The poem opens with the speaker, presumably Hughes, talking about a piano player he saw a couple of nights ago. The poem starts off light-hearted and hopeful, as the singer sings about putting his troubles “on the shelf” (line 22). However, by the end of the poem, the story has changed. The singer has “the Weary Blues/ and can’t be satisfied” (line 25-26). The way Hughes reads the poem puts more emphasis on the difference in tone between these two stanzas. In the beginning of the poem in describing the singer, Hughes says “he’s got a lazy sway…/he’s got a lazy sway…” (line 6-7). The way he says “lazy” and the sort of wiggle in the pitch of his voice mimics the movement of someone swaying. Repetition of the line twice emphasizes how lazy and perfect the moment is, in stark contrast to the last stanza of the poem. The difference in speed when saying “Sweet blues!” (line 14) and “O Blues!” (line 16) is also important. The slow deliberateness when he says the “O” in and the short pop for “Sweet blues” is the difference between music that is “coming from a black man’s soul”(line 17) and playing “like a musical fool” (line 13). The length of the “O” is deep and prolonged, like deep feelings of weariness the black community is feeling. By the end of the poem, the feeling of weariness is even more evident. Hughes takes a pause at the end of each line, seemingly taking a breath before he can continue the next line. The very last line “He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.” (line 29). The slowness of his recitation almost leaves the ready questioning if the man perhaps actually did die, and if it was the weary blues that killed him.