place through effort. Themes hard work music justice Mood determined reflective Type motivational realistic When to use this quote - learning an instrument - performing - career building Key Concepts meritocracy discipline artistic growth Questions to Reflect On - What dues have you paid for your goals? - Is effort always enough for success? A Different Perspective It may ignore talent and opportunity disparities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blues/) ## Related quotes > [You got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues...And you know it don't come easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ringo-starr/you-got-to-pay-your-dues-if-you-want-to-sing-the-blues-and-you-know/) [Ringo Starr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ringo-starr/) > [The idea that we need to “pay our dues” is a lie told to us by people who wanted our efforts and labor on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-altucher/the-idea-that-we-need-to-pay-our-dues-is-a-lie-told-to-us-by-people/) [James Altucher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-altucher/) > [You've got to clock the hours and pay your dues. Then eventually, people will come to you. You have to be patient and appreciative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-rohm/you-ve-got-to-clock-the-hours-and-pay-your-dues-then-eventually/) [Elisabeth Rohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-rohm/) > [I've done stuff to pay my dues and that's what actors are supposed to do, because I was a really bad actor when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-taylor/i-ve-done-stuff-to-pay-my-dues-and-that-s-what-actors-are-supposed-to/) [Rachael Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-taylor/) > [In Maine, nobody is required to belong to a union or pay dues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-dill/in-maine-nobody-is-required-to-belong-to-a-union-or-pay-dues/) [Cynthia Dill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-dill/) > [You pay your dues and work your way up through the system, whatever system there is - something guys in the business today don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dusty-rhodes/you-pay-your-dues-and-work-your-way-up-through-the-system-whatever/) [Dusty Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dusty-rhodes/) > [Freeedom ain't free...Continue to pay dues with Random acts of kindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/freeedom-ain-t-free-continue-to-pay-dues-with-random-acts-of-kindness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“white or black. rich or poor. if you ever had your heart broke you have right to sing the blues”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-mama-thornton/white-or-black-rich-or-poor-if-you-ever-had-your-heart-broke-you-have/) Big mama Thornton > [But what I like to sing mostly is blues and cabaret style.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moira-kelly/but-what-i-like-to-sing-mostly-is-blues-and-cabaret-style/) [Moira Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moira-kelly/) > [“white or black. rich or poor. if you ever had your heart broken you have right to sing the blues”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-mama-thornton/white-or-black-rich-or-poor-if-you-ever-had-your-heart-broken-you/) Big Mama Thornton > [Most people say, 'Well, Earl, you sing the blues,' or however they want to categorize it. I just sing songs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-king/most-people-say-well-earl-you-sing-the-blues-or-however-they-want-to/) [Earl King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-king/) > [I can sing the blues and I have sung the blues. I feel it internally when I'm singing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-porter/i-can-sing-the-blues-and-i-have-sung-the-blues-i-feel-it-internally/) [Gregory Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-porter/) > [I used to sing spirituals when I thought that this was the thing I wanted to do but somehow or another, when I went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bb-king/i-used-to-sing-spirituals-when-i-thought-that-this-was-the-thing-i/) [BB King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bb-king/) > [I have heartaches, I have blues. No matter what you got, the blues is there. 'Cause that's all I know - the blues. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lee-hooker/i-have-heartaches-i-have-blues-no-matter-what-you-got-the-blues-is/) [John Lee Hooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lee-hooker/) > [Whenever I sing blues from the '50s or the kind of blues that you might have heard Eric Clapton or Duane Allman emulate, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mcdonald/whenever-i-sing-blues-from-the-50s-or-the-kind-of-blues-that-you/) [Michael McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mcdonald/) ## More by Carol Plum-Ucci > [Things don't have to be sane when they're normal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/things-don-t-have-to-be-sane-when-they-re-normal/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“People's lives can look so good on the outside and be so much dark shadow on the inside.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/people-s-lives-can-look-so-good-on-the-outside-and-be-so-much-dark/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“When you go into a room, you knock first. If you start asking people questions and they start tilting back in their chairs, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/when-you-go-into-a-room-you-knock-first-if-you-start-asking-people/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“Why is it that everyone loves to see the rich person get flushed down the toilet? Why is it people will spend four dollars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/why-is-it-that-everyone-loves-to-see-the-rich-person-get-flushed-down/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“You can't photograph the hugest mysteries of the universe that really have nothing to do with what shows up before your eyes, under a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/you-can-t-photograph-the-hugest-mysteries-of-the-universe-that-really/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“Life is excellent or life blows, depending on how you look at it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/life-is-excellent-or-life-blows-depending-on-how-you-look-at-it/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [People can love their lies, tell their lies, believe their own lies until hell pays a visit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/people-can-love-their-lies-tell-their-lies-believe-their-own-lies/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [Everyone who doesn't want to believe in supernormal powers says the people who experience them are psycho. What the hell kind of a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/everyone-who-doesn-t-want-to-believe-in-supernormal-powers-says-the/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [It's fine to be insane as long as you keep it to yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/it-s-fine-to-be-insane-as-long-as-you-keep-it-to-yourself/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [He says you don't often find angels in places like happy homes and rich people's backyard parties. He says that angels flock to places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/he-says-you-don-t-often-find-angels-in-places-like-happy-homes-and/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [People love to see you get ahead — so long as you don't get farther ahead than they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/people-love-to-see-you-get-ahead-so-long-as-you-don-t-get-farther/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“I found myself in a place that was thorny, but because I was so used to being there, it bore out certain twisted sensations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/i-found-myself-in-a-place-that-was-thorny-but-because-i-was-so-used/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“Love covers a myriad of plausibility structures.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/love-covers-a-myriad-of-plausibility-structures/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [People will do and think whatever it is they have to in order to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/people-will-do-and-think-whatever-it-is-they-have-to-in-order-to/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) > [“A person could explode if he had to think too much.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/a-person-could-explode-if-he-had-to-think-too-much/) [Carol Plum-Ucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) [Explore all 59 Carol Plum-Ucci quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/) ## More Blues quotes > [If they played more blues, people would just get it - they try to hold it back but just about can't hold it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lee-hooker/if-they-played-more-blues-people-would-just-get-it-they-try-to-hold/) [John Lee Hooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lee-hooker/) > [I love Las Vegas, but I never get a chance to play a club like the House of Blues. I guess we've graduated to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-walsh/i-love-las-vegas-but-i-never-get-a-chance-to-play-a-club-like-the/) [Joe Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-walsh/) > [That's the thing about the blues: It's one thing to hit a note on a guitar. To make it matter is something else altogether.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bonamassa/that-s-the-thing-about-the-blues-it-s-one-thing-to-hit-a-note-on-a/) [Joe Bonamassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bonamassa/) > [“Grits Glossary blues \\’blüz\\ n: nothing but a good man singing about hardship, sorrow, and the things he’s done wrong--but sake’s alive, they make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-ford/grits-glossary-blues-bl-z-n-nothing-but-a-good-man-singing-about/) [Deborah Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-ford/) > [I guess what I like is mostly country & western or else stuff that has a real blues feel to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-shepard/i-guess-what-i-like-is-mostly-country-western-or-else-stuff-that-has/) [Sam Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-shepard/) > [I'm a rock/blues guitar player. I'm not wanting to be a pop star or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orianthi/i-m-a-rock-blues-guitar-player-i-m-not-wanting-to-be-a-pop-star-or/) [Orianthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orianthi/) > [An element I love about the blues is jamming with other musicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hoey/an-element-i-love-about-the-blues-is-jamming-with-other-musicians/) [Gary Hoey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hoey/) > [Well, I don't know how they define that. But they have this Texas blues thing blown kinda out of proportion. I am a Long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hunter/well-i-don-t-know-how-they-define-that-but-they-have-this-texas-blues/) [John Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hunter/) > [Since I was a kid, I've had an absolute obsession with particular kinds of American music. Mississippi Delta blues of the Thirties, Chicago blues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/since-i-was-a-kid-i-ve-had-an-absolute-obsession-with-particular/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [James Cotton is a real blues guy, and he played with Muddy Waters, and it surprised me that they would want me to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/james-cotton-is-a-real-blues-guy-and-he-played-with-muddy-waters-and/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [When I discovered blues - I was 12-years-old - I didn't discover it in America where it was from; I discovered it from Fleetwood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-weller/when-i-discovered-blues-i-was-12-years-old-i-didn-t-discover-it-in/) [Paul Weller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-weller/) > [Elvis deserves a lot of credit for bringing the blues to middle America, not the Vegas stuff. The early stuff, The Sun records, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-tork/elvis-deserves-a-lot-of-credit-for-bringing-the-blues-to-middle/) [Peter Tork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-tork/) > [Old-school rock bands, and blues bands, too, are kind of a dying breed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-rossington/old-school-rock-bands-and-blues-bands-too-are-kind-of-a-dying-breed/) [Gary Rossington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-rossington/) > [My favorite moment of the whole thing was when John Belushi suggested that I get a hold of all the blues records I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-cropper/my-favorite-moment-of-the-whole-thing-was-when-john-belushi-suggested/) [Steve Cropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-cropper/) > [I listened to King Oliver and I listened to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp... I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-clapton/i-listened-to-king-oliver-and-i-listened-to-louis-armstrong-jelly/) [Eric Clapton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-clapton/) [Browse all 1,026 Blues quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blues/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carol Plum-Ucci" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blues/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blues" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blues/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df0/carol-plum-ucci-11609_blues_you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blue_804564.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You gotta pay your dues to sing the blues.” — Carol Plum-Ucci", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carol Plum-Ucci", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-plum-ucci/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "You gotta pay your dues to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blues/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-plum-ucci/you-gotta-pay-your-dues-to-sing-the-blues/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```