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Songs on, or about slavery
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Subject: Lyr Add: VIRGINIA LAGS^^ From: Barry Date: 22 Sep 97 - 12:46 AM Ok, some of us have been going back & forth with the Foster thread & issues on slavery. How about getting some songs going here & see what comes to light. I'll start with a historical start. This comes from the transportation of convicts as slaves before England sent them to Australia. Martin Carthy does a later Aussie version of this, (slavery came to us earlier) Come all you young fellows where'er ye may be Come listen awhile & I will tell thee Concerning the hardships that we under go In this damnable place called Virginny Such clever young fellows myself I have seen Like scarecrows a dragging their chains on the green Them hard hearted duties so cruel & mean In this damnable place called Virginny When I was apprentice in fair London town Many's the hour I worked duly & truly Till buxom young lassies they led me astray My work I neglected more every day And to maintain I went on the highway By that I was lagged to Virginny Back home in Ol' England I could live at me ease Rest me head in a bed of soft feather With a jug in me hand & a girl on me knee I thought myself fit for all weather But here in Virginny I lie like a hog My pillow at night is a brick or a log We scratch for our vittles like some hungry dog In this damnable place called Virginny When we came to Virginny that famous old town That place which is so much admired Where the captain he stands with a whip in his hand And I with a heart full of sorrow did stand With tears in me eyes in this dam foreign land And was sold as slave in Virginny Ol' England, Ol' England, I'll ne'er see you more If I do it's 10,000 to 20 My bones they are rotten my feet they are sore I'm burned up with fever I live at deaths door But if I should live to see 7 years more then I'll bid adieu to Virginny HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 12-Feb-2001. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: dick greenhaus Date: 22 Sep 97 - 11:17 AM If you search the database for @slave*, you'll get some 15 hits; @transport* will get you another 16. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Bruce Date: 22 Sep 97 - 12:11 PM Actually it was as indentured servants, not slaves, that people were transported to Virginia, usually for seven years, and sometimes longer. There are several songs of which this was a part.
@slave finds Grazier's Daughter, but not BETSY in DT (Laws' M20). This is descended from two 17th century broadsides (ZN1899, and ZN46) in which Betsy was sold to Virginia.
Give ear unto a Maid, That lately was betray'd/ ZN966| The Trappan'd Maiden.. sent to Virginia/ Tune: [none indicated]/ Licensed and Enter'd according to Order/ P4 159 = CR 422 = OPB 237: W. O., A.M. and C. Bates [Ptd. RB7 511]
Not long ago hur came to London/ ZN1899| The Trappan'd Welsh-man, Sold to Virginia/ Tune: Monsieurs Misfortune/ This may be Printed, R. P./ P4 31: C. Dennisson
It was in sweet Senegal/ The Slaves Lament, 'Scots Musical Museum', #384.
ZN numbers are those in the Broadside Ballad Index.
Unfortunately I do not have C. H. Firth's 'An American Garland' where one will undoubtably find a few more.
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Subject: Lyr Add: CONGO RIVER^^^ From: Bert Date: 22 Sep 97 - 01:31 PM The Spinners sing this version of The Congo River.... Was you ever on the Congo River Blow, Boys, Blow Well yes I've been on the Congo River Blow, Me bully boys, blow The Congo She's a mighty river Blow, Boys, Blow Where the fever makes a white man shiver Blow, Me bully boys, blow A Yankee ship came down the river Blow, Boys, Blow Her masts and yards they shone like silver Blow, Me bully boys, blow How do you know she's a Yankee slaver.... By the blood and guts that flow from her scupper..... Who do you think's theskipper of her.... Stack-em up a Joe from hell's half acre..... Who do you think's the chief mate of her.... A bandy boss-eyed baron from the Bowery... What do you think we had for breakfast.... 'twas the starboard side of an old sou'wester.... What do you think we had for dinner... 'twas lenten soup and a squeeze in the wringer... What do you think we had for supper.... a kick in the pants and a brawl in the scupper... What do you think we carried as cargo... 'twas black sheep breaking the embargo... I'ts blow today and blow tomorrow... It's blow for this hell ship of sorrow... |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SHALLOW BROWN^^^ From: Moira Cameron, moirakc@internorth.com Date: 23 Sep 97 - 12:50 AM I learned this Sea Shanty from the late David Parry. Although not entirely about the slave trade, it does make references to it in the latter part of the song. SHALLOW BROWN Oh, I'm bound to leave her, Shallow-o, shallow brown. Oh, I'm bound to leave her, Shallow-o, shallow brown. Bound away for St. Georgia... Bound away for St. Georgia... Get my traps in order... Get my traps in order... Bloody well Julianna's... Bloody well Julianna's... Bound away tomorrow... Bound away tomorrow... Master's going to sell me... Sell me to a Yankee. Sell me for a dollar... Big, bright Spanish dollar. Repeat 1st verse. HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 14-Feb-2001. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Ole Bull Date: 23 Sep 97 - 10:49 AM Here's scene 4 of the "Slave Ship" by Henry Russell:
Help! Oh help! Thou God of Christians.
