THE SONGS OF SOULS
by
Mary Ellen Whitney
Presented to the American Culture Faculty at the University of Michigan - Flint in partial fulfillm ent of the requirements for the Master of Liberal Studies i n American Culture
September, 1995
First Reader
Second Reader The Songs of Souls i
Table of Contents Page
List of Music //
Introduction 1
Chapter I 1 6
Worksong 16 Cornsongs, Ricesongs, Hammerin’ Songs and More 2 0 Rowing and Boat Songs 3 3 Song Leader 39
Chapter II 42
Spirituals 42 Great Awakening 47 Canaan Songs 62 Ring Shout 70 Jubilee 74
Chapter III 77
Cries, Calls and Field Hollars 77 Street Cries 83
Chapter IV 86
Songs of Satire and Derision 86 Patty Roller 91 Songs of Leisure 97 Possum and Hoecake 1 01 Children’s Songs 105 Funeral and Burial Songs 109 “Massa’s” Entertainment 112
Conclusion 114
Bibliography 117 The Songs of Souls
List of Music
Page
1 Roun de Corn Sally 25
11 Anniebelle 27
III Ragged Leevy 29
IV Michael Row the Boat Ashore 35
V Motherless Child 59
VI Foller De Drinkin’ Gou’d 65
VII Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd 67
VIII I’m On My Way 69
IX Little David Play On Your Harp 76
X Pay Me My Money Down 88
XI Run, Nigger, Run 93
XII Run, Nigger, Run 95
XIII Shortenin’ Bread 99
XIV An Opossum Hunt 102
XV Ransum, Scansum 108
XVI Lay Dis Body Down 1 1 1 The Songs of Souls
List of Music
Page
1 Roun de Corn Sally 25
11 Anniebelle 27
III Ragged Leevy 29
IV Michael Row the Boat Ashore 35
V Motherless Child 59
VI Foller De Drinkin’ Gou’d 65
VII Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd 67
VIII I’m On My Way 69
IX Little David Play On Your Harp 76
X Pay Me My Money Down 88
XI Run, Nigger, Run 93
XII Run, Nigger, Run 95
XIII Shortenin’ Bread 99
XIV An Opossum Hunt 102
XV Ransum, Scansum 108
XVI Lay Dis Body Down 1 1 1 The Songs of Souls Page 1
INTRODUCTION
Little of beauty has America giving this world save i n the rude grandeur God himself stamped on her bosom! The human spirit i n this new world has expressed itself i n vigor and ingenuity rather than beauty. And so by fateful chance the Negro folk-song, the rhythmic cry of the slaves - stands today not simply as thesole American music, but as the most beautiful expression of human experience born this side of the seas. 11 has been neglected, i t has been, and i s half despised, and above a 11 i t has been persistently mistaken and misunderstood; but not withstanding, i t s till remains as the singular spiritual heritage of the nation and the greatest g if t of the Negro people. Dr. W.E.B. DuBois1
Chained ankle to ankle, in the bowels of vessels headed for the
New World, hundreds of thousands of West Africans, most torn from their clans and tribes by warring tribal chiefs, were traded into slavery. This one-way passage to the Americas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was “ a veritable nightmare.” A ship that should only carry ninety tons would carry over four hundred slaves, crew and provisions. Serious overcrowding prevailed even though there was a regulation preventing carrying more tonnage than
1 Maude Cuney-Hare. Negro Musicians and Their, Music (New York:DaCapo Press, 1 974) 120. The Songs of Souls Page 2
allowed. “The practice of overcrowding slaves became so common that the British Parliament fe lt compelled to specify that not more than five slaves could be carried for every three tons of the burden of a ship of two hundred tons.” Few, i f any, traders, lured by higher
2 profits, would not “resist the temptation to wedge in a few more.”
Smallpox, fever, other diseases and epidemics accounted for the large death rate that took place on these vessels. These captive passengers were forced to live in spaces that could only equal that of a coffin because a waste of space was deplorable. Filth in these confining areas brought on more disease, and death occurred at an even more alarming rate. More deadly perhaps than smallpox was the
3 dreaded flux, “ a frequently fatal malady.” The stench in the slaves’ quarters was staggering and made its own contribution to the
2 John Hope Franklin and Alfred a. Moss, Jr. From Slavery to Freedom, Seventh Edition. ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994) 37.
3 Flux was the frequent evacuation of the intestines resulting i n fluid stools, more commonly referred to as diarrhea. A doctor that accompanied many slave voyages reported that “the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux.” Peter Kolchin, American Slavery - 1619 - 1877 (New York: HilI and Wang, 1993) 21. The Songs of Souls Page 3
appalling conditions aboard ship. Olaudah Equiani, a slave, reported:
I was put down under the decks and there I received such a salutation i n my nostrils as I had never experienced i n my I if e. . . . I now wished for the last friend, death, to relieve me.4
Many died as they were “denied the food and sanitary facilities
5 necessary for life.”
If disease did not strike or cause death, suicide was an alternative many chose. On a good weather day, slaves would be taken to the top deck and during their “airings” were forced to dance, which was “ a painful exercise for those in chains [and]
6 thought to combat scurvy.” If an opportunity arose, jumping overboard sealed their destiny. Murder among themselves was not uncommon. A fellow slave i n chains may have, in a frenzy, killed his partner to gain more space to breathe. “ 11 was common to find a dead
4 The Saginaw News. A 14, Sunday, March 19, 1995.
5 James Haskins, Black Music an America (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1987) 4.
6 Kolchin 21. The Songs of Souls Page 4
slave and a living slave chained together.”7 The eight to ten week journey saw many suffocate or go mad. So many died on these ships of suffering and were thrown overboard that sharks were constant companions and followed them on their voyages to America. Cruelty took on a different dimension when a captain on one of the slave ships was reported to have thrown one hundred thirty-one slaves
8 overboard, all in order to claim the insurance.
Before any slaves had left their homeland, all possessions and dignity had been removed. Tribesmen and relatives were quickly and deliberately separated because they could organize and execute revolts i f I eft together. Even religions were banned. This practice continued when they arrived in America just in case there had been any that had slipped through this indoctrination. In addition, slave holders bent over backwards to make sure there would be no communal language. Slaves were then broken in by brutality and fright in order to render them submissive and docile. This seasoning could take from two to three years as new slaves were
7 Lerone Bennett, Jr., Before The Mayflower - A History of Black America (New York: Penguin Books, 1988) 49.
8 The Saginaw News A 14. The Songs of Souls Page 5
forced to learn a new language, new customs and their new names.
Some suicides took place when slaves reached their destination in America. Eighteen slaves, upon learning their fate when they arrived on St. Simon Islands, bound themselves together and drowned in Dunbar Creek. These men sang this song while they went down:
Freedom over me Before I be a slave, I be buried in my grave, And go home t o my Lord and be free. No mo’ cryin over me, Before I be a slave. . . .9
What could not be taken away from these men, women and children were the memories, souls, cultural traditions, and music of
1 o the “Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, and the Slave Coast” of West Africa.
Therefore, music became a means for their communication. Theirs was the music of tradition: music to that accompany the hunt, religious ceremonies, death, and war; music to make work easier and
9 Folktales and Story Festival - Summer, 1 992, as told by the Quimbys’.
10 Frank Tirro. Jazz - A Flistory (Now York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1977) 31. The Songs of Souls Page 6
to celebrate the small things in life, such as a first tooth of an infant. Their music was “woven into the culture, forming a part of ordinary living almost as ubiquitous as speech.”11 This musical tradition allowed them to survive the initial indignity of slavery, and is through this music that slaves documented their culture and consciousness. For a time, once settled in the New World, slaves were permitted, or even encouraged, to keep their music alive. The
1 2 premise was that it kept them happy and docile.”
Blacks had an exceptional interest and ability in music, so, as much as possible when they f i rst arrived, they continued t o practice their own African music. African cultures placed strong emphasis on the rhythmic aspect of thier music. The result was a diverse range of highly complex, intricate thythm patterns so refined that most whites could not derive meaning from them. The African’s original source of rhythm was the dance. Negroes were adept at changing rhythms, skipping beats, doubling beats, sudden tempo
11 Barry Kernfield, Ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1 988) 580. Music played a role i n the African’s society as speech does i n ours.
12 Ibid., 581. The Songs of Souls Page 7
increases and daring climaxes: all apparent in their songs. These abilities were indigenous, not self-conscious.
Indentured servant was the rank of the firs t blacks who arrived on the American shores of the Atlantic. Twenty Africans arrived on a Dutch Man of War in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619.
Legally they were not slaves and most of these twenty blacks had secured their freedom by 1650, having served out their agreed upon time. Freedom was given to all blacks providing they had been baptized upon completion of their service.
As time went on, Virginia fell behind in satisfying its labor needs, and governmental leaders realized that Indians and indentured servants were not enough. Not to be denied its quest for wealth,
Virginia’s leaders looked to the Caribbean and determined that the seemingly inexhaustible supply of blacks were “non-Christian” , could be punished and disciplined, and could not escape. These “sub humans” could be used to clear the forests and work the ever increasing tobacco crops.
By 1700, all thirteen colonies had converted to the “peculiar The Songs of Souls Page 8
1 3 institution”. Slavery had grown slowly, but by this time more than a thousand slaves were annually entering Virginia.
First by custom and then by law, slavery became established.
Laws were enacted in the colonies ensuring that each black who entered America was sure to have a lifetime of servitude. A 1641 law in Massachusetts stated there would be no “enslavement of men except for ‘lawful captives taken in just warres, and such strangers
1 4 as willing to sell themselves or are sold to us.’ ” 11 was easy to evade the law. The slave traders merely made sure they purchased only captives of African wars and those that were sold by other tribal chiefs. In 1684, a law passed in Maryland stated that all “non
- Christian” blacks must serve for life. Men who wrote the law, recognizing there could be a way around this, eventually passed an amendment which stated that no black could be baptized i n order to gain freedom.
Blacks had become property to be bought and sold. They
13 Contemporary writings about slavery refer t o slavery as the “peculiar institution”.
14 Eileen Southern. The Music of Black Americans: A History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1971) 24. The Songs of Souls Page 9
became a profitable, highly valuable commodity.
Slave codes were established and all rights of slaves were removed. They were not permitted to leave the plantation without the written permission of their masters. Slaves found guilty of rape and murder (in which they were always found guilty) were to be hanged. Petty and insolent behavior, behavior associated with free blacks and whites, were reasons for the slave t o be whipped, beaten, or maimed.
A slave could not carry arms or participate in private mercantile enterprise unless written permission was given. They could not testify in court unless against another black and could not assemble in groups of five or more. Major crimes such as robbery
(stealing food was a major crime) resulted i n being lashed, pilloried, and having one’s ears cut off. They were not taught to read and write, and under no circumstances could they protect themselves against the abuses of the white man.
For a time, slave holders did not realize that the make shift drums of the slaves, made out of nail kegs and hollow logs with animal skins stretched across their openings, were being used for communication with each other. Drums could be heard from The Songs of Souls Page 1 0
plantation to plantation and were used to communicate future revolts and possible escapes.
Eventually, in the South, horns and drums, natural accompaniments to the music, were banned as slave owners feared they would be used for communication and signaling from one to another as they became well aware of the drum’s traditional use in
Africa. They were called “talking instruments and made every effort to eliminate that source of secret communication among the
1 5 slaves.” However, slaves turned themselves into instruments and used their feet against the floors of huts to replace their banned drums. Instruments such as a horn could also be used for “practical purposes” such as communication from slave holder to slave
1 6 announcing time to leave for work or time to return home.
In addition, their celebrations and festivals17 were
15 Southern 182.
16 Ibid., 183.
17 In the English colonies, for a time blacks were allowed to continue with their festivals as there were not large numbers t o present a threat of revolt. One festival was the ’’Pinkster Day” celebration which was very much like their African precursor. This was the name given t o Whitsunday in the Anglican Church. The Songs of Souls Page 1 1
discouraged and, in most cases, were not allowed. By 1800, the majority of festivals had ceased to exist altogether. Therefore, with no formal ritual to continue the African musical tradition, music lost force and began to dissipate.
Most slaves were exposed to European music and began to sing in that manner. They could hardly ignore the culture of whites around them, so, as time passed, European and African music began to merge. As a result, folk music of black Americans gradually took root in the slave experience. 11 was this environment that nurtured the emotional life so necessary to create and develop the true folk
1 8 song. It is from these people that a “mass of noble music sprang.”
It appears that songs of the plantation were born not made.
They were the spontaneous utterances of the whole, not just the individual, and vividly portrayed the aspirations, sorrows and joys of these black people. “Slave songs reveal the social consciousness
18 James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson, The Book of American Negro Spirituals, including The Book of American Negro Spirituals and The Second Book of Npgrn Spirituals (New York: DaCapo Press, Inc., 1988) 13. The Songs of Souls Page 12
1 9 of blacks who refuse to accept white limitations.” Pathos and sorrow stood alongside humor and delight in songs which depicted
images and allegories, mystery and beauty, as well as the elegance
both of nature and the soul. Stories of death and brutality lived in
20 the poetry of these songs. They told of “Massa” using whips and
harsh words while poor wretched slaves pleaded for mercy.
From the moment Negroes arrived in North America, conditions
were favorable to spawn folk songs. Slavery was the starting point,
and i t gave color to music which expressed the tragedy of life as
2 1 “the sorrows of slavery pierced his heart and poured itself out.” I f
nothing more distinctive of a race existed, i t was the character of
Negroes who produced this true American folk music. Songs were an
expression of their character and feelings and the “emotional soul
possessed of melody expresses itself in those unmistakable terms
19 James H. Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues: An Interpretation (New York: Seabury Press, 1972, Second Printing) 14.
20 All sources refer to the slave owner as “Massa”.
21 John Wesley Work, A.M., Folksong of the American Negro (New York: Negro Universities Press, 1915) 27. The Songs of Souls Page 13
22 which portray the Negro as nothing else can.”
Negroes’ souls traveled the heights of ecstasy or the depths of sorrow as their fertile imaginations spun the melody and words of the world in which they were beaten, worked, and starved to death.
Their souls shouted out their inner self, their personalities, their auras, and their spirit. Their sorrow is forever expressed in this music. An old slave woman described the songs as a music that
2 3 could only be created with “ a full heart and a troubled spirit."
Slavery was their sorrow.
There was seldom any opposition from the white overlords toward singing because to them a singing black was a happy black who was less likely t o cause trouble. Another old slave woman told that those slaves i n the fields would “sing them song so p itifu l, and so long ‘t i I they would be crying; but when they see the boss coming they would make like a gnat got in their eye. Cos you know, the boss
24 didn’t want them t o feel that - a - way...” Another said “got one
22 Ibid., 32.
23 Peter Gammond, The Oxford Companion to Popular Music (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) 68..
24 J. Lester. To be a .Slave (NewYork: Dial Press, 1968) 15. The Songs of Souls Page 14
25 mind for the boss to see, got another mind for what I know i s me.”
Songs and calls of communication among slaves were considered unimportant by masters and white visitors. Slaves had developed a language white men could not understand, and therefore i t was heeded unimportant by whites. Slaves did, in fact, use music to keep up their spirits. The music allowed a slave opportunities to “assert his humanity in an environment that constantly denied his
26 humanness.” In addition, slave songs also could be an alert to danger or a guide to those trying to gain freedom. Blacks only allowed whites to hear what they wanted them to hear, making the
27 slave song “their most splendid vehicle of self-expression.”
Frederick Douglass explained the meaning of songs when he stated slaves sang most when they were unhappy:
While on their way, they would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate w ith th e irw ild songs, revealing at once the highest joy and the deepest sadness. They would compose and sing as they went along, consulting neither time nor tune....I did not,
25 Ibid., 99.
26 Southern 155.
27 Kenneth M. Stamp, The Peculiar Institution (New York: Vintage Books, 1 956) 368. The Songs of Souls Page 1 5
when a slave, understand the deep meanings of those rude and apparently incoherent songs. I was myself within the circle so that I neither saw nor heard as those without [the circle] might see and hear. They told a tale which was then altogether beyond my comprehension; they were tones loud, long and deep, breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling over with bitterest anguish. Every tone was testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains.28
28 Southern 166. The Songs of Souls Page 1 6
CHAPTER I
Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as go to work. A silent slave i s not liked by masters or overseers. “Make a noise, Make a noise, bear a hand.” Frederick Douglass1
WORKSONG
Worksongs principally used a unique method or musical structure named “call-response.” 11 is distinctive in typical black folk songs where important messages and announcements were called out and there was an immediate response by other members of the group. The call - response allowed individuals to make up new verses t o songs which were t o be answered by the group. Responses were normally positive in nature and emotionally charged, and travelers found the music of slaves to be exotic, captivating and
2 expressive.
The primary music for Southern blacks was the work song. 11
1 Southern 160.
2 Thus type o r response i s heard today as we hear an Amen o r Hallelujah interjected between a preacher’s words as he tells the Gospel or how to live an exemplary I if e i n order to reach the Lord. The Songs of Souls Page 1 7
i s ironic that Europeans never had a strong tradition of work songs; therefore, this was an area that contained no local cultural tradition to follow, hinder, or be in opposition to, and the slave’s own music,
3 containing African elements, could be used. Songs were of a fairly
simple structure, almost to the point of being without structure.
Lyrics were not always important nor did they have anything to do
with the work being done, but the songs emphasized rhythm,
imagination, and explored the timbre of the voice. Blurry and buzzy
tones, as well as raspy vocal deliveries were used. The work song
was of direct African derivation and was the first musical
expression of blacks in America. The desire to sing while working
was a characteristic from their home land. The responsive form, in
relation to the work being done as well as improvisation, “bears a
4 striking affinity to its counterparts in African tradition.” The
work song retained the greatest number of Africanisms. What is
important to note i s that i t i s immaterial whether the “use of song
3 At first, all the music of the black slaves was of African derivation.
4 Harold Courlander, Negro Folk Music. U.S.A. (New York: DaCapo Press, 1974) 91. The Songs of Souls Page 1 8
as a stimulant to work was brought from Africa or was acquired i n
America; the significant fact is that wherever [N]egro slavery
5 existed on this continent there it was found.”
There was no objection from plantation owners or overseers i f slaves sang while they worked, so long as the work got done.
Eventually slave holders began to notice that slaves worked harder
as they sang. They even recorded that the songs were conducive to a
greater work output, thus slave owners demanded a fast and lively
work music for slaves.
Individual inventiveness was stressed and all songs contained
energy and emotion. The essence of the songs and their hybrid
nature of newly created elements, both African and American,
combined in various ways to give birth to a rich and varied
tradition.6
The songs contained gossip, protest, derision and criticism
while slaves sang of salvation, good lives, bad lives, hard work, love
5 Henry Edward Krehbiel, Afro-American Folksongs - A Study in Racial and National Music. (New York: G Schirmer, Inc. 1914) 47.
6 H. Wiley Hitchcock. Music in the United States (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1 988) 24. The Songs of Souls Page 1 9
and about preachers and gang bosses. Even blacks themselves
insisted that constant backbreaking work was more bearable i f there
was song, for the music gave slaves the energy and the rhythm to do their job. For this reason, the work song “became the principal
carrier of the black musical tradition down even t o the early part of
this century where body labor began to give away to machine.”7
The songs of work were endless and contained a variety of
styles, contents and functions. The fishing, weaving and hunting
songs of Africa were replaced with references of toil, hard labor,
and working the fields of the “Massa”. The work songs of Africa
were stripped and new cultural references from America were found.
Whether the call-response form of gang labor or the lament of a
single worker, song was to be heard. The work song would let the
overseer know where and how we 11 the slaves were moving with the
task at hand. They were used at corn shucking bees, rice huskings,
as well as used for distraction, to take their minds off work. For
example, a laundress, while she was ironing, may have sung:
De tu’key buzzard len’ me y’u wing
7 James Lincoln Collier. The Making of Jazz. (New York: Delta Books, 1 978) 3 - 38. The Songs of Souls Page 2 0
8 T ’ f I y ova yonda t ’ see Miss Geo’gia King.
Songs were sung to help the worker execute the task at hand.
It was particularly helpful to pace a single worker’s activities.
Most importantly, the work song diverted a slave’s mind from the
9 “oppressive tedium of monotonous tasks.”
CQRNSQNGS. RICE SONGS. HAMMERIN’ SONGS and MORE
Many secular songs - shanty songs, cornsongs and even dance songs - were considered songs of the flesh and the devil. Cornsongs displayed a slave’s talent for music and poetry as Negroes gathered from their plantation and from neighboring plantations to work
1 o nearly all night to “shock” the corn. Corn was a staple for the slaves’ diet and their concern and interest was apparent as they devoted much of their song repertory to corn songs.
As slaves gathered for the evening of work, good food, and
8 Lydia Parrish, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands (Pennsylvania: Folklore Associates, Inc., 1942) 243.
9 H. Wylie Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie, Eds., The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Volume IV (London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1 986 564.
10 Many slaves used “shock” and shuck interchangeably when they referred to corn shucking time. The Songs of Souls Page 21
some fun, they sang as they traveled to the barn:
A ll dem puty gals w ill dar, Shuck dat corn before you eat, Dey w i 11 f i x i t f e r us rare, Shuck dat corn before you eat, I know dat supper w i 11 be big, Shuck dat corn before you eat, I thinkl sm ellafine roast pig, Shuck dat corn before you eat, I hope dey’ll have some whisky dar, Shuck dat corn before you eat, I think I ’ 11 f i 11 my pockets f u ll, Shuck dat corn before you eat.11
These work festivals, as they were sometimes called, brought
brightness to the lives of slaves and relieved them from the
monotony of their daily lives.
Most slaves looked forward to corn shucking time. As one
Alabama slave, Sam Colquett, said:
Next to our dances, de most fun was corn-shuking. Marsa would have de corn hauled up to de crib, and piled as a house. Den he would invite de hands ‘round to come and hope shuck it . Us had two leaders or generals and choose up two sides. Den us see which side w ouldw infirst and holler and sing....Marsa would pass de jug around too. Den dey
11 John W. Blassinaame, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Ante-bellum South (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972) 117. The Songs of Souls Page 2 2
sho’ could work and dat pile’d j ust vanish.12
The leader sang his part, which aided the coordination of movements of the slaves as they did their work, and all the rest joined in the chorus. The following is one such call - response corn ‘shock’ song:
“Leader: I loves old Virginny Chorus: So ho! boys! so ho! Leader: I love t o shuck corn. Chorus: So ho! boys! so ho! Leader Now’s the picking cotton time. Chorus Leader W e’ll make the money, boys. Chorus Leader My master i s a gentleman. Chorus Leader He came from Old Dominion. Chorus Leader And m istress i s a lady. Chorus Leader Right from the land of Washington. Chorus Leader We alI live in Mississippi. Chorus Leader The land f o r making cotton. Chorus Leader They used to tel I of cotton seed. Chorus Leader As dinner fo r the negro man. Chorus Leader But boys and gals it’s al I a lie. Chorus Leader We live i n a fa t land. Chorus Leader Hog meat and hominy. Chorus Leader Good bread and Indian dumplins. Chorus Leader Music roots and rich molasses. Chorus Leader The negro up to picking cotton. Chorus Leader An old ox broke his neck. Chorus Leader He belong t o old Jo R Chorus Leader He cut him up fo r negro meat. Chorus Leader My master say he be a rascal. Chorus Leader His negroes shall not shuck his corn. Chorus Leader No negro w i 11 pick his cotton. Chorus Leader Old Joe hire Indian. Chorus Leader I gwine home to Africa. Chorus
12 Eugene D. Genovese. Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Marte (New York: Vintage Press, 1976) 315. The Songs of Souls Page 2 3
Leader: - My overseer says so. Chorus Leader: - He scold only bad negroes. Chorus Leader: - Here goes the corn boys. C horus” 13
I f the first leader had finished, another would join in with a second song fashioned after the first:
“Leader: - George Washington was a gentleman. Chorus: - Here goes the corn Leader: - I don’t love pedlars. Chorus: - Here goes the corn Leader: - They cheat me i n my rabbit skins. Chorus
14 Leader: - When I brought th e ir ti n ware. C horus“
Corn songs were primarily secular texts and very few have been reported. In many instances corn songs were just for fun and part of the good times as well as encouragement for the workers.
The frolicking atmosphere, one of good times, drink and dance, did not lend itself to religious songs. The following, “Roun’ de Corn,
Sally” is one example of a corn song which was intended for social conditions: (Figure I)
13 Epstein, Dena J., Sinful Tunes and Spirituals. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977) 173. It might be noted, transcriptions that have been copied through the years may have been subjected to sensitivity in regards to certain word usage regardless of adhering to authenticity. The use of Negro in this song may have been one such word.
14 Ibid., 174. The Songs of Souls Page 2 4
“Roun’ de Corn S a lly”
Hoo-ray, hoo-ray, ho! Roun’ de corn, Sally! [Chorus} Hoo-ray foralldelub-ly ladies! [Solo] Roun’ de corn, Sally! [Chorus] Hoo-ray, hoo-ray, ho! [Solo] Roun’ de corn, Sally! [Chorus] Hoo-ray f o r a 11 de lub-ly ladies! [Solo] Roun’ de corn, Sally! [Chorus]15
Even the wood cutter had his song:
A cold frosty morning, The niggers feeling good, Take your axe upon your shoulder, Nigger, ta lk to the wood.16
R Q Mallard, in his book Plantation Life Before Emancipation remarked as he recalled a rice frolic on his plantation:
The di rt flo o r i s beaten hard and swept clean the sheaves of golden rice arranged upon i t side by side. And now the sta lw a rt laborers, w ith th e ir hickory fla ils , beat o ff the heads of grain from the yellow straw....The rhythmical beat of the numerous fla ils is accompanied by a recitative and improvised song of endless proportions, led by one musical voice, all [the others] joining i n the chorus, can be heard a mile.17
15 Southern 161.
16 Ibid., 179.
17 Southern. A History 167. Figure I Page 25 Roun de Com, Sally
Solo
Chorus
Hoo - ray, hoo - ray, ho! Roun' de com, Sal ly! 3 Solo Chorus Solo 0 0 0 0 § m m Hoo-ray for all delub-ly la-dies! Roun'de com, Sal - ly! Hoo-ray, hoo-ray, ho!
a Chorus Solo Chorus Fine W~'0
Roun'de com Sal - ly! Hoo-ray for all delub-ly la-dies! Roun'de com, Sal - ly! The Songs of Souls Page 2 6
Most important was the rhythm of the song. The work song synchronized the rhythm of group tasks. The song pulled together
and coordinated actions of a large group of workers as w e ll as paced them to pass the time. The leader improvised the lyrics and
melodies and would alternate with the groups recurrent rhythmic
punctuation: chopping, hammering, or pulling a heavy load.
“Anniebelle” i s one such song that could be adapted t o many areas of
work such as “‘sp ikin ’ s te e l” on the railroads or even loading lumber.
The ‘Hunh!’ rhythm response coordinated the chop of the axe or the
pull of a load. Its primary use was “spikin’ steel” but i f i t was used
1 8 in the mines it was called a “hammerin’ song”: (Figure II)
“Anniebelle”
Anniebelle - Hunh! Don’t weep - Hunh! Anniebelle - Hunh! Don’t moan - Hunh! Anniebelle - Hunh! Don’t go - Hunh! Leave home. - Hunh! When I throw - Hunh! My head - Hunh! In the bar - Hunh! Room doo’ - Hunh! I’ll never - Hunh!
18 Parrish 56. Figure II
Anniebelle 8
s $ An- nie - belle (huh!) don' weep (huh!) An - nie - belle
& 0---0
(huh!) don' moan (huh!) An - nie-belle (huh!) don'
p 1— f t ------;------( f t ------0 v J SOV / ------— 0 -o ------0 H------go (huh!) leave home (huh!) When Ah throw (huh!) mah 10
o f t Vs o/ ------V / SO------0-0I—# ■ =*9 ------# ------0 ------0 -e head (huh!) in - nuhbah (huhl) room dooh (huh!) Ah 13 5 ------
0 0^ 0 &
nev- uh (huh!) get drunk (huh!) no mo' (huh!) Don'wanna hurt no 16
( f------t w ------^ 9 ------W ------J• ------0 ------0 *r4- 0 -Q bo dy_ (huh!) Oh no! (huh!) Oh no! (huh!) Dis ole 19 p^ SO— W— 0 * 0 SO---- VSO— / ---0 -----m -G — ^ — 0 • 0 0 • l= H ------J -M-* hanrnah (huh!) Kill John Hen-ry_ (huh!) laid 'im low bud-dy (huh!) laid 'im 22
low bud - dy (huh!) The Songs of Souls Page 2 8
Get drunk - Hunh! No mo’. - Hunh! Don’t want t ’ hurt nobody - Hunh! O-h no - Hunh! O-h no - Hunh! Dis ole hammer - Hunh! K ill John Henry - Hunh! Laid him low buddy - Hunh! Laid him low. - Hunh! Ain’t no hammer - Hunh! In this mount’in - Hunh! Ring like mine buddy - Hunh! Ring like mine buddy. - Hunh! 19
An apt song fo r singing as the slave was liftin g or pulling heavy weights was th is black stevedore’s song, the meaning of which i s rather obscure. The song reflects on early rising (soon) of
Raggy Levy to sit by the fireplace and eat sweet potatoes which had been roasting in the fire. Hand built fences of stone are mentioned,
20 and exactly who Mr. Sippelin was is unknown. (Figure III)
Raggy Levy”
Leader: Oh, Raggy Levy, Group: Oho! Raggy Levy. L: Oh, Raggy Levy G Poor boy, he’s ragged as a jaybird.
L: In the mornin’,
19 Parrish 222.
20 Ibid., 213. Figure III Page 29 Ragged Leevy
Rag - ged Lee Oh Ho
Rag-ged LeeDo Rag ed Lee vy Oh Boy You's
rag-ged lak a Jay bird. lin, Ah'in gon-nah
buil’ me a sto’e fenceIn nuh mawn - in' Oh Ho
soon in nuh mawn - in In nuh mawn - in' When Ah rise Ah'mgon-nah
set by duh fi ah. In nuhmawn in. Oh Ho
soon in nuh mawn - in'. In nuh mawn - in When Ah rise Ah'mgon- nah
set by duh fi - ah. Sip - lin. Ah's nahgon Page 30 id %
buil' me a sto'e fence Sip - lin M 's gon - nah 27
buil' me a sto'e fence Rag - ged Lee vy. Oh boy you's 30
ragged lak a jay bird. The Songs of Souls Page 31
G Oho! soon in the mornin’, L: In the mornin” G When I rise, I’m goin” ta sit by the fiah.
L: Mr. Sippelin, G Hi gonna build me a stone fence, (repeat)
L: Sweet potato, G Oho! Sweet potato, L: Sweet potato, G Poor boy, got two i n the fiah.
L: Mr. Sippelin, G Hi gonna build me a stone fence.
L: Sweet potato, G Oho! Sweet potato, L: Sweet potato, G Poor boy, gottw ointhefiah.
L: Mr. Sippelin, G Hi gonna build me a stone fence.
L: Sweet potato, G Oho! Sweet potato, L: Sweet potato, G Poor boy, got two i n the fiah.
L: Oh, Raggy Levy, G Oho! Raggy Levy. L: Oh, Raggy Levy G Poor boy, he’s ragged as a jaybird.21
Another translation of the same Georgia Sea Island song
“Raggy Levy” is “Ragged Leevy” as reported by Lydia Parrish in her
21 Georgia Sea Island Songs. New York: New World Records, 1977. The Songs of Souls Page 3 2
book Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands:
“Ragged Leevy”
Ragged Leevy! Oh - Ho! Do ragged Leevy Ragged Leevy! O boy! You ragged like a ja y bird! Mr., Sipplin! Ha-n-nh Goin’ to buil’ me a sto’e fence (stone fence) In the mornin’ - Oh - Ho! Soon i n the mornin’. Hos’ an’ buggy - Oh - Ho! Hos’ an’ buggy - Oh boy! Dey’s no one t o drive ‘urn. Mr. Sipplin! Ha-n-nh In de mornin’ When I rise I goin’ to sit by de fire. In de mornin’ Oh - Ho! Osoon in de mornin’ In de mornin’ When I rise I goin’ t o s i t by de fire. Mauma Dinah Oh - Ho! Do Mauma Dinah Mauma Dinah Ogal I can’t suppo’t you. Mr. Sipplin! Ha - n - nh. Do Mr. Sipplin Walkin’ talkin’! O Buil’ me a sto’e fence. Sweet potato Oh - Ho! Sweet potato Sweet potato O boy There’s two in de fire. Mr. Sipplin! Ha - n - nh Goin’ to bu il’ me a sto’e fence In de mornin’ Oh - Ho! The Songs of Souls Page 3 3
When I rise I goin’ to sit by de fire.22
ROWING AND BOAT SONGS
Rowing and boat songs compromised an important part of slaves’ song repertoire. The custom of singing w hile rowing came from Africa. These songs had smooth flowing rhythms. John
Lambert, a British traveler, remarked that the tunes were “rather monotonous but had a pleasing effect. The boatman kept time with it with every stroke of the oars.” They sang:
We all are going down to Georgia, boys, Aye, aye, To see the pretty g ir l, boys, Aye, aye, W e’ll give them a pint of brandy, boys, Aye, aye, And a hearty kiss besides, boys, Aye, aye.23
Rowing songs were primarily call - response in nature and there was a measure of text to each stroke. The f i rst beat accented the beginning of the stroke.
Another example of a work song, “Michael Row de Boat
Ashore”, was used to coordinate the strokes of the oar as they rowed a boat from shore to shore or when the load was particularly heavy and were perhaps rowing against the tide. The song would
22 Parrish 212.
23 Southern 177. The Songs of Souls Page 3 4
alleviate boredom and new lyrics would spring up spontaneously t
24 match the occasions of the day: (Figure IV)
Leader: Michael row de boat a shore, Chorus: hallelujah, Leader: Michael row de boat a shore, Chorus: hallelujah.
2. Gabriel blow de trumpet horn 3. Jordan stream am wide and deep 4. Jesus stand on d’other side 5. Lordy plants his garden there 6. He rise fr u it fo r you to eat 7. He dat eat shall never die 8. Sinner row to save your soul25
Slave Songs of the United States lists the following version:
1. Michael row de boat a shore, Chorus: hallelujah! 2. Michael boat a gospel boat, Chorus: hallelujah! 3. I wonder where my mudder deh (there). 4. See my mudder on de rock gwine home. 5. On de rock gwine home i n Jesus’ name. 6. Michael boat a music boat. 7. Gabriel blow de trumpet horn. 8. Oyou mind your boastin’ talk. 9. Boastin’ talk w i 11 sink your soul. 10. Brudder, lend a helpin’ hand.
24 W illiam Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, Lucy McKim Garrison, Slave Songs of the Unted States. (New York: Peter Smith, 1951) 23.
25 Samuel L. Forcucci, A Folk Song History of America (New Jersey Prentice - Hall, Inc., 1984) 92. Figure IV Page 35 Michael Row the Boat Ashore
$
Mich ael row de boat a shore, Hal - le
%
lu - jah! Mich ael boat a gos - pel
4 - ^ — ^ — • ------• I II ------»— i 9 - m J S 5 r
boat, Hal le lu jah! The Songs of Souls Page 3 6
11. Sister, help fo r trim dat boat. 12. Jordan stream i s wide and deep. 13. Jesus stand on t ’ Oder side. 14. I wonder i f my maussa deh. 15. My fader gone to unknown land. 16. Ode Lord he plant his garden deh. 17. He raise de f ru it fo r you to eat. 18. He dat eat shall neber die. 19. When de riber overflow. 20. O poor sinner, how you land? 21. Riber run and darkness cornin’. 22. Sinner row to save your soul.
The following verses came from Hilton Head:
Michael haul the boat ashore. Then you’ll hear the horn they blow. Then you’ll hear the trumpet sound. Trumpet sound the world around. Trumpet sound f o r rich and poor. Trumpet sound fo r jubilee Trumpet sound fo r you and me.26
Michael refers to the archangel named in the Bible. This song is considered a real spiritual, and one of the finest and purest boat songs.
The winds, tides, and a heavy load were madebearable and easier withsong and as the singing stopped, the rowingwould flag.
In addition, the rhythm of the song had to be adjusted to the stroke of the oar. The following is another example of a rowing song:
26 Allen 23 - 24. The Songs of Souls Page
Chorus: Owhen (0 when) OWhen (O when) Owhen I come to die Give me Jesus
When I am dying When I am dying When I am dying my Lord Give me Jesus (repeat chorus)
When the doctor give me over When the doctor give me over When the doctor give me over Lord Give me Jesus. (repeat chorus) When my friends forsake me When my friends forsake me When my friends forsake me Lord Give me Jesus (repeat chorus)
When trouble i s over When trouble i s over When trouble is over Lord, Give me Jesus (repeat chorus)27
“Sold Off t o Georgy” was recorded by a young man from
Baltimore, James Hungerford, in 1832:
Solo: Farewell, fellow servants Chorus: Oho, Oho Solo: I’m gwine way to leabe you
27 Parrish 240. The Songs of Souls Page 3 8
Chorus: Oho, Oho Solo: I’m gwine to leabe de ole country Chorus: Oho, Oho Solo: I’ m sold of f to Georgy Chorus: Oho, Oho.”28
The tempo of this song paralleled the pulling of the oars.
The preeminent focus on the work song was because th is is what the slave did most of his waking hours - work. The tendency to sing was intensified as the slaves traveled to from the fields and worked. The rhythmic motion of the hoe and its clink provided impetus for singing.
Many of the songs are now extinct because of the reluctance of slaves to share with those outside the slave experience. Early accounts are usually visual descriptions with fragmentary texts.
The music was very seldom notated. In addition, “the Negro church frowned upon singing at work because they believed it to be the
29 product of the devil.” If approached face to face, a slave would never admit to knowing any work songs. Voices raised in song should only be used to praise God.
Happiness achieved fast work and cheerful songs w hile
28 Collier 19.
29 Forcucci 99. The Songs of Souls Page 3 9
sadness created mournful songs and slow work. Tempos, texts and melodies were all important to the work and each was used by the worker to f i t his mood. As slaves returned from the field at the end of the day, they were heard by al I as they sang together. 11 was not always the words but the music that conveyed the message of despair and hopelessness. The slave’s songs were his diaries, not w ritte n w ith pen and paper, but recorded through song and the oral tradition.
Many argued that the carefree singing of the slaves was proof of their happy lot in life. A slave was a “happy go lucky spirit.”
However, M J. Chapman wrote In Blackwood’s Edenburgh Magazine that “human beings dance and sing in the midst of many miseries; nor because they are sometimes singing and dancing, are we to
30 conclude that they are contented with their condition. .
