"Fishin' Blues"

The song I chose for my project this week is “Fishin’ Blues” because the playful line, “I bet your life your lovin’ wife will catch more fish than you” caught my attention. At first I thought this gave more power to women in the song to even suggest that his wife would out fish him. However, I researched this song more and the anthology from Harry Smith suggests that fishing is more of a sexual metaphor… so maybe the fish that “bite if you got good bait” means a measure of the ability to attract people with their “bait” (whatever form that should take). Therefore the singer, who is a male, might be fishing around for other lovers but his wife is already ahead of him. Either way, my project shows three fish in the gestural form with colors of salmon, which are all of the options for the woman (in a reflection at the top of the page) to potentially catch - given that she has good bait.

Both Henry Thomas and Taj Mahal’s versions of “Fishin’ Blues” have great strengths in their sound. I do appreciate the reed pipes in Henry Thomas’ version alot - they bring so much character to the song. While I enjoy Taj Mahal’s version, one thought I had was, which of these singers do I REALLY believe had gone fishing close to the time they recorded… my best bet is on Henry Thomas… Henry Thomas was a songster who played ragtime music, which originated in St. Louis African American communities and gets its name from the ragged sound of the music. He was born in 1874 and most of his recordings were during the 1920s.

The Mississippi Sheiks’ original version of “Sitting On Top of the World” speaks so much about the setting of the song because of the time it was recorded, about 1930. To compare this with a later version I find several differences in how I listen to and visualize the place for the song. The 1930s Mississippi Sheiks version was recorded during America’s Great Depression, so it is interesting that the song sings of sitting on top of the world during a time where Americans did not feel that way at all. But in this place of the great Depression, the song brings some words of uplift to say what is gone or lost does not mean you cannot move on. In the video of Sam Chatmon playing, I know that the song is from him (and the other members of the Mississippi Sheiks) because he sings it like he belongs to the place where it was intended for because he lived during through that time.

Great Depression, Mississippi 1930s

Listening to Bob Dylan’s remastered version, which was released in 2013, it is a completely different song. Now I hear it as a song with more emphasis on the relationship of the singer with the girl who is gone and how he doesn’t worry, so it makes it more specific and gives less emphasis to a place. Dylan also sings the final stanza as “why should I beg you, you said goodbye” while the Mississippi Sheiks sing, “why should you beg me, and say goodbye...” very different tones. Dylan makes it more about the self, Mississippi Sheiks give that attention to the other person.

“Cocaine Habit Blues” really gives that jug band sound with the base/drum sounding instrument in the background that I found is actually a jug. Reverend Gary Davis is successful in giving the same jug band feeling with his guitar playing. The songs speak for themselves in the meaning - addiction and pleasure from the drugs - but in a way it masks those darker sides even though admitting the detriment… But “Stealin’ Stealin’” also admits to some downfall of personal character but actually seems to WANT to change, while Cocaine Habit Blues” is just pointing out a habit and probably won’t change it.

The jug is the center of this picture of Mississippi Jug Band

For “Candy Man,” I paid particularly close attention to the distinct guitar styles of each artist: Rev. Gary Davis and Mississippi John Hurt (1928 version). MHJ uses more melodies to guide his song. Rev. Reverend Gary Davis was blind and played ragtime blues and was part of the Piedmont Blues scene - he also was born in the Piedmont region of South Carolina. Rev. Gary Davis also uses a melody but it just sounds so different from MHJ, I can’t quite put my finger on it. This shows their unique ways of playing the song. I was looking at this song on mudcat and then found the debate on what is a “salty dog.” Of course some took to the sexual meaning, some that it is a sailor, but the one I believe might be true is that it is a person who is tough and good at their work.

Jesse Fuller’s one-man band “San Francisco Bay Blues” is impressive! I found a video of him playing and singing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBME_J0pf3o He sings about losing his girl and toys with the idea of catching a “freight train” because he’s “feeling blue...” maybe that is why Elizabeth Cotten sings “Freight Train.”

The Elizabeth Cotten reading was interesting since it was her who was speaking. Much of her story reminds me of Mississippi John Hurt’s as they both have very humble beginnings, worked hard through life, and became more popular later in their lifetimes after some period of taking a break from playing. But the most important similarity that I found in the two is that they have acquired such unique guitar styles by playing it a way that suites them, or as Elizabeth Cotten says, “you get it to sound like you want it to sound.” This is a vital element in folk music because trying to play songs perfectly, or sing a line the same way every time does not fit the culture right. In Gerrard’s introduction she says, ”Cotten rarely played “her tunes the same way twice” (Gerrard, 42), which I found to be a trend in most folk music that gives the songs the ability to become unique in their tones and moods.