“They've killed my child! |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: dick greenhaus Date: 23 Sep 97 - 04:14 PM My favorite slavery-related song is still The Flying Cloud. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Karsten (pn@lzh.de) Date: 26 Sep 97 - 11:05 AM Well, it's not a folk song, but Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones comes to mind: "Gold coast slave ship bound to cotton fields" etc. Full lyrics under: http://www.lyrics.ch/cgi-bin/get.pl?s=39344 Cheers |
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Subject: Lyr Add: TIME FOR US TO GO^^ From: Bruce Date: 26 Sep 97 - 04:16 PM Song said to be sung by Slavers, picked up in Philadelphia and published by C.G. Leland, 1879. Here from reprint in 'Roxburghe Ballads', VIII, p. 448. [I once had, but lost, the title of Leland's book]
Time for us to Go.
With sails let fall and sheeted home,
A quick run to the West we had,
We hadn't been three days at sea
We carry'd away the royal yards,
Oh, yard-arm under did she plunge,
We dropp'd the Cruiser in the night,
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Moira Cameron Date: 28 Sep 97 - 07:34 PM No one seems to have mentioned Amazing Grace. This song was originally written (so the story goes) by the captain of a slaving ship. Apparently during one voyage, he suddenly realized the immorality of his actions. The song is meant to be of his revelation. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GaryD Date: 28 Sep 97 - 09:13 PM Right, Moira!..PBS did a great special on the song..variations, history, impact, etc..John Newton, I think his name was, became a religious leader in England and an advocate for ending slavery. PBS showed his grave marker in A church Cemetary in England. The Documentary was narrated I believe, but Bill Moyers. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Bruce Date: 29 Sep 97 - 01:08 PM I can't see that "Amazing Grace" has anything to do with slavery. John Newton left the sea (and slave trade) in 1755. He was ordained minister in April of 1764 and made curate of Olney. William Cowper moved there in October, 1767 and together (but mostly Newton) they wrote the songs in 'Olney Hymns', 1779. I haven't seen this work, but understand that "Amazing Grace" first appeared there, and without music or tune direction. Newton left Olney in 1779 to become rector at St. Mary Woolnoth, London, where he died Dec 3. 31, 1807.
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 30 Sep 97 - 07:27 PM Perhaps he was thinking back upon his days as a slaver when he speaks of "a wretch like me". Wasn't the original of Cotton-Eyed Joe a song that had slavery references? I've read a reference on the back of an LP (perhaps no reliable source) that the original was slow and sad, and it was uptemo-ized (to coin a word) later. Unfortunately, the LP does not give the original lyrics. Sixteen Tons is a good song about another kind of slavery.
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GaryD Date: 30 Sep 97 - 09:55 PM Agreed!.."I owe my soul to the company store".. depends what definition you have for enslavement.. Anything you are forced to do without freedom of choice is not a bad one! How many of us are forced to be in jobs they hate because of circumstances? I guess I'd like to explore those Labor movement songs, like Pete Seeger and friends were so involved with. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: LONG SUMMER DAY^^ From: Barry Date: 30 Sep 97 - 11:23 PM Long Summer Day was last collected in the southern prison system, on the work gang, it survived through the obvious common bond(age). Not many of these songs from the slaves have make it to be handed on. Most that have survived are from other traditions or cultures (see Steven Foster), from slavers, preachers or sailors that crossed paths, collided with or happened on by. Long summer day make a white man crazy, long summer day Long summer day make a nigger run away, long summer day Long summer day make a man run away, long summer day Long summer day make a slave run away, long summer day Pickin that cotton in the bottom field, long summer day It's gathering up the cotton in the bottom field, long summer day Master & the Misses sitting in the parlor, long summer day Thinking on how to make a slve work harder, long summer day Run away to see his Mary, long summer day Run away to see his baby, long summer day. Bruce, that 1st song (Virginny or Virginna Lags) dates to pre 1775, & it was as slaves they came (maybe not all) since the first in 1691. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Martin Ryan Date: 01 Oct 97 - 08:21 PM Bruce I'd love a tune to that ".. bound to go" set Dick Agreed on the Flying Cloud Everyone I suspect I have a record somwhere of Oscar Brown Jr. singing (a capella) "Bid em in,bid em in" about selling slaves. Powerful song.I've never sung it in public, although I have sung his "Worksong" in some rather strange settings! Can someone supply the words to saave me excavating the cellar? Regards |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Date: 01 Oct 97 - 08:30 PM A song similar in meaning to Sixteen Tons is The Pluck Me Store. My father remembers watching as a child in the 1920's when the coal miners rioted and burned one down along with all the records of who owed what to the coal company.
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Jerry Friedman, jfriedman@nnm.cc.nm.us Date: 01 Oct 97 - 11:49 PM Is "Blue-Tail Fly" really about slavery? That's what the DT says, but as far as I can tell it could also be about a (technically) free servant. My favorite though non-folk song about slavery (which I plugged in the Fantasy Folk Circle string) is "Molasses to Rum to Slaves", from the musical 1776. The leading South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress, John Rutledge, attacks Northern participation in the slave trade and Northern hypocrisy (maybe stepping out of character a bit when he describes the misery of the slaves). |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Bruce Date: 02 Oct 97 - 11:30 AM Martin, to the best of my knowledge there is no tune known for "time for us to go" |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Barry Date: 02 Oct 97 - 02:34 PM The Blue Tail Fly appears in the "Ethiopian Glee Book printed in Boston 1848. Lomax says it may have originated from the old ring games and that the ballad was written by an Abolitionist & popular & well used by the minstrials prior to the civil war. Much of the minstrial repertoir wasn't genuine in fact most was pro-slavery. Dam Emmett, "Pickaninny" Coleman & "Jim Crow" Rice shows the Black to be indolent, ignorant, slyly thieving, disloyal, bestial, inanely joyful & boisterous- was calculated to show that their race was happy in it's present state & unworthy of better. Quoted from Lomax & Viking Book Of Folk Ballads. Barry |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: kiwi Date: 05 Oct 97 - 06:22 PM I can't think of the lyrics off the top of my head (time to break out that mix tape again!) but "Slaves' Lament" comes to mind. It's sung by Dougie MacLean, and I believe that the words were written by Burns. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SLAVE'S LAMENT^^^ From: Shula Date: 05 Oct 97 - 08:07 PM THE SLAVE'S LAMENT by Robert Burns It was in sweet Senegal That my foes did me enthral For the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O! Torn from that lovely shore, And must never see it more, And alas! I am weary, weary, O! All on that charming coast Is no bitter snow and frost, Like the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O! There streams for ever flow, And the flowers for ever blow, And alas! I am weary, weary, O! The burden I must bear, While the cruel scourge I fear, In the lands of Virginia, -ginia, O! And I think on friends most dear With the bitter, bitter tear, And alas! I am weary, weary, O! Shula |
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Subject: Lyr Add: PHARAOH^^ From: Charlie Baum Date: 05 Oct 97 - 11:45 PM I've recently learned "Pharaoh" from the singing of Mrs. Sidney Carter of Senatobia, Mississippi, recorded by Alan Lomax and available on Volume 1 of his Southern Journeys series now being reissued by Rounder Records (CD 1701). (Although this cut was never on the original vinyl.) While many black spirituals are slavery songs in religious guise, using the language of the Israelites leaving Egypt as an emblem for the desire to overcome enslavement, this one seems particularly so. (The tune is complex and really ought to be heard from the CD--Mrs. Carter's rendition of it will leave you speechless!) The verses (repetitions eliminated): Go down, go down, Mary, Mary, Farewell, Farewell, Pharaoh, Pharaoh,
-Joe Offer, April 2009- |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: dick greenhaus Date: 06 Oct 97 - 05:38 AM Some of the most singable songs about slavery (although they're full of words that grate on modern sensibilities) are by Henry Clay Work. Look at Year of the Jubilo and Wake Nicodemus as examples. Work was an ardent abolitionist. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Joe Offer Date: 06 Oct 97 - 06:13 PM Hi, Dick - I did a search under [Henry Clay Work] and came up with lots of songs by Work. Most seem to have been added by RG in 4/96. Did you type them all by hand? They're wonderful. thanks for calling them to our attention. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: Lyr Add: OLD JOE CLARK^^ From: Moira Cameron Date: 06 Oct 97 - 08:50 PM Has anyone mentioned "Old Joe Clark" yet? Hedy West recorded a version of this song which seems to have Slavery references to it. OLD JOE CLARK Old Joe Clark is mad at me, I'll tell you the reason why; I ran through his cabbage patch, and tore down all his rye. CHORUS: Walk Joe Clark, talk Joe Clark, Goodbye Billy Brown, Walk Joe Clark, talk Joe Clark, I'm gonna leave this town. I went down to Old Joe Clark's to get me a glass of wine; He tied me up to his whupping post and gave me ninety-nine. Old Joe Clark is dead and gone and I hope he's gone to hell! He made me wear the ball and chain, and it made my ankles swell. ****************** Another good Slave song is "Hush a Bye". It was a lullaby that would have been sung by a female house slave to her white Master's baby. The verse about the "poor little baby crying 'mama'" is actually referring to her own child, left to fall asleep on it's own. HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 15-Feb-2001. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: BelleHoