Sigh... "A Banjo Song" by Maria Howard Weeden is a tiny jewel, but "The Banjo of the Past" is worse than "questionable" from my point of view.   I know it was a view advanced by a lot of people in Reconstruction days. Arghhhh! " We learned de taste ob tears [after emancipation]" indeed! Well it was a long time ago and it is characteristic of a certain place and time. Apparently most of her other artistic endeavors also featured saccharine sentiments. I still like "A Banjo Song." It might be interesting to see a bit of Howard Weeden's writings, or some of her art work.