1910s, a street car in Chapel Hill, NC, where Cotten was born

Now that I listen closer to “Freight Train,” I try to visualize Cotten’s “upside down” guitar playing and that does offer a special style for her music. The reading also gives some insight into Cotten’s world and where that song comes from because she does mention where her father worked in mine that was near a railroad track. Maybe he is the character in the song who wishes to ride the train and escape the arduous labor? “Please don’t tell what train I’m on so they won’t know where I’m gone”

A songster travels and sings and plays, with a variety of songs they have mastered.

Vaudeville was a post Civil War entertainment cultural phenomenon with multiple performances from different arts, such as music, dance, comedy, etc.

Minstrel shows were also a form of entertainment around the time of the Civil War where performers would be white but wear black masks and later black people were the performers.

Medicine shows had entertainers who would sell miracle elixirs that could "cure" any aliment. There were also magic shows, freak shows, story telling and all kinds of fun.

I had to add a photo of a small medicine show

"Lay Me A Pallet On Your Floor" & "Avalon Blues"

I believe this is MJH in Avalon, Mississippi

Eric von Schmidt’s Baby Let Me Follow You Down gives very different information on the folk revival movement than does Norm Cohen. Cohen reaches very far and wide, touching on what seems to be every piece and person of the folk song revival. Schmidt focuses initially on a specific place and its history on how it came to be, Tulla’s Coffee Grinder (Club 47). By picking out this specific place and providing the words of people like Paula and Joyce who opened this business, it gives a unique perspective on the singers they who encountered the place, which brings with it the information on the folk revival as it played out. “The Baez family came in one night… [Joan] started one of these ‘whoo-haa’ things… that was the first time I heard her,” is a memory of one night at Tulla’s (Schmidt, 18). Schmidt offers these more personal points of view that give the history a completely different spin compared to the way Cohen does it. This is not to say Cohen’s version of discussing the folk revival is better or worse, I do find it very pleasant to read his factual information on how a great deal of folk music was initiated through print and recordings and festivals and books, but both provide their own unique information.

Joan Baez singing at Club 47

I did notice that “The History of Folk Song Revival” and Baby Let Me Follow You Down both reveal that folk music is considered “left” or democratic. Cohen describes Wilson Guthrie’s father playing in bands and refers to him as an “outspoken Democrat who had played guitar,” which I thought was interesting since I usually think of the eastern states, like Oklahoma where his son was born, to be conservative. Then Schmidt also connects folk music to politics by claiming it to be “politically left” for occasions like Pete Seeger going to Boston to sing at “The Folk Arts Workshop” where music and politics would have equal drive for alot of people. I do not enjoy discussing politics myself, but I thought I would make that connection.

The article by Jas Olbrecht mentioned what Cohen discussed on record companies producing race records, which is what Columbia records called Mississippi John Hurt’s songs that he recorded there. “Make Me A Pallet on Your Floor” and “Lewis Collins” were some of the first songs that Hurt recorded with Rockwell in the 1920s. I had no prior knowledge of Hurt before this class, and I was surprised to learn not only that he had a job as a sharecropper and farmed throughout his life, but mainly that the peak of his career came much later in life and that it was a result also of being rediscovered. This is interesting because he was rediscovered and THEN was very famous and successful; not that he was very famous, then rediscovered, then successful again but that his popularity was created, not reborn.

Another cover for MJH, it relates well to his story and farm work in the earlier years

Then in “With Mississippi John Hurt” by Max Ochs, recorded by Elizabeth Dubovsky, there are parts that tie in John Hurt’s story that I read in the Olbrecht article. It talks about how Max knew Mississippi John Hurt Disappeared “long ago” but then how after listening to his records, he decided to look for Hurt in Avalon, which he did find him. Here is when I found out that Max is the man who Hurt thought was the FBI taking him up North to record his songs (as told in the Olbrecht article). Both describe the instructions on finding Hurt as the third mailbox up the road (Olbrecht), or “forwardly just down the way three houses from the corner” (Ochs). Both readings also gave to notice to how he would make the guitar play the sound “the way he wanted it to” (Ochs), showcasing his musical talent.

To contrast the two telling of Hurt’s story, Max Ochs’ account told that early on, Hurt was not allowed to touch the guitar or read the musical notes of Bach, but ended up finding a way to. Olbrecht did not mention this aspect of Hurt’s story but paid more attention to his life working on the farm and railroad. The biggest distinction was the personal account in “With Mississippi John Hurt” of John and Max’s relationship in the studio, and what gave me goosebumps when I read it was MJH telling Max “that’s how sure I am that I feel God being right here with us now in this place” after he jabbed him in the ribs. This gave a very personal and closer insight to John Hurt, which reveals so much about his character and soul.

In my project this week I depicted a man with his back towards us. In front of him stands a small building from a small town… guess which one - Avalon, Mississippi. Beyond it, looming in the background is New York City. I worked from two songs this week: “Lay Me Down A Pallet on Your Floor” and “Avalon Blues” by Mississippi John Hurt. A line that continued to stand out to me in “Lay Me Down A Pallet on Your Floor” is “well, I’m sleepin,’ my back and shoulders tire,” which after reading about John Hurt’s story in the 1920s, it occurred to me that that reference might be related to the labor that he knows so well from working in the farm. In the jas article, it tells that Hurt would make extra money by selling 8ft cross ties to railroads that would carry over his shoulder - this could be the connection to his own life. The up country has cold sleet and snow and there’s “no telling how much further I’ll go” - he asking for a pallet to be made suggests a time to rest, possibly to rest before continuing on to these places like the country. He says that his back and shoulders are tired, which tell us that he might have travelled a long ways already and still has a long way to go, this is where “Avalon Blues” ties in.

He sings, “Avalon, my hometown, always on my mind” and “New York's a good town but it's not for mine.” This tells of the inner tumult that the singer but be going through, which I also believe is another tie into Hurt’s story where he begins to record more songs and must spend more time in cities where the record companies are. My charcoal drawing this week shows the line where work can begin to alter one’s comfort with different places and the decisions and fear included. Moving to places where success in business can mean leaving loved ones and loved places. Is it worth it? In my experience, coming to Berkeley has been rough at some points because I have a very close relationship with my parents and hometown, but it has helped me learn alot about myself, grow stronger and most importantly, learn to appreciate what I have left.

Lake Arrowhead, my Avalon

To address the other songs of this week, “Beulah Land” has a central message of going to a place that outshines the sun… does this mean it may be heaven? It is also way beyond the sky, which suggests a heavenly or out of this world place. If has got a mother, father, and sister in “Beulah Land,” they have probably left this earth and now rest in Beulah Land. I researched Beulah Land and found that it is from a hymn where the Hebrews were able to call Jerusalem “Beulah,” which means married, instead of Desolate. I wonder if Beulah Land is where the main character in “Lay Me A Pallet on the Floor” wishes he could rest…

These two songs also connect to “Lewis Collins” being layed away by the angels under the clay. He was shot by Bob after he left his home. His mother and people who knew his mourned his death but I wonder why he and Bob were in a shootout. On MudCat I read that this was song is actually about a real event that Mississippi John hurt experienced - someone, maybe a friend, was murdered. This song for me is about the rippling effects, like murder or suicide that impact the lives of so many others, in Lewis Collins’ case, his mother, town, and especially Mississippi John Hurt.

Appalachia II "Down By the Sally Gardens"

In “Down By the Sally Gardens” I focused on the line “take love easy as the leaves grow on the trees.” This is what the female character tells the singer. Since he then says he was young and foolish, which is why he did not agree, does that imply that women are more mature than men? I am assuming the two characters are the same age… This song seems to give much more respect to women regarding love than compared with “Black Jack David” and “Ommie Wise.” In my project the woman is facing away towards the mountains and valley below. Maybe there is a garden down there, maybe not. The leaves are blowing easy in the breeze. Is she letting go of them or are they coming up from the valley? It is showing her ability and maturity with love. She is a reflection of the leaves and their nature, which allows the wind to take them where they should go, which is the advice she gave the man in love with her. When I hear folk songs being sung, the people have voices that sound so free - free through their spirits and let the music pour and shake from them. 

Cecil Sharp, a song collector of the 20th century.

As the reading on Sharp puts it, “folk music is the product of an unselfconscious peasantry,” which may be a response to their livelihoods. He also noted that the people of Appalachia seem freer than the English. In the excepts from Cecil Sharp’s notebooks, he gives descriptions of the setting, his interactions with people, and his overall impressions. From this I have learned that Appalachia is a place full of with beautiful scenery and views of rural mountainous country, with stochastic events that give it adventure, especially in the way Sharp enthusiastically writes about it: "The country is, I think, the most magnificent I have ever seen. The mountains are everywhere, and we live in the valleys and walk through the passes.” The adventurous part are those that he includes in writing about his daily journeys, such as the Great Flood of 1916 near where he had been at Hot Springs and Madison County. Especially important and valuable like his noting of PLACE, are his notes on the PEOPLE of Appalachia.

Sharp describes his surprise at the ages of some of the singers he collected songs from because he was used to elderly people, but some people were only 15 years old! This told me that the cultural lineage of the songs must go back far and have a big importance in families’ lives if the younger generation knows the songs well enough to sing for Sharp. Just like the songs were preserved in these isolated mountains, so were the people. Sharp describes this as being They have been "so isolated and protected from outside influence that their own music and song have not only been uncorrupted, but also uninfluenced by art music in any way," which is very important because it gives pure view of the culture of these people. This is even more rare to be the case of a place in America since it is usually known as the melting pot with a mixing of cultures. 

“Comin’ Thro the Rye” really puzzles me. it is a poem written by a Scottish man Robert Burns, and more presently also used in the book “Catcher in the Rye.” I found that the book interprets the song to shed light on the importance of childhood. But I disagree and I think it is related to human connections. I think of the rye as a maze where other people cannot be seen and are discovered by meeting. I thought of this from the line, “If a body meet a body neither body frown” and “every lassie need a laddie” because they all address people running into people, and then the need for relationships.

“Barbara Allen” is the indirect cause of death, of sins for William wishing to have her… why couldn’t Barbry Allen be attained? It must be because she was “slighted” and her revenge was for him not to have her. In my research I found that the song is a tragic ballad (and Child Ballad) from the 17th century. “Young William died for me today and I’ll die for him tomorrow” I thought she was cold and wanted only revenge for her being slighted by him until I heard this line that shows she felt remorse for being the cause of his death by broken heart. “Out of her heart grew a greenbrier” which has heart shaped leaves and has prickly stems, much like a red rose, which grew out of William’s grave. The phenotypes of the plants are similar… I could not find symbolism on the greenbrier but I know the red rose is a meaning for love. Both have prickly qualities and some symbol of love, the rose and the heart shape of the greenbrier leaf. Both characters in the ballad also reflected these qualities of hurting and loving the other.

Greenbrier

The other Child ballads also tells stories where women fall victim of love. A woman she fell for “Black Jack David” and instead of sleeping comfortably with her family, she lies on the “cold ground” beside Black Jack David.” For Barbara Allen, it was death that resulted from her brief love encounter… yet she the poem did not include much of how SHE felt. “Pretty Polly” is afraid to be led “astray” by Will… and ended up in the grave because of him. Then again, the woman is the victim of love in “The House Carpenter” by choosing to leave her babe and go to sea and eventually drowning although she wished to return to her babe… but then it is still her fault for getting on the boat. I am wondering what caused these songs to take the turns they do. They reach a climax and then shift the story to tell of what is not expected, giving them much excitement and wonder. Why are the women dying because of men and love?

I found that Barbra Allen was a popular ballad in Scotland, which makes sense because James Child recorded alot of lyrics of ballads from that place and era. These songs probably reflect what 17th and 18th century folk though could happen to women if they fell in love too quickly or did not pay attention to take care of themselves, but it was still a time when women were more reliant on men and did not have total independence (see photo below).

19th Century Scottish engraving of women doing chores. This applies well to the songs when taking into account the man sitting on the left, and the poses of the women.

The American origin songs are similar to the Child ballads since they also tell stories. “Ommie Wise” gives another song of romance, and (attempted) murder, but the difference appears where there is some justice where John Lewis goes to jail and the woman did not actually drown but turned up at a “neighbor’s house.” Then there is “Shady Grove...” which at first I thought had nothing to do with romance until I began to wonder if Shady Grove is a lover or place? Jean Richie’s version makes me hear Shady Grove as a person compared to Ashley and Waston. “Sugar Baby” has a very strong American tradition in it by bringing in the question and need of money. Even “Ommie Wise” used money as another temptation by John Lewi to lure the woman to go with him. These songs are what give an insight into the American struggle for money by showing that it is always needed and can be used to attract people, and to threaten. The “Wagoner’s Lad” shows how being poor also impacts people’s lives, in this case the singers’ ability to court a woman.

The similarities of the Child ballads and the American origin songs is that both discuss romance but the woman usually has to pay the highest price. They differ in that the Child ballads have a different style in reaching a peak in the story and then shifting it to a shocking event. American origin songs are trickled with American traditions like the importance of money to people’s lives, especially their personal lives.

Appalachia "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"

“Banks on the Ohio” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” are both toying with ideas of death but in very dissimilar ways. One is causing it and the other is trying to prolong it. Dolly Parton’s lyrics for “Banks of the Ohio” contain the story of the murder as told by the murderer from prison. Joan Baez does not ask for the story to be told, but she does have the similar dialogue of the woman begging to not be killed. Joan Baez on her cover is singing, but her mouth position mimics what I see when I hear the lyrics “And there I threw her into drown” (even though that line is not in her version of the song). Johnny Cash also includes the cry for mercy but also does something different where he describes her with “golden curls,” and then sings of the drowning. When I looked up history on Appalachia, I found that there were some stereotypes for the behavior of “hillbillys,” which might be a possible explanation for the brutal story in “Banks of the Ohio.” Appalachia is an enigmatic place... so heavy in its roots...

Speaking of roots... for my project this week I wanted to hone in on the power of "at home" versions of songs. I can really hear something different in the front porch versions over performance. Both have strong qualities, but the heart can be heard in one much louder. This is seen in my project - the medium is charcoal, with a touch of sepia. Appalachia is home to mountains full of old growth and its people have a culture through their music to match it. It is created from listening to "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." The singer wishes to prolong the complete loss of the mother:

"I said to that undertaker
Undertaker please drive slow
For this lady you are carrying
Lord, I hate to see her go"

What is meant to be told through my drawing is the soul, or any soul really, that is taken by the "Undertaker" still lurks through tradition and culture derived from that soul's family and PLACE that they call home.

A church in Appalachia also used as a town hall 1930s

I listened to the versions of “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” by the Carter Family and by Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley. The Carter Family sang it with a more upbeat, happier tone. The song does not seem as sorrowful as the way Watson and Ashley sing it. The best way to characterize the difference between the two is that the version the Carter Family sings is a celebration of the life (of a loved one dying), and Watson and Ashley’s version is a funeral - both have an element sorrow due to death but they have their differences...

The Carter Family also sounds more appealing to me because even though it was recorded, it does not have that “stagey” performance vibe to it like Watson and Ashley’s. The Carter Family, according to Cohen, was one of the most popular “hillbilly” groups for the 1920s. Again we have what record companies call hillbilly, but will always know have talent beyond the name. Maybelle’s early interest in banjo and then her classic “Carter Lick” all add up to show her talent in the folk song realm. This on top of the ambition she possessed described in the “Maybelle Carter” article really highlights her role in folk music of Appalachia. This is where the “front porch” sound probably originates from.

Doc Watson and Clarence Ashley’s version still has an emotion of its own even though it the front porch vs. performance distinction is very apparent to me (their’s is performance). However, the truest of the true “front porch” versions comes from Ollie Gilbert. Her version, since it was really recorded at her home, tells a different story. Just like Cohen could feel the heart in the songs sung at home when he was in Kentucky, I feel that listening to Ollie Gilbert is more intimate than the performance versions. This is where PLACE comes in because it affects the mood and connection of the song to the singer, she is in her home, which is as personal as it gets. Ollie is singing without instruments and there is no stageiness to her voice it is what it is. And it is perfect.






It seems that folk songs became more widespread with the discovery of talented singers and musicians as well as technology, such as the phonograph, became more popular. John Cohen gives a brief discussion on the history of the birth of “Hillbilly and Race Recordings” in the reading where those two types of song were derived from the desire of record companies to “bolster sagging sales” (Cohen, 16). Of course other technologies were drowning the record companies, so they tried to market songs to the community in which the singer came from. The “race records” were sung by black folk and included gospel, spiritual, and blues songs, which were meant for regions with black listeners, while “hillbilly records” were also meant for rural areas and to reach out to other areas, but the name did not reflect the true style of the music, it was to appeal to the buyer of the record. 

Victor "Race Record" 1928

This seems as though the record companies - Victor, Columbia, etc. - were in a way misrepresenting the “folk” who sang these songs because they put the umbrella of “hillbilly” over them. Of course, many were hillbillys, but for me the name does not give an idea of the TALENT these musicians had. Cohen tells of how people like Buell Kazee  started to play instruments at a young age and even studied it in college. If I heard about Kazee’s background before knowing that he performed “hillbilly” music, I would be dumbfounded why a college student fluent in the music would specialize in “hillbilly” music. I appreciate it, and am a kind of hillbilly myself, since I grew up in the mountains, but for a professional musician, it may have been more appropriate to call it “folk music” for the record company. This is NOT to say that I do not appreciate hillbilly music, it is that the name is often a derogatory term and may not do the music justice. For example, Cohen explains that producers would prefer his “‘bad’ (hillbilly) voice” over his “‘good’ (concert) voice” (Cohen, 16).

Doc Watson born 1923, South Carolina

Clarence Ashley born 1895, Tennessee

In the video Cohen says he found something very personal in the Kentucky music player for him, “unless they were show performers;” I wonder what makes a front porch version of a song more personal than one heard from a stage. Maybe because at home versions are played in their home, where they are comfortable... not to sound corny, but where their heart it. On a stage it is more precise and planned. It’s staged! The same idea goes for Ashley singing “the Cuckoo” compared to the 1970s Towns Van Zandt recording.This popped a thought into my head from last week where we talked about our work being invented or discovered. “At home versions” are discovered - concerts and performances are invented. 

"O Mary Don't You Weep"

I took Tony's advice to abstract my projects and not be so literal. The result of that was interesting because I feel that this week's work has many, many different ways it can be interpreted other than how I intended at first, which I find successful. My original intention was to illustrate the waters moses split for the Hebrew children while standing on the "Red Sea shore" as described in the song. The waters are meant to resemble Mary's tears from her weeping. While still looking at it and listening to the song, I saw it in another perspective - the land in the middle of the waters could be a light leading up to the yellow at the top, which would be Heaven; "When I get to Heaven, gonna sing and shout, Nobody up there to put me out!" Then, a final thought I had was back to the line that sings, "No more water but fire next time," the water is flowing out and the red beach is following it for next time. 

Of the different versions of "O Mary Don't You Weep," my favorite was by  Mississippi John Hurt because of its smooth sound through the song. For the wild cards, Max Romeo might have changed the lyrics of the song to "Oh children, don't you weep, don't you moan ,We shall overcome some day" because maybe he is giving hope to the youth who have not experienced what their ancestors have. This does not necessarily change the meaning of the song because both versions work to liberate a group from what confines them. 

In the Gomorra's' version, the feeling is one that I can't put a word on but it sounds more underground, like a great traveling band. One of the singers says that someone (I could not make it out) drowned in the fire - rather than Pharoah's army... but even the "O Mary Don't You Weep"  version in the tan book doesn't specify if they drowned in the water or fire, I just assumed. The meaning is different from fire versus water in that fire would indicate burning, possibly in hell, while water would have been from Moses closing the sides in. In "O Mary Don't You Weep" it does say "No more water but fire next time" so perhaps that is it!

I did some exploring of Alan Lomax's notes for the Library of Congress Tony posted. I listened to the song "Run Old Jeremiah," which is s gospel ring-shout. The recording is so interesting and not what I envisioned from only reading the lyrics. Ring-shouts were a result of dancing being "taboo for church members" and not allowed (Lomax). I also found that the ring-shout was utilized also as an emotional release for the Blacks in the South and of course an activity that requires group participation. Ring-shouts seem to create an inclusive community and weave around the rules (such as not being aloud to dance) to produce a new form of music that is their own.

Run Old Jeremiah (click here)

In Souls of Black Folk, "Sorrow Songs," W.E.B DuBois expresses that the songs of the slaves are THE songs of America. At the end of this chapter he asked a question that got me thinking: "Would America have been America without her Negro people?" Maybe the question shouldn't be answered. But I will say one thing, that is, history sculpts a country and the sculptor of America has an enigmatic way of creating this country. 

According to DuBois, Black people in the South come to know these biblical passages by the songs being sung though generation after generation. Lomax told that music and religion were saved through this generational stream where these non-material entities "were almost impossible to eradicate" because of the strong legacy held by the African Americans (Lomax, 16). This inability of the White Western man to completely erase the history of the Blacks gives an idea of the strong cultural heritage they were able to hold on to. 

The passages on Mary and Martha from the New Testament merges closely with the verses from the Old Testament. The first passage for the Old and New Testament both give Mary approval to listen to the Lord rather than lose herself in trying to do chores, like Martha. The second passage follows a similar theme although in a new setting. Martha is again doing chores by serving dinner where she serves the Lord but also Lazarus since he is at the table as well. Mary decides to use a special oil to wipe the Lord's feet with her hair and spreading the smell of the oil through the house. Mary's action act to serve only the Lord (not Lazarus) but then the fragrance spreads through the house, which may be beneficial to the others, indirectly done by Mary.

Heures d'Étienne Chevalier by Jean Fouquet
1452-1460

These two Mary and Martha passages may have entered into the meanings of "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" because of the spiritual ties with Israel since both the Jewish and Black peoples have been two groups that have suffered greatly. My idea of another more specific relation could be that the discrimination of the slaves merged with the character of Mary in the song. "Mary wore three links of chain, Every link was Freedom's name" - here Mary could be a slave who is a strong figure that knows what is right or what should be done, just like the Mary in the verses from the Old and New Testaments. Mary is weeping in the song maybe because too many people have taken actions like Martha and fail to seem what is in front of them, which is the Lord. It can imply that taking care of the Lord will aid in taking care of one's own life. 

I had to do a bit of outside research since I am not familiar with biblical characters; I found out that Moses was the leader of the Jewish people after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. I also found on MudCat a discussion on "O Mary Don't You Weep" and one commenter said that Moses is a figure of liberation in Black tradition. I came across an article on Martin Luther King Jr. It said that MLK and Moses both saw "the promised land;" I have heard of this connection before but never gave it much thought until now and the connection is very appropriate. 

The verses from the Old and New Testament merge to tell the same story with the New Testament building on the principles of the Old Testament but makes some aspects slightly different in the way their meaning can be unfolded. In the last lines the Old Testament describes the smell of the oil Mary uses on Jesus' feet as the "odor of the ointment" while the New Testament says "fragrance of the oil." The New Testament makes a more positive statement about it compared to the New Testament. Overall the verses merge fluidly together. This merging might be related to the lives of Black people in the American South in the time of slavery because pieces of their lives were kept through the songs they sang to preserve their meanings for the next generations. Over time, some of the songs of the slaves in the South would show "signs of development" (DuBois, 180) but still brought the same lessons and spiritual upbringing they were intended when created. This is similar to the Old and New Testament since they are different versions carrying the same message. 

The passage on Pharoah's Army at the Red Sea connects to "O Mary Don't You Weep" because the Black gospel singers could probably see themselves as the Hebrew children from the passage and then referenced to in the song. In "O Mary Don't You Weep," the final lines say "one of these day in the middle of the night, People gonna rise and set things right," which I am certain refers back to the first lines of Pharoah's Army at the Red Sea where it was "a cloud and darkness" between the camps of the Egyptians and Israelis. The gospel song is hoping  that one day the Blacks can also have things set right for them as did the Hebrew children. 

I found this image after I made my project and see a lot of similarities, especially if I squint my eyes.

After watching the videos, I want to say that times have changed, but in the context of African Americans' battle with discrimination, it is difficult for me say yes or no since I am an outsider looking in on those battles. Comparatively to the past, yes times have changed because in the present we have laws that prohibit discrimination by race. But then looking through the laws in place it is apparent that law cannot change peoples' old ways of thinking. In the video "James Baldwin: the Price of the Ticket," there is an interview with Baldwin and he explains his impoverished childhood, and in an excerpt read from his writings he said he was aware that he was black and hoped he could just his intelligence for something in the world. Then in the "James Baldwin vs. William F. Buckley" video he points out again that African Americans were taught to believe they had no history, implying the difficulty to establish themselves. Today, African Americans have succeed beyond what Baldwin is implying in that particular writing - that African Americans can use what they have to achieve their goals. In that respect, times have changed.