SONG LEADER
A good leader of the work songs was important to the life of slaves. He was as necessary to work gangs as a m inister was to his church. A bright leader could sense when and what songs were
30 Cuny-Hare 90. The Songs of Souls Page 4 0
needed as well as the best way to sing them. Quite often he improvised not only the music but also the words. Many songs were heard for the first time just before an event took place.
Southern slave owners regarded singing at work to be a relatively harmless activity, and slave owners even encouraged i t by picking out the better singers and assigning them the task of singing out in the field. The value of these men was quickly recognized, and
“these men commanded a premium price on the slave market and advertisements listed such accomplishments as an added
31 inducement.”
The singing leader had a special feel for the work being done.
In addition, he had a good understanding of the men. He had to be able to evoke music and work response from them. He created a spi rit to work quickly, and soon workers inthefield would join with the leaders to pass the time more quickly and to make the monotonous and tedious plantation work more bearable. The leader was given special incentives and rewards for a job well done. For example, he may have been excused from hard labor so his energies
31 John Rublowski, Black Music in America (New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1971) 65. The Songs of Souls Page 41
were committed to singing and leading the singers.
Texts or ideas for the leader’s songs may have come from an overheard conversation. Quarrels, women, or just an improvisation on a personal matter known only to the song leader were all inspirations to improvise a new work song. The Songs o f Souls Page 4 2
CHAPTER 11
The spiritual. . . is the spirit of the the people struggling to be free; i t is their religion, their source of strength i n a time of trouble. James H. Cone1
SPIRITUALS
The roots of Negro religious songs took hold in th e ir work songs, and because many of the work songs were of a religious
2 nature they were also in effect “sperichils”. “Slaves in the fields had every opportunity to invent new songs and devise new tunes. A
3 great many spirituals appear to have been created in this way...”
Spirituals received the bulk of attention and as a body of music are the best known. There is, and was, no doubt tha t they held great power and appeal and continue to do so. As slavery was their
1 Cone 32.
2 All sources referenced used the word “sperichiI” interchangeably with spiritual.
3 Paul Oliver, Max Harrison and William Bolcom. (The New Grove Gospel. Blues and Jazz (New York : W.W. Norton & Company, 1986) 4. The Songs of Souls Page 4 3
sorrow, religion was their comfort, hope and refuge; these songs
4 are “but the vocal expression of the simplicity of their faith.” The development of the spiritual was one of the achievements of Negroes
5 under slavery.
The spiritual’s text spoke of the struggle and hardship of slavery, and was a root of strength and encouragement. “The texts resound black people’s spiritual determination not only to endure and overcome racial hatred but to also aspire to Christian justice,
6 salvation, and immortality.” The Spiritual also spoke of joyful experiences and an affirmation of life. Spirituals satisfied many purposes as they were sung both in and out of church. It was a lament, a work song used in the fields and mills, and a gentle lullaby. Births, baptisms, sewing, cooking, and celebration holidays
4 Howard W. Odum, Ph.D., The Negro and His Songs (New York: The New American Library, 1969) 15.
5 It is unknown when the word spiritual first referred to the religious folk song of African Americans. By the 1860’s, the term had probably been in existence for some time as the authors of Slave Songs of the United States, written in 1867, used the term quite freely without any definition.
6 Ashenafi Kebede, Roots of Black Music (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.) 133. The Songs of Souls Page 4 4
were all reasons to sing these songs of endless variation and tempos.
The typical form of the “spi richiI” was an alternating line and refrain which allowed “endless extem porization.” Slides, moans, groans and shouts were accompanied by dancing, jerks, jumps and convulsions. While the “spi richi I” had an absence of part singing, the authors of Slave Songs of the United States noted that “yet no two appear to be singing the same thing.”7
Interestingly, colonial times saw blacks worshipping in white churches i f they worshipped at all. They were considered heathens, and thus missionaries included blacks in their conversions. While
“white slave owners were concerned that blacks should not rise up in rebellion, missionaries were concerned that they [blacks] should
8 not go down to hell.” At f i rst the slave owners were not alarmed about conversions and allowed the Christianization of their properties. Negroes eagerly embraced Christianity, abandoned th e ir
African worship, and quickly absorbed Biblical stories.
7 Oliver 5.
8 James Lincoln Chase, The Making of Jazz (New York: Delta Books, 1978) 68. The Songs of Souls Page 4 5
The early music of the white church was very primitive; i t was a very plain musical taste. Combined w ith Puritan bias against
9 music, not only could these early church goers not read well, they certainly could not read notes. Therefore, a method called “ lining o u t” developed. The m inister or another church o ffic e r would sing each line out to the congregation as it came along and the congregation would repeat the line, similar to the call - response found in the later spirituals and work songs. The hymnal did not contain the music, so the songs were sung to whatever music they knew well. What evolved were toneless, ragged, and almost spontaneous singings which were terribly out of tune, and blacks became a part of th is musical culture, at least in the North. Lining out was close to the traditional African work song of leader and chorus, and this probably contributed the popularity of this type of song.
Eventually, as the schism grew between the North and South and the attempts to create a new nation failed, blacks were driven out of the church as the black freedman concept was beginning to
9 Puritans thought music was a child of sin and the Devil. It impeded work and challenged moral restraint. The Songs of Souls Page 4 6
fade out and the push towards segregation won. Most blacks were glad to go because they were uncomfortable in white churches,
“wished to practice their religion in their own way,” and were tired of being treated like second class citizens in God’s house. They sat on the floor, in the gallery, or in a special section designated just for them. “For blacks the move was thus both a positive desire for
10 independent cultural expression and a defense against racism.” As a result, the black church took root.
As black churches sprang up in the South, whites feared lessening of control over blacks. Many planters did not allow their slaves to do as they pleased in regards to their worship. Their churches were social and religious centers, schools for adults and children, meeting places for political activists, and hideouts for runaway slaves. In addition, most states after 1 830 outlawed black preachers. Religious services were to be conducted by white preachers. Beliefs and religious practices were of utmost concern to slave holders and they became more cautious of these practices.
A slave could, however, understand the differences between
10 Genovese 235. The Songs of Souls Page 4 7
proslavery Gospel and that of the Scriptures. The slave holder was wise to be suspicious.
At firs t there were strong white influences, hymnody and psalmody,11 on these new churches that needed music, but these influences gradually dissipated and the folk song music tradition of the African slave infiltrated into the hymns and took over. “ It was in this way, church music picked up the procedure of black America
1 2 folk practices.”
GREAT AWAKENING
There was a movement during this time called the “great
1 3 awakening” orthe “second coming” in the white religion primarily among the common people. This was a revivalist movement in
11 Psalmody was the singing of psalms. The New England colonists regarded this practice an integral part of life. Hymnody was the singing of original songs encouraged by the Lutherans and were found i n the early Puritan services. Hitchcock, Chapter One, “Sacred Music in New England and Other Colonies.”
12 Collier 20.
13 Most sources refer to the “great Awakening” orthe “Second Coming” as interchangeable. This time period was from 1780 - 1830. The Songs of Souls Page 4 8
which the more formal religious practices were abandoned for the more emotional religious experience, and i t converted many blacks.
Methodist and Baptist denominations had the greatest influence as they moved with populations and adjusted to the needs of parishioners.
These meetings would last for several days in the woods and forests. At f i rst blacks often shared i n these gatherings, setting up their camps close to the tent cities of the whites. As these emotionally charged services, including hell and damnation sermons, began to dwindle in popularity in the white church, the practice swelled, settled, and firm ly entrenched itself in the churches of the blacks. The meetings were a “cultural parallel to African religious
1 4 ritu a l” so i t was a natural appeal t o the blacks. Singing was one of the most impressive aspects of the meeting and a new kind of song arose out of these meetings. 11 was the mingling of faith, culture, and music that the religious songs of the slaves came to fruition.
The spiritual was born, and these have been called “the firs t great
14 Collier 20. The Songs of Souls Page 4 9
1 5 black musical gift to America.”
Blacks tolerated physical motion and combined this body movement with hand clapping, foot tapping, dancing and rocking back and forth. The spiritual fulfilled the need to combine movement and music.
It can be gathered, however, that the spiritual influence affected both white and black churches as a mutual influence. Given the long exposure of blacks to white music, some white influences may have pervaded the Negro spiritual; but “the hymns heard in
1 6 white churches did not have the same inspiration as the Spiritual.”
There has been considerable controversy whether spirituals were truly the innovation of black slaves or whether authorship lay in Southern churches of whites, and did Negroes steal their many spirituals from the published tunebook of the whites? While some similarities may occur, i t seems highly unlikely and improbable that the very group accused of pilfering was forced into illiteracy by law. 11 would appear to be a rather flimsy proof of filching from a
15 Haskins 6.
16 Blassingame 139. The Songs of Souls Page 5 0
1 7 previous publication. Printed versions are not an accurate means to give age to a song because i t may have been i n the oral tradition a long time before a word or note was ever set to a page.
Spirituals of blacks differ from those of whites in several ways. There are lowered or flattened 3rd, 5th, and 7th notes and shading of the notes to achieve this. The shading added “ to the
1 8 melancholy of the ‘sorrow songs.’ ” Blacks frequently began with the chorus and then the verse. Counter rhythms were achieved by hand clapping and foot stamping and the use of syncopation, shifting the accent by anticipation and delaying the expected note were
1 9 clearly used. All this was done in lieu of drumming.
Missionaries tried to modify the music practices of the blacks but were unsuccessful. Eventually, I eft to themselves, blacks defied all rules, standards and structures of white practices. They did not sing composed songs word for word, but added choruses or refrains between verses, and what evolved were freely inspired songs,
17 Oliver Chapter I.
18 Ibid., 95.
19 Telford Brooks. America’s Black Musical Heritage (New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1984) 286. The Songs of Souls Page 5 1
composed on the spot. They resembled dance tunes which were likened to slave jubilee melodies. Negroes had created their own songs of yearning, protest, passion and oppression. They were songs that met the folksy, noisy atmosphere of the meeting. They were the slave spiritual.
When slaves were allowed to go to church, or praise - house as i t was sometimes called, and were out of a slave’s natural territory, they were given passes to leave, but they had to promise to return before day break. After an evening of prayers, a sermon and unlimited religious songs, shouts would start and would continue until morning. An appointed watcher would announce “Day’s a cornin’” and this song would be the last sung before i t was time to leave:
Day, day Oh - see day’s a-comin’ Ha’ke angels Day, day Oh - see day’s a-comin’ Ha’ke angels Day, day Oh - see day’s a cornin’ Ha’ke angels Oh look at say (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Look out the de windah (ha’k’e anqels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels See day’s a-comin (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels The Songs of Souls Page 5 2
See day’s a-comin (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Call my mother (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Throw off de covah (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Start that a-risin” (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Who that a-comin’ (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord Ha’ke angels Look out the de windah (ha’k’e angels) - Oh Lord20
Many of the spiritual and work songs, from the pre-Civil War era disappeared because freedmen had a tendency to associate them with slavery and, in turn, despised them as Spirituals , “the natural
21 outpouring of their sorrows and longings.” The Negro had obtained dignity with his freedom. Many slave songs have been lost because notation could not convey accurately the style of singing.
Lucy McKim, a Northern visitor to the South who was trained in music, attempted to describe some of their characteristic features:
11 is d ifficu ltto express the entire character of these negro ballads by mere musical notes and signs. The odd turns i n the throat; and the curious rhythmic effect produced by single voices chiming i n at different
20 Parrish 56.
21 H. Wylie Hitchcock and Stanley Sadie, Eds., The New Grove Dictionary of American Music. Volume Two (London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1 986) 15. The Songs of Souls Page 5 3
intervals, seem almost as impossible t o place on score, asthesingingofthe birds, orthe tones of an Aeolian Harp. The airs, however, can be reached. They are too decided not to be easily understood, and their striking originality would catch the ear of any musician. Besides this, they are valuable as an expression of the character and I if e of the race which i s playing such a conspicuous part i n our history. The wild, sad strains tell, as the sufferers themselves never could, of crushed hopes, keen sorrow, and a dull daily misery which covered them as hopelessly as the fog from the rice swamps. On the other hand, the words breath a trusting faith in rest in the future - in “Canaan’s [f]air and happy land,” to which their eyes seem constantly turned.22
The spiritual themes were death and resurrection, release, and the promised land. The expressed faith and hope that someday
23 “slavery w i 11 be no more.” The slaves’ own trials and tribulations identified with the sufferings of Jesus. Combined with the rhythmical characteristics that were derived from the plantation work song, a powerful form of religious singing was created.
The devil played a prominent role in songs of Negroes. He was the trickster in the form of a man. He was less powerful than God, was the enemy of a personal battle, and was normally outwitted.
Slaves were sure Jesus would save them from Satan. The following
22 Chase 221.
23 Southern 199. The Songs of Souls Page 5 4
slave song is a picture of “Old Satan”:
Ef you want to see old Satan run, Jes f i re off dat gospel gun.
Old Satan i s a liar an’ conjurer, too, An’ i f you don’t mind he’ll conjure you.
or:
An’ i f you don’t mind he’ll cut you in two, An’ i f you don’t mind he’ll cut you through.
Ole Satan lak a snake i n the grass, Always i s some Christian’s path,
I f you don’t mind he’ll git you las’....
Ole Satan thought he had me fas’; Broke his chain an’ I’m free at last’
I met ole Satan i n my way; He say, “Young man, you too young to pray.”
The devil tries to throw down everything that’s good, He’d f i x a way to confuse the righteous i f he could, Thanks be to God-er mighty, he can’t be beguiled, Ole Satan w i 11 be done fighting afer awile.24
The final bit of advice this Negro song gave: “ If you ain’t got de
25 grace ob God in yo’ heart, den de debbil will git you sho”.
Many of the “sperichils” were about King Jesus, the name most
24 Odum 39.
25 Ibid., 42. The Songs of Souls Page 5 5
used for Christ. “....Upon de hillside King Jesus spoke, Out of his
2 6 mouth came fire an’ smoke....” He wi 11 save you from hell and the
“debbil”, the songs proclaim.
Some of their songs are about the crucifixion, and they abound in His sufferings and express their feelings and sentiment. For example:
They nail my Jesus down, They out him on the crown of thorns (thorny crown). Osee my Jesus hangin” high! He look so pale an’ bleed so free: Odon’t you think i t was a shame, He hung three hours i n dreadful pain?.27
Heaven and Hell were high priorities for the Negro’s spirituals, as were people in the Bible such as Moses. Other revered Scripture heros, Daniel and Gabriel, were not neglected. “Norah”, as Noah was also called, is also a favorite subject of many songs. The following is one such song from the Georgia Sea Islands:
Norah, Hist the Windah
Norah, hist the windah Norah, hist the windah Norah, hist the windah
26 Odum 43.
27 Ibid., 45. The Songs of Souls Page 5 6
Hist the windah let the dove come in.
Oh God comman’ Brother Norah one day Oh hist the windah I et the dove come i n An’ told Brother Norah to build an ark Hist the windah let the dove come in.
Chorus: Oh Norah, hist the windah Oh Norah, hist the windah Oh Norah, hist the windah Hist the windah I et the dove come in.
Well Norah commence to b u il’ hisark Oh hist the windah let the dove come i n An’ he buil’ his ark on the ha’d dry Ian’ Oh hist the windah let the dove come in.
(repeat chorus)
An’ the foolish man come a ridin’ by Oh hist the windah let the dove come i n Well he point his han’ an’ he scorn at Norah Oh hist the windah let the dove come i n An’ he call ole Norah the foolish man Oh hist the windah let the dove come i n You buildin’ yo’ ark on the ha’d dry Ian’ Oh hist the windah let the dove come in.
(repeat chorus)
Well, the little tu rtle dove done droop his wing Oh hist the windah let the dove come in An’ he gone on Zion’s Hill to sing Oh hist the windah let the dove come in.
(repeat chorus) 28
28 Parrish 134. The Songs of Souls Page 5 7
“Hist the windah” has reference to opening or raising the window.
The spiritual’s greatest texts portray vividly the suffering that the slave had experienced and his deliverance yet to come.
These sorrowful songs spoke of heaven and of a peaceful kingdom.
The following song is one such song of sorrow:
Feel Like a Motherless Child
Chorus
I feel like, I feel like a motherless child, I feel like, I feel like a motherless child, I feel like, I fe e llik e a motherless child, Glory Hallelujah!
1. I have some friends before me gone, Glory Hallelujah! By the Grace of God I’ 11 follow on, Glory Hallelujah!
Chorus
2. Sometimes my way i s sad and lone, Glory Hallelujah! I’m far away and lost from home, Glory Hallelujah!
Chorus
I feel like, I feel like a motherless child 2 9
An old slave woman recalls how she learned the following
29 Work 54. The Songs of Souls Page 5 8
version of the above song: “You des’ gotter staht dat song in a mourn. Dey hain’t no uddah way to get de hang up i t Fus’ time I hear it, I w is ’ de Lawd I cud lun it. I tried an’ tried, an couldn’t. I went home study in’ i t , an’ a 11 t o once i t come a-ring in’ through me. Den I sung i ta ll night.”. The song expresses utter dejection but expounds
30 clear faith: (Figure V)
Motherless Child
O, sometimes I feel like a motherless child! Sometimes I feel like a motherless child! O my Lord! Sometimes I feel like a motherless child! Den I g it down on my knees and pray! Git down on my knees and pray! O, I wonder where my mother’s done gone, Wonder where my mother’s done gone, I wonder where my mother’s done gone, Den I g it down on my knees and pray! Git down on my knees and pray!
O’ sometimes I feel like I’d never been born, Sometimes I feel like I’d never been born O my Lord!
30 Bernard Katz, Ed., The Social Implications of Early Negro Musin in the United States. (The New York Times: Arno Press, 1969) 91. Figure V Page 59 Mother less Child
r\ • v m r/H [/ T P J ! p m
O some - tines I feel like a 4
er less child,moth some times I 7
feel like a moth er child,less O lord 10
Some times I feel likea moth er less
child, den I down on my kn ees an d 17
n n
Pray Pray, down on my kn ees an d 21 The Songs of Souls Page 6 0
Den I git down on my knees and pray! Git down on my knees and pray! O, I wonder where my baby’s gone, Wonder where my baby’s gone, Den I g it down on my knees and pray! Git down on my knees and pray!
0. sometimes I feel like I’m a long ways from home, etc. I wonder where my sister’s done gone, etc.
Sometimes I feel like a home-e-less child, etc. I wonder where de preacher’s done gone, etc.31
Another represents the sorrows of the slave’s heart as i t speaks of the burden and oppression of his slavery:
Nobody Knows the Trouble I See.
Refrain
Nobody knows the trouble I see, Lord, Nobody knows the trouble I see. Nobody knows the trouble I see, Lord, Nobody knows but Jesus.
1. Mother, won’t you pray for me; Mother, won’t you pray f o r me; Mother, won’t you pray for me; And help me t o drive old Satan away.
R efrain
2. Preacher, won’t you pray fo r me; Preacher, won’t you pray for me; Preacher, won’t you pray for me;
31 Katz 91. The Songs of Souls Page 6 1
And help me to drive old Satan away.
R efrain 32
Rare spirituals were those that were based on the infancy or
3 3 birth of Jesus. There are practically no “Christmas spirituals.” 11 could be that old time plantation preachers found the Immaculate
Conception too difficult to understand. Also, the birth of Jesus was not considered a religious nor sacred holiday in the South as this
“day was one given over to a good time, singing, dancing and
34 visiting; to guzzling, gluttony and debauchery.” Christmas day was one on which, through pleasure, slaves could “forget their
35 bonds.”
The following i s one spiritual about Mary and her baby Jesus:
Mary Had a Baby, Yes, Lord
Mary had a baby, Yes, Lord! Mary had a baby, Yes, my Lord; Mary had a baby, yes, Lord, De people keep a cornin’ an’ de train done gone.
32 Work 50.
33 Johnson 14.
34 Ibid., 15.
35 Ibid., 15. The Songs of Souls Page 6 2
What did they name him? Yes, Lord! What did they name him? Yes, my Lord; What did they name him? Yes, Lord, De people keep a cornin’ an’ de train done gone.
She name him King Jesus, Yes, Lord! etc. She name him Mighty Counselor, Yes, Lord! etc. Where was he born? Yes, Lord! etc. He born in a manger, Yes, Lord!36
CANAAN SONGS
Slaves learned to give double meanings to their religious songs. Slave owners did not suspect or anticipate this turn of events in the slave’s songs, and, i f they had, they certainly would neither have urged nor encouraged slave conversion to Christianity.
Used as a type of town crier, these songs told of secret planning meetings to help escaped slaves and to give hope and reassurance to those dreaming of freedom. Songs even told of secret religious meetings. Religious songs, more than any of the other slave songs, carried codes and double meanings.
The following are some of the meanings which correspond to words or phrases within the spirituals:
de Lord - de’ Yankees steal away - escape North - heab’n or Canaan Canada - Canaan
36 Johnson 15. The Songs of Souls Page 6 3
secret meeting - go down the lonesome valley keep hope and morale alive, spread news and laid plans - all done.37 Jericho and Jerusalem had reference to actual places.
“Deep River” announced a meeting at the river:
Deep river, My home i s over Jordan, yes, Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.38
The Underground Railroad was the route that slaves took when they escaped from the South to Canada. Homes along the journey were available for runaways t o seek shelter, food and clothing. They would also receive directions to the next safe house.
“Foller De Drinkin’ Gou’d” was a song taught to young slaves by a peg-leg sailor named Peg-Leg Joe as he traveled through the
South and encouraged young slaves to escape to the North. Joe taught them to look fo rth e m a rk o f his left shoe and the hole left by his peg-leg to guide them up the Tombigbee and Ohio Rivers into Ohio
37 Alan Lomax, The..Folksong in North America (New Jersey: Doubleday & Company , 1960) 34.
38 Haskins 6. The Songs of Souls Page 6 4
39 and freedom. (Figure VI)
Foller De Drinkin Gou’d
Chorus: Foller de drinkin’ gou’d, Foller de drinkin’ gou’d. For de ol’man say, “Foller de drinkin’ gou’d.”
When de sun come back, When de f i r’s quail call, Den de t i m e i s come_ Foller de drinkin’ gou’d. (Chorus)
De riva’s bank am a very good road, De dead trees show the way; Lef’foot, peg foot goin’ on, Foller de drinkin’ gou’d. (Chorus)
De river ends at ween two hills, Foller de drinkin’ gou’d; ‘Nother river on de other side, Foller de drinkin’ gou’d. (Chorus)
Wha de little river Meet de gre’ big un, De ol’ man waits_ Foller de drinkin’ gou’d. (Chorus) 40
The “grea’ big un” referred to the Ohio River and “de drinkin gou’d” referred to the Great or Big Dipper.
39 Lomax, The Folk Song In North America 37.
40 John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1935) 227- 228. Figure VI Page 65 Foller De Drinkin' Gou'd
1
Fol deler drink in' 3
gou'd. Fol ler de drink in' 6
For de ol’ man say,gou’d. 9
"Fol ler de drink in' gou’d. The Songs of Souls Page 6 6
The North Star and well known river routes were guides to help slaves escape. A “conductor” personally led slaves off plantations, often making the trip many times. The “conductor” gained the trust of slave holders as they often posed as peddlers or even slave traders. “De o r man” would be the conductor in the “Gou’d” songs.
41 Figure VII is another musical version of “Foller De Drinkin’
Gou’d”.
Another typical “Canaan” song and possibly an Underground
Railroad song is the following: (Figure VIII)
I’m On My Way
I’m on my way, and I won’t turn back! I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way. I’m on my way to Canaan’s land, I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way.
I ask my sister to come go with me! I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way. I’m on my way to Canaan’s land, I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way.
I f she says no, I’ 11 go alone! I’m on my way ,great God, I’m on my way. I’m on my way t o Canaan’s land,
41 Southern 142. This version of “Drinkin” Gourd” shows variances in both text and music. This is quite common in the oral tradition, and many slave songs have recorded these differences. Page 67 Figure VII
Follow the Drinkin' Gourd
JJ L_------4M - ----0K_ ,o 0----0 0 . .6
Fol - low the drink - in' gourd! v \r k T& I 0 0 0 - f b — 0 L- L------^0 ------FH M --0 ---0---0---0 0 — 0 did ------“ ------0
Fol- low the drink-in’ gourd. For the oldm an is a -w a it-in ' for to
m 0 W
9 c a r-ry you to free-dom I f you fo l-lo w the drink in' gourd. When the
0—0 ~0
12 sun comes back and the first quail calls, Fol- low the
H H i 0 0 0 — 0
15 drink-in' gourd, For the oldm an is a w ait-in' for to car-ry you to free-dom if you
O'
fol - low the drink in gourd. The Songs of Souls Page 6 8
I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way.
I ask my boss t o I e t me go! I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way. I’m on my way to Canaan’s land, I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way.
I f he says no, I’ 11 go anyhow! I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way. I’m on my way t o Canaan’s land, I’m on my way, great God, I’m on my way.42
J. W. DuBois, an Alabama plantation owner, spoke of spirituals as “sorrow songs” that transcended their sorrow and became hymns of joy:
Through all the sorrow of the sorrow songs there breaths a hope - afaithinthe ultimate justice of things. The music cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence . Sometimes itisfaithinlife, sometimes faith in death, sometimes assurances of boundless justice, some f ai r world beyond. But which ever i t is, the meaning i s always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skin.43
Biblical imagery was pervasive in the spirituals. The spirituals told of the slaves’ desire for freedom, justice and the
42 John Greenway, America. Folksongs of Protest (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1953) 100.
43 W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folks (New York: The Library of America, 1986) 544. Figure VIII Page 69 I'm On My Way
I'm way, and Ionmy
won’t turn back I'm on my way, great God, I'm on my way. I'm
on my way C a- naans land, I ’mto on my way, great
God, I ’m on my way. The Songs of Souls Page 7 0
means to build a new world. They are historical songs that tell of the land of bondage and its people. They are the songs of the black souls: “The spiritual isthespiritofthe people struggling t o be free
44 - it’s their religion, their source of strength in a time of trouble.”
The spiritual was the slave’s “expression of a supreme belief in immortality that trancended mere religious creed and theoretical
45 dogma.”
RING SHOUT
One important factor of the ceremony was the ring shout, an ecstatic, religious dance form of black Americans that accompanied the spiritual. According to Alan Lomax, the shout held dual meanings. 11 was a “loud, vociferous vocal expression and a bodily
46 movement and dance.” This dance was a survival of a primitive
African dance and normally followed after camp services ended.
Often trance inducing, the dance was viewed by the southern whites with alarm. This shuffling step circular dance, which included
44 James H. Cone, The Spirituals and the Blues: An Introduction (New York: Seabury Press, 1 963) 1972.
45 Cuney-Hare 68.
46 Lomax, The Folksong in North America 29. The Songs of Souls Page 71
chanting, hand clapping, thigh slapping and involuntary spasms of
“possessed” members, accompanied the more joyous jubilees.
Screaming, shouting, and violent movements occurred when the members were possessed by the Spirit. “Music played an important role as a vehicle for achieving this deeply fe lt emotional experience of ‘gettin’ the Spirit.”47
Strict devotees of the ring shout never allowed the feet to leave the ground. Straightlaced masters of slaves forbade them to dance and prohibited crossing of their feet, a tra it of European dance. This was sinful and forbidden. Therefore, men and women would arrange themselves in a ring with their bodies very close together. The music would begin and the ring would move, slowly at firs t and then quickly gaining speed. 11 did not appear as though they were dancing. Feet would shuffle and would not leave the floor, but the heel of one foot would beat in 2/4 time. Lydia Parrish, author of
Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands, wrote: “Those who hear the records of the musical chants which accompany the ring
47 Kebede 133. The Songs of Souls Page 7 2
48 shout...cannot believe that a drum is not used.” Eventually the dancers took on a frenzy and a wi I d monotonous chant prevailed over what may have begun as a spiritual; exhaustion took over and one by one members dropped to the ground.
The shout would normally be divided into two groups. One would do the actual shout (dance) and the other would sing the accompaniment. 11 was the slave’s physical reaction to God and to salvation. In addition, it was extremely African in style.
The following is a ring shout from the Georgia Sea Islands.
The words gave the dance participants the movements such as facing the floor with their knees bent:
Kneebone
Kneebone i n the mornin’ Ah-ah, kneebone, Bend my kneebone to the ground, OLord, kneebone bend.
Kneebone, didn’t I tell you, Ah, kneebone, Kneebone, didn’t I tell you, OLord, kneebone bend.
Kneebone, didn’t I call you, Ah-ah, kneebone,
48 Haskins 5. The Songs of Souls Page 7 3
Kneebone, didn’t I call you, OLord, kneebone bend.
I call you in the mornin’ Ah, kneebone, Call you i n the evenin’ OLord, kneebone bend.
Bend my kneebone to the ground, Ah, kneebone, Bend my kneebone t o the ground, OLord, kneebone bend.
Kneebone, Zacharias, Oh, kneebone, Kneebone, OLord, Kneebone bend.
Kneebone, didn’t I call you, Ah-ah, kneebone, Kneebone, didn’t I call you, OLord, kneebone bend.
I call you in the mornin’, etc.
Bend my kneebone to the ground, etc.
Kneebone, Zacharias, etc. (Repeat)
See here, didn’t I call you, etc.
Call you in the mornin’, etc. Bend my kneebone to the ground, etc.
Bend my kneebone to the ground, Ah, kneebone, Kneebone i n the mornin’ OLord, kneebone bend.
Kneebone, Zacharias, The Songs of Souls Page 7 4
Ah, kneebone, Kneebone, Zacharias, OLord, kneebone bend.49
This ring shout was rather pagan in style as the singers called for the bones of ancestors both morning and evening.
All tonal qualities are present in the ring shout: moaning, sobbing, and growling. Repetition was apparent but this did not lim it nor inhibit improvisational qualities from coming forth. They were, however, very strict and unwavering in the exacting beat of feet on the floor and the orchestra of hands.
JUBILEE
Jubilees referred to the year of the jubilee, the year freedom
50 would take place. These songs celebrated and rejoiced in that prospect and therefore became known as jubilees. They were exuberant songs which came from the hearts of the slaves. The jubilee was quick in tempo, highly rhythmic and syncopated.
Christmas and Easter were occasions for jubilees. Sometimes call
49 Georgia Sea Island Songs. New York: New World Records, 1977.
50 Liviticus 2 5 states every fiftie th year was a year of jubilee: full release of slaves. “You w ill declare this f if ieth year sacred and proclaim th e lib e ra tio n o fa llth e inhabitants of the land.” The Jerusalem Bible - Reader’s Edition. (New York: Doubleday, 1966). The Songs of Souls Page 7 5
and response in nature, these songs were positive and optimistic in their texts.51 “Little David” is a typical jubilee song: (Figure IX)
Through the medium of the spiritual, the slave concealed his hopes, dreams, thoughts and ideas. While a product of slavery and the religious fervor of ante-bellum plantation religion, spirituals have outlasted that generation and the condition that spawned them.
The mingling of faith and culture brought the religious songs of slaves to fruition.
51 It is unknown when the term jubilee was first used.
52 Folktales and Story Festival - Summer 1992 as told and and sung by the QuimbysL Figure IX Page 76 Little David Play On Your Harp
m 0 * L it- tie Dav - id plan on your harp
Hal le lu' Lit - tie Da vid play on Fine
your harp,Hal le lu’. God told Mo ses, 10 fsp P 0 0 O Lord! Go down in - to E - gypt O Lord! 13
o d TloePha ro'i O Lord!Tellole Loose my peo 16 D.C. a! Fine
o Lord! The Songs of Souls Page 7 7
Chapter III
CRIES. CALLS And FIELD HOLLARS
The bulk of slave music was in the work song and the spiritual, but there remained other areas of music which entered into black life. Field cries, calls, or field hollars, whose exact function is either unknown or unclear, were thought by some to relieve the feelings and strong emotions of the slaves. This solo singing by blacks in the fields of the South used free rhythmic patterns and quite often falsetto cries in a series of notes that had no set pitch.
Blacks, strictly forbidden to speak to each other, may have used the calls for the purpose of communication - a means to transmit messages from one to another. “Calls attempted to convert speech into song.”1
The call might consist of a “hoh-hoo” drawn out and embellished, virtually impossible to notate. Others might say “ I’ m hot and hungry” or perhaps a simple phrase that called “pickin
1 Kebede 129. The Songs of Souls Page 7 8
2 cotton, yoh-hoo.” A call might have been sung for the sheer pleasure of it.
Quite often the calls were thrown out to find out i f he was alone inthe field orjust to announce that he was there or to let an overseer know where he was. Many times the call might be passed from one worker to another. A silent slave was not liked by the master or the overseers,which perhaps is one explanation for the constant singing of the blacks i n the South. Ever mistrustful of his slaves, the “massa” was sure slaves were plotting escapes or other mischief when slaves could not be heard or seen.
Normally a clear call - response pattern was used in the field.
It was commonly associated with the cotton fields but could be heard in the levees or on the rice and sugar plantations. This was the alternation between two performers or two groups of
3 performers, especially between a solo singer and a group of singers.
Occasionally there would be no response at all as a call might be used to announce the arrival of an overseer or that white people
2 Courlander 81.
3 Work songs make use of this device consistently. The Songs of Souls Page 7 9
were close by. In addition, they could have been used to bring slaves in from the field or to summon them to work. None of these calls required a response. These calls were very important to those slaves confined to specific areas of the field, unable to socialize with others who might be close by. Sometimes, just f or the comfort of making one’s presence known to others, a field hand may have given a wordless call such as this one:
oo Woh hoo - 00, woh hoo! % T 'y O O ffac 4 o UL'tio j4 00 Woh hoo - 00, woh hoo!
From a distance, in identical musical phrasing, would come the
answer:
Yeh -ee-ee, yeh-hee! Yeh -ee-EE, Yeh-hee.4
11 can be said that these calls were a source of irritation to the white overseer because they could not understand what was
being communicated - unlike their encouragement of singing work
songs, for example. The rise and fall of a voice, tone, and imitated
speech of these wordless messages were quite unintelligible to
4 Courlander 83. The Songs of Souls Page 8 0
anyone from the outside.
Calls can often be distinguished from cries in that the calls probably did hold some purpose of communication, while cries were fashioned after moods of deeply felt emotion: moods of homesickness, lovesickness, loneliness, and hunger or even contentment and exuberance. The music could give a clue to the mood as we 11 as the words themselves:
Ay-oh-hoh! I’m goin up the river! Oh, couldn’t stay here! For I’m goin’ home So bad, I’m so far from home! And I can’t get there for walkin’! I want t o go home so bad partner! I’m goin” up the river, but I can’t stay here! I’m goin” home, woh! I won’t get back till July and August. I won’t get there t i 11 fall. My boat up the river. But I can’t stay here, want t o go back! Oh Lord!5
A cry was described by a traveler i n South Carolina:
Suddenly on [a slave] raised such a sound as I never heard before, a long, loud musical shout, rising and falling, and breaking into falsetto, his voice ringing through the woods
5 Courlander 18. The Songs of Souls Page 81
i n the clear frosty night air, like a bugle call As he finished, the melody was caught up by another, and then another, then by several i n chorus.6
The field hollars have few descriptions that date from before the Civil War. Perhaps this was because they were considered unimportant or they were too difficult to understand or simply because people did not know how to describe them. They were virtually impossible to notate on the standard staff, as pitches were used for which there exists no symbolic representation. Complex rhythms were also problematic to decipher and were difficult for even the most well-schooled musician to reproduce. For example:
l u °' r i r : cr r s and i n ;and are abundant in Black-American music and commonplace
7 in African music.
Lucy McKim Garrison reported:
11 is difficultto express the entire character of these Negro ballads by mere musical notes and signs. The odd turns made i n the throat and the curious rhythmic effect produced by single voices chiming in at different irregular intervals seem almost as impossible
6 Southern. A History 187.
7 Collier 25. The Songs of Souls Page 8 2
to place on the score as the singing of birds or the tones of an aeolian harp.8
Quite often they were referred to as “wild choruses and lullaloos” and were more “peculiar and striking” than their spirituals or social songs. Perchance reminiscence from those songs their fathers brought from Africa, words and meanings of hollars
9 had been lost and no longer remembered.
The field hollar differs from the work song in that the field hollar i s sung solo. 11 could be echoed by other workers i n the field and passed along. The field hollar was commonly associated with the cultivation of cotton but could be heard on the levee or rice and sugar plantations, as well as from the mule skinners.
The hollar was a loud and long musical shout that rose and dipped and would often break into a “falsetto.” The shout was ornamental, with yodels and tonal glides: a “free gliding from a sustained high note down to the lowest register the singer can
10 reach, often ending there is a grunt.”
8 Collier 23.
9 Epstein 182.
10 John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1 934) 113. The Songs of Souls Page 8 3
“The field hollar could have also held a social role as the singer was urged on by shouts and commands of friends.”11 The field hollar bared their innermost agony as “they [the slaves] hollered to themselves i n the empty fields, the deepest, most primitive roots of
1 2 their racial heritage seemed stretched in an ageless pain.”
STREET CRIES
Another form of song that was improvised and considered urban was the street cry. Its primary purpose was to call attention to services, produce, or goods for sale in the markets of the larger cities, such as Charleston. The street cry was designed to carry a message from food vendors or junk peddlers, and listeners did not have to try to decipherthe meaning. One such song from the streets of Norfolk was noted by the firs t black novelist, William Wells
Brown, in his autobiography:
[In] the market...the costermongers, or street-vendors, are the men of music, “Here’s yer nice vegetables-green corn, butter beans, taters, I rish taters, new jess bin digged; come an’ get ‘em while dey fresh. Now’s yer time;
11 Hitchcock 116. Vol II E to K.
12 Alfred A. Knopf, Music in a New Found Land - Themes and Development in the History of American Music (New York: W ilfrid Millers, 1967) 266. The Songs of Souls Page 8 4
squash, Calafony quash, bess in de worT; come an’ git ‘em now’ i t ’ ll be Sundaytermorrer, an’ I’ 11 be gone t o church. Big fat Mexican peas, m arrerfat squash, Protestant squash, good Catholic vegetables of al I kinds.13
The following urban cry i s a parody of the spiritual I Am Going to Glory. A woman is announcing the beauty of her strawberries:
I live four miles out of town, I am going to glory; My strawberries are sweet and sound, I am going to glory. I fotch them four miles on my head, I am going to glory; My child i s sick, my husband dead, I am going to glory. Now’s the time to get them cheap, I am going to glory; Eat them with your bread and meat, I am going to glory. Come sinner get down on your knees, I am going to glory; Eat these strawberries when you please, I am going to glory....14
Even watermelon had to be sold and there was a street cry to entice someone to buy a fat juicy watermelon:
Watermillions, goin’ by ! Mek up your mind, befo I pass by, Mek up your mind, befo I pass by,
13 Epstein 181.
14 Southern, A History 187. The Songs of Souls Page 8 5
Watermillions, jes from de vine.15
Vendors, with the help of song, sold cured Spanish moss for making mattresses; they even had songs to sell clothes poles to hold the lines. It is evident that songs of vendors showed considerable wit and humor.
The songs that sold numerous goods and services were not really considered “true songs” but more like fragments of songs.
Nevertheless, the cries of the “street vendors and hucksters” are “ a
1 6 part of the musical tradition of blacks in the United States.”
15 Cuney-Hare 94.
16 Southern 124. The Songs of Souls Page 8 6
Chapter IV
SONGS of SATIRF and DERISION
Many times the words of the work song might not be connected to the work being done at all. More often than not, the song reflected what the singer wanted to talk about, usually hardships,
“the massa”, or religion. Quite often the text was used to make fun of whites. The following i s a satire song about the Massa and where the slave hoodwinked him:
Away Down i n Sunbury
Omassa take that bran’ new coat and hang i t on the w a ll, That darky take the same ole coat and wear i t to the ball.
Chorus: O don’t you hear my true love sing, Odon’t you hear him sigh. Away down i n Sunbury I’m bound to live or die.1
These songs of derision were insult songs which came from
African traditions and the slaves found it quite easy to insert mocking lines about the whites who may have been listening. This song from the Georgia Sea Islands, was directed at the “Big Boss”
Mr. Foster at the Hilton - Dodge Mills and was always sung when they
1 Southern 184. The Songs of Souls Page 8 7
saw him coming: (Figure X)
Pay Me My Money Down
Pay me, Oh pay me Pay me my money down Pay me or go to j a i I Pay me my money down. Pay me, Oh pay me Pay me my money down Pay me or go to ja il, Pay me my money down.
I think I heard my captain say Pay me my money down T’morrow i s my sailin’ day Pay me my money down. (Chorus)
Wish’t I was Mr. Coffin’s son Pay me my money down Stay i n the house an’ drink good rum Pay me my money down. (Chorus)
You owe me, pay me Pay me my money down Pay me or go to ja il, Pay me my money down. (Chorus)
Wish’t I was Mr. Foster’s son Pay me my money down I’d set on the bank an’ see the work done, Pay me my money down.2
2 Parrish 208. Figure X Page 88 Pay Me My Money Down
Pay me, Oh pay me pay me my
mon-eydown pay me or to jailgo
pay me my mon- ey Ohdown pay me, Oh,
pay me pay me my mon-ey down
me or go topay jail pay me my
moneyThink Idown. heard my cap tain say
pay me my mon ey down T'moirow is my 22
sail- in' day pay me my mon ey down The Songs of Souls Page 8 9
This song was also sung by free black men who worked the docks, loading and unloading ships at port. Even though these men were free, they were still regarded as inferior and not entitled to the rights of whites. Quite often they were not paid f or their labors and were not in a position to ask for their money. Creatively, they used song to get their point across. They hoped the captain would hear the song and realize these men needed t o be paid.
Even though found all over the Antebellum South, songs of a satiric nature are not encountered in abundance in “surviving repertory.” Boat songs, corn songs, songs to lighten work or pass the time, and other repetitive songs were ideal to insert the derisive or satiric lines. They were generally used to tell of the treatment they received from their masters and mistresses. As one woman, the daughter of a clergyman, stated in 1855:
The slaves on the plantations usually expressed approval or disapproval of the master’s conduct, sometimes ringing out his praises, and atothertim es in th e s p irit of revenge, when they fe lt abused.... At the corn huskings and picking matches these songs were often made as they went along.... No master had a right to make his slave work on Sunday, except i n the ordinary household offices. However, we know of a minister, who also planted tobacco. 11 had not rained until late i n the year, and the tobacco plants could not be set out. During the service on Sunday there came a fine rain. After the The Songs of Souls Page 9 0
service was over, having thanked God for his blessing, the minister called on his Negroes to be off home and to go planting at once. This the Negroes considered such a flagrant violation of morality and such a bad example, that they put him into their corn songs. We were told, that he was actually sung out of the neighborhood: -
Leader: T’was on a blessed Sabbath day. Chorus: It rain, boys, it rain. Leader: The parson say his prayers in church. Chorus: It rain, boys, it rain. Leader: He cut the matter short, my friends. Chorus. Leader: Now’s the time for planting ‘bacco. Chorus. Leader: Come my Negroes get you home. Chorus. Leader: Go draw your plants and set them out. Chorus. Leader: T’was on a blessed Sabbath Day. Chorus. Leader: Here’s a pretty preacher for you, etc. Chorus/"3
A few barbs were found in a religious song or two.
“O’Daniel’s” aim was to “deflate the ego of the self righteous member of the church”:
You call yourself church-member, You hold your head so high, You praise God with your glittering tongue, But you leave all your heart behind.4
Another song of satire or taunt that contains religious elements is:
Redeem, Redeem
Epstein 188.
4 Southern 186. The Songs of Souls Page 91
Some go to church an’ dey put on pretense until de day ob grace i s spent. Ef dey haven’ been changed you’ll know i t well, When Gabriel blow’, dey w ill go t o hell. Sunday come’ dey’ll have Christian faith, Monday come’ dey w ill lose deirgrace; De Devil gets i n dey w ill roll up deir sleeve, Religion come out an’ begin to leave.5
This song can still be heard in Alabama today.
Pattyroller
The overseer, or “pattyroller” as he was called, was to keep blacks i n order and break up unlawful gatherings of slaves. Normally sons or close kin of slave holders, they were the authority to challenge the slaves and many a verse were about them. For example:
Run, Nigger, Run
Run, nigger, run; de patter - rolIer catch you; Run, nigger, run, it’s almost day. Run, nigger, run; de patter -roller catch you; Run, nigger, run, it’s almost day.
Dis nigger run, he run his best, Stuck his head in a hornet’s nest, Jumped de fence and run f ru de paster; White man run, but nigger run faster, f n
5 Cuney-Hare 66. The Songs of Souls Page 9 2
6 After the Nat Turner Insurrection in 1831 , Negroes were not allowed to leave their home quarters without the written permission of their owners. The “pattyroller” would deliver severe and immediate punishment i f the unfortunate slave was caught without this permission.
Another version of the slave’s escape from the “pattyroller”
Is: (Figure XI)
Run, nigger, run, The patter-roller’II catch you; Run, nigger, run, It’s almost day.
Dat nigger run, Dat nigger flew, Dat nigger lost His Sunday shoe.
I f you get there before I do, ‘Most done ling’rin’ here; Look out f o r me, I am cornin’, too, ‘Most done ling’rin’ here.
Chorus: I’m goin’ away, goin’away, I’m ‘most done ling’rin’ here; I’m goin’ away to Galilee, And I’m ‘most done ling’rin’ here.
6 Turner, born a slave, believed he was the chosen one of a vengeful God, to achieve freedom for his race. Instead, the insurrection prompted the vengeful killing of many innocent slaves and as a result, stricter slave laws were enacted. Figure XI Page 93 Run, Nigger, Run
m
Run, nig - ger run, de pat - ter roll - er get you,
nig - ger run, it's al most day. Dat nig ger run, DatRun
e ngger Dat nig gertorehis shirtflew, inmg two.
Run nig-ger run, de patt-ter ro ll-e r get you, Run nig-ger run, it's 12
al day.most The Songs of Souls Page 9 4
I have hard trials on my way, ‘Most done ling’rin’ here; But s till King Jesus hears me pray, ‘Most done ling’rin’ here.7
Slightly different notation and words presents another musical version of the dreaded patroller: (Figure XII)
Chorus: Oh, run, nigger, run! de patter-roller ketch you. Run, nigger, run! hit’s almos’day! Oh, run, nigger, run! de patter-roller ketch you. Run, nigger, run! hit’s almos’ day!
Do, please, marster, don’t ketch me, ketch dat nigger behin’ dat tree; He stole money en I stole none, Put him i n the calaboose des for fun!. Chorus:
Some folks say dat a nogger won’t steal But I kotch one in my corn-fiel’; He runter de eas’, he run te r de wes’, He run he head i n a hornet nes’! Chorus:
De sun am set, dis nigger am free; De yaller gals he goes t o see; I heard a man cry, “Run, doggone you,” Run, nigger, run, patter-roller ketch you. Chorus:
Wid eyes open and head hangin’ down, Like de rabbit before de ‘houn,
7 Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Song (Hatboro: Folklore Associates, Inc., 1963) 12. Figure XII
Page 95 Run, Nigger, Run Fast f Chorus: Run, nig - ger, run, de pat - ter - roll - er catch you. Fine
$ m W Run mg - ger, run, it's al mos day
De nigger run, de nig - ger de f D.C. al Fine 1 - 0 - 1 A t- V i ■ 9— =fc= 9 - J------J ■1 J
nig ger los! his Sun - day shoe. The Songs of Souls Page
Dis nigger streak i t f or de pasture; Nigger run fast, white man run faster. Chorus:
And ober de fence as slick as a eel Dis nigger jumped all but his heel; De w hite man ketch dat fast, you see, And tied i t tig h t aroun’ de tree. Chorus:
Dis nigger heard dat old whip crack, But nebber stopped fur to look back; I started home as straight as a bee And I e ft my heel tied aroun’ de tree. Chorus:
My oT Miss, she prommus me Dat when she die, she set me free; But she done dead dis many year ago, En yer I’m hoein’ de same ol row! Chorus:
I’m a-hoein’ across, I’m a-hoein’ aroun’, I’m a-cleanin’ up some mo’ new groun’. Whar I I if ’ so hard, I I if ’ so free, Dat my sins rise up i n fron t er me! Chorus:
But some er dese days my tim e w ill come, I’ ll year dat bugle, I’ ll year dat drum, I’ ll see dem armies a march in’ along, I’ ll I if ’ my head en jine dat tree, W’en de angels flockfertow aiton me! Chorus.8
8 Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs 229 - 231. The Songs of Souls Page 9 7
SONGS OF LEISURE
Few songs that related totheleisuretim e of the blacks exists because of the reluctance to share their social songs with outsiders.
Slaves would gather to pass th e ir tim e away by singing songs. 11 was one of the few activities in which they could participate and enjoy in the restrictive areas in which they lived. A band of slaves could be completely devoid of energy as they returned home after a long day in the fields, but recharged as they gathered together to entertain each other. John Watson, a Methodist Evangelist, wrote in
1819:
In the blacks’ quarters, the colored people get together and sing for hours together. . . These [songs] are all sung in the merry chorus manner of the Southern Harvest field, a huskey-frolic method, of the slave blacks . . .9
One song in particular became popular at these gatherings and may have been created by a black mammy as she cared fo r a sick child:
Two IittIe children ly-in in bed, One of ‘em sick an’ de other mos dead,
9 Irene Jackson, Ed.. More Than Dancing: Essays on Afro-American Music and Musicians (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985) 15. The Songs of Souls Page 9 8
Sen’ for the doctor an’ de doctor said, ‘Feed dem children on shortnin bread. Mammy’s little baby loves shortnin’ shortnin’ Mammy’s little baby loves shortnin’ bread.
Went to de kitchen, kicked off the lead, Filled my pockets full with shortnin’ bread. Shortnin’ bread an’ i t baked so thin, That’s what i t takes to make ‘em grin. (Chorus)
One little baby ly in ’ i n bed When he hear te l I of shortnin’ bread. Popped up so quick an’ he dance and sing Amos’ cut him de pigeon’s wing. (Chorusy0
Another version as reported i n American Ballads and Folksongs is: (Figure XIII) Shortenin’ Bread
Two little neggers ly in ’ in bed, One of ‘em sick and de odder mos’ dead. Call f o r de doctor an’ de doctor said, “Feed dem darkies on shortenin’ bread.”
Chorus: Mammy’s little baby loves shortenin’, shortenin’, Mammy’s little baby loves shortenin’ bread.
Or Shortenin’ bread, shortenin’ bread, How I love shortenin’ bread!
Or: Shortenin’, shortenin, shortenin’ bread! Don’ my baby like shortenin’ bread!
10 Forcucci 162. Figure XIII Page 99 Shortenin' Bread
Swinging
Two lit - tie nig gers ly - in' in bed,
-m— m- § * P one of 'em sick an' de od- der mos' dead. Call for de doc- tor an' de
# 0
* -S t- F ee d dem dar- kies on short' - nin' bread.doc - tor said Feed dem dar- kies on short' - nin' bread.doc 2 Chorus
Mammy's lit - tie ba - by loves short' - nin, short' - nin, mammy's lit - tie ba - by loves 12
-G- short’ nm bread. The Songs of Souls Page 10 0
Stole de skillet, stole de led, Stole dat gal makin’ shortenin’ bread. Got six mon’s to ’ de ski 11 it, got six mon’s fo ’ de leg; I got six mon’s fo ’ de gal makin’ shortenin’ bread, etc.
Went to de kitchen an’ kicked off de led, An’ filled my pockets full o’ shortenin’ bread. Shortenin’ bread an’ i t baked thin, Dat what i t take to make ‘em grin.
