Updated list of early use of the word "blues" in blues songs and how early we can show the lines to be:

"I got the blues and can't be satisfied" by 1908
"I got the blues but too damn mean to cry" by 1908
"The blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad" by 1912
"When a woman gets blue she hangs her head and cries" by 1912
"I got the blues... want to lay down and die" by 1912
"The blues ain't nothing but the doggone heart disease" by 1913
"... blues and don't know what to do" by 1914
".. blues so bad..." by 1915
"If you ever had the blues, you know just how I feel" by 1915
"Did you ever wake up with the blues all 'round your bed?" by 1916
"Some folks say that the ___ blues ain't bad" by 1916
"If the blues was whiskey, I'd stay drunk all the time" by 1916
"I got the railroad blues" by 1916
"If the blues overtake me, I'll jump overboard and drown" by 1917
"Blues in the bottle I've got stoppers in my hand" by 1920