Put on de skillet, put on de led, My I i I baby wants shortenin’ bread. Two little niggers upstairs in bed, One turned over an’ t o de odder said,
“How about dat shortenin’ bread, How about dat shortenin’ bread?” One I i I nigger a-lay in’ i n de bed, His eyes shet an’ sti 11, like he been dead.
Two I i I niggers a-layin’ in de bed, A-snorin’ an’ a dreamin’ of a table spread. W’en de doctor come he simpully said, “Feed dat boy some shortenin’ bread.
T’other I i I nigger sick i n de bed, W’en he he a rte ll o’ shortenin’ bread, Popped up w e ll, he dance an’ sing, He almos’ cut de pigeon wing.
I do love liquor, an’ I w i 11 take a dram, I ruther be a nigger dan’ a po’ white man.11
A light hearted leisure song is “ L ’ 11 Liza Jane”. 11 i s one of the
11 I omax. American Ballads and Folk Songs 235 - 236. The Songs of Souls Page 1 01
most singable and also uses the call - response element:
L’ ll Liza Jane
You got a gal an’ I got none, Li r Liza Jane, Come my love an’ be my one, Li I’ Liza Jane.
Chorus
O Eliza, Li r Liza Jane, O Eliza, L ir Liza Jane.
I got a house in Baltim o’, Li I’ Liza Jane, Street cars runnin by my do’, Li I’ Liza Jane. - Chorus
Come my love an’ be w ith me, Li I’ Liza Jane I’ take very good care of thee, Li r Liza Jane. - Chorus tif2
POSSUM and HQECAKE
The meager fare of food allotted each slave was supplemented by trapping possum and coons. Possum was a favorite of the majority of slaves. Throughout the South, cooking was primarly communal and possum was prepared in basically the same way. The recipe, parboiling and cooking in fatback and serving i t with sweet potatoes which had been baked with the possum, was an occasion for
1 3 the slaves to sing: (Figure XIV)
12 Forcucci 104.
13 Quimbys’ Summer, 1992. Figure XIV Page 102 An Opossum Hunt
Pos sum meatis good an' sweet.
Charve him detoheart. I al ways finds it
good to eat. Charve him to de heart.
Charve pos sum! Charvedat dat
sum! Charve dat pos sum! Oh,pos
charve 'im to de heart The Songs of Souls Page 103
Well, ‘possum meat’s so nice an’ sweet, Carve ‘ i m t o de heart; You’ll always find h it good te r eat. Carve ‘ i m t o de heart.
Refrain: Carve dat ‘possum, Carve dat’ possum, chillun. Carve dat ‘possum, Oh, carve ‘im to de heart.
De way ter cook de ‘possum nice, Carve ‘ im to de heart, First parbile ‘im, sti r ‘im twice, Carve ‘ im to de heart.
R efrain
Den lay sweet taters i n de pan, Carve ‘ im to de heart; Nuthin’ beats dat in de Ian’. Carve ‘ im to de heart.14
The possum was a shy creature. His reserved ways were immortalized in rhyme:
I met a possum i n the road, and ‘shamed he looked to be. Hestuckhistail between his legs, and gave the road to me.15
Another name fo r hoecake was ashcake. Baked in the ashes of the fire , corn pone wrapped in cabbage leaves became a reason fo r
14 Odum 240.
15 Scarboro 177. The Songs of Souls Page 104
the slaves to sing: I
I f you wants to bake a hoecake, To bake i t good and done, Slap i t on a nigger’s heel, And hold i t to de sun.
My mammy baked a hoecake, As big as Alabama. She throwed i t ‘gainst a nigger’s head, 11 rang ju s t like a hammer.
De way you bake a hoecake, De old Virginny way, Wrap i t round a negger’s stomach, And hold i t dere a 11 day.16
The master decided how much food a slave would get, what kind of food, and, of course, its quality. Some slaves received more than enough and others received far less. Complaints of this treatment was expressed in this song of satire:
We raise de wheat, Dey gib us de corn; We bake de bread, Dey gib us de cruss; We s i f de meal, Dey gib us de huss;
16 Genovese 549. The Songs of Souls Page 10 5
We peal de meat, Dey gib us de skin And dat’s de way Dey takes us in.17
CHILDREN’S SONGS
The children of the slaves also entertained themselves by singing. Songs were created for everyday situations and were taught to the children. Many of the songs were made up by the children themselves. The songs were an introduction to the tradition of their musical culture; th is was important because the children only knew of their American environment, and had no recollection of the land of their heritage.
Slave children were not allowed to attend school and were laughed at by the w hite plantation children because they thought the lack of learning was a sign of stupidity and ignorance. “But they
1 8 weren’t no fools.”
Games were made up to explain their circumstances to the w hite children. These games involved dance and song, all designed
17 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom (New York, 1855) 253.
18 Quimbys’ Summer, 1992. The Songs of Souls Page 106
to relieve the pressure of white children.
How were the songs made up? A black Sea Island slave was asked this question and he answered:
Dey make em, sah . .. I’ll te l I you; i t ’s dis way. My master call me up and order me a short peck of corn and a hendred lash. My friend see i t and i s sorry fo r me. When dey come to de praise meeting dat night dey sing about it. Some’s very good singers, and know how, and dey work i t in, you know; t i I dey get i t right, and dat’s be de way.19
Children participated in ring games and play party songs which included hand slapping, thigh slapping, foot stamping and off beat syncopation. The beat was ju s t as important to children as i t was to th e ir elders. The follow ing is a play song that is s t ill sung today in
New Orleans:
Onions fo r sale! sometimes they’re high, sometimes they’re low, Onions fo r sale! Sometimes they’re cheap, sometimes they’re good cheap. Onions fo r sale! Onions fo r sale!20
19 George L. Stark, Jr., “Salt & Pepper in Your Shoe - Afro-American Song Traditions in the South Carolina Sea Islands,” More Than Dancing: Essays on Afro-American and Musicians*ed. Irene Jackson (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985) 34.
20 Greenway 94. The Songs of Souls Page 10 7
Searching for, and finding, songs of children proved difficult for many researchers of songs. Perhaps i t was their (slave’) shyness
21 or the need to conceal and hide “their real thoughts and customs....”
“Ransum Scansum” is a song that was reportedly heard on a plantation in Louisiana: (Figure XV)
Ransum Scansum
Ransum scansum, through yonder. Bring me a gourd to drink water. Dis way out and t ’other way in, In my lady’s chamber. Dis way out and t ’other way in, In my lady’s chamber.22
The children would gather in a circle and hold their grasped hands together. One child, who stood in the center of the ring, would dart in and out of the ring throughout the uplifted arms.
A slightly different version i s as follows:
Aransom Shansom through yander, Bring me a go’d to drink water. Dis door’s locked and t ’other one’s propped,
21 Scarborough 129.
22 Ibid., 131. Figure XV Page 108 Ransum Scansum
¥±E Ran sum scansum through yonder.
bring me a gourd to drink wa ter. dis way out and
W t'other way in, In my La - dy's cham - ber.
Dis out and t'other way in,In my dy'sLa i12 cham ber. The Songs of Souls Page 109
In dat Lady’s garden. Dis door’s locked wid a double lock, In dat Lady’s garden. Oh, Lawdy mercy, let me get out of here, In dat Lady’s garden.23
Another children’s song i s also a song of satire. The words castigates a mistress for promises never kept:
My old mistress promised me, Before she die she would set me free. Now she’s dead and gone to hell, I hope the de vil w ill burn her well.24
FUNERAL and BURIAL SONGS
Funeral and burial songs were also important to slaves, and, for the most part, they conducted their own services. To the shock of many whites, slaves sang, chanted and shouted on their way to the cemetery, over the dead body, and upon their return from the cemetery. This was a mournful dirge that expressed their sympathy.
The following is a song sung at a funeral held at night:
Grave Yard
Oh, you soul! Oh, you soul! I’ m going to the church yard, To lay this body down;
Oh, my soul! Oh my soul!
23 Scarborough 92.
24 Genovese 506. The Songs of Souls Page 110
We’re going to the churchyard, To lay this nigger down.25
Similar to “Grave Yard” was “Lay Dis Body Down” : (Figure
XVI)26 O graveyard, 0 graveyard, I’m walkin’ t’rough de graveyard; Lay dis body down.
1 know moonlight, I know starlight, I’m walkin’ t’hrough de starlight; Lay dis body down.
I lay i n de grave An’ stretch out my arms, I’mlayin’ i de graveyard; Lay dis body down.27
Another favorite of the slaves was “Hark From The Tomb”:
Hark from de tomb a doleful soun’ My ears hear a tender cry. A livin ’ man come through the groun’ Whar we may short ley lie. Heah in dis clay may be you bed In spit of all you toil. Let alI de wise bow rev’rent head Mus’ I i e as I o w as ours.28
25 Greenway 72.
26 Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs 577.
27 Ibid., 578.
28 Genovese 199. Figure XVI Page 111 Lay Dis Body Down
O grave- yard
P o grave - yard, I'm walk-in’ t'rough de
grave - yard; Lay dis bod - y down The Songs of Souls Page 112
MASSA’S ENTFRTAINMENT
Most of the music of the slaves was not used to thwart their master or seek their own freedom but to make their burden lighter, restore their spirits, and simply increase their own pleasure and enjoyment. While the slave was encouraged to sing by the “massa” to make the slave happy, after a while the owners themselves even began to enjoy the music. Why did the slave owners like the music?
Perhaps one viable explanation was that their own culture was dry, lifeless, s tiff, and lacking emotion. Dancing and singing in many cases was sinful and not respectable. These owners lived a secret, vicarious life through the music of their slaves.
Slaves frequently entertained the “massa” and his guests.
This music depended upon the desires of the “massa”. Perhaps serious music was called for but more often than not humor prevailed:
Charlie could make up songs about de funniest things.... Marsa say, “Come here, Charlie, and sing some rhymes for Mr. H.” “Don’t know no new ones, Marsa, “ Charlie answered. “Come on, you black rascal, give me a rhyme fo r my company, one he ain’t heard.”29
29 Southern 185. The Songs of Souls Page 113
Musicians were also in great demand to entertain at the w ill of the “massa”. Most plantations had a fiddler, and this fiddler was called upon to play for the plantation dances.
11 was advantageous to be a musician because they were often exempted from work in the fields. He was allowed to travel to places that might be otherwise forbidden to enter. For example, i f a plantation had no musician on the premises, one may be called upon from another plantation to play. Any tip s or fees that may have been paid to the musician was collected by his “massa”, and occasionally some was given to the slave for his efforts. The Songs of Souls Page 114
CONCLUSION
The answer to a dream - America. Its shores called thousands of oppressed and poor Europeans to seek a better life. However, the promise of freedom and the pursuit of happiness did not greet hundreds of thousands of black Africans located on this great land, not by th e ir own volition, but to be exploited as human chattel and used to make a profit - certainly “one of the greatest blemishes on
1 American Democracy.”
Slavery was to be found throughout this new nation but finally settled in the Southern states as the land required vast numbers of men, women and children to work it. The North was moving towards industrialization and opposite societal trends were developing towards individuality.
For over one hundred years, oppression prevailed and fin a lly a w ar ensued, not because of slaves or th e ir rights, but rather because of individual states rights and the extension of slavery into the new territories and states of this great land. Finally emancipation arrived, but not before lifetimes of sorrow and the most inhumane
1 Forcucci 85. The Songs of Souls Page 115
act in this country, its biggest heartache - slavery - ran its course.
The true condition and attitudes of the slaves and the most reliable source that reflects this dark time in our history is in their songs. Songs that are the “cry of a lost soul and songs that
2 are the voice of an army with banners.” Too often the slave was regarded as a happy go lucky sort that had no worries. He was contented and merry and never without song. However, those that listened more closely heard the underlying melancholy in the melodies of his songs. Frederick Douglass stated slaves sang more when they were sad and unhappy. Soloman Northrup an ex-slave noted: “ 11 was my companion....the friend of my bosom....triumphing loudly when I was joyful, and uttering its soft, melodious
3 consolations when I was sad.” Faith, patience, endurance, prayer, joy, hope, courage, humility, love of mankind, and God were the salient qualities of the Negro’s soul, and the only true expression of his soul was his songs. His songs represented the sorrows of his soul; he was relieved by them ratherthan tears.
2 Johnson 13.
3 Southern 188. The Songs of Souls Page 116
As Frederick Douglass once said: They told a tale which was then altogether beyond my
comprehension; they were tones, loud, long and deep,
breathing the prayer and complaint of souls boiling
over w ith the bitte rest of anguish. Every tone
was a testament against slavery, and a prayer to
God for deliverance from chains. The hearing of
those wild notes always depressed my spirits, and
fille d my heart w ith ineffable sadness.
The mere recurrence, even now, afflicts my spirit,
and while I am writing these lines my tears are
falling. To those songs I trace my f i rst of that conception. Those songs s t ill fo llo w me,
to deepen my hatred of slavery, and quicken
my sympathies f o r my brethren i n bonds. . ..
In silence, listen to the sounds that shall pass through the chambers of his soul.4
4 Eileen Southern, Ed.. Readings in Black American Music (N ew York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1 971 Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and my Freedom 84. The Songs of Souls Page 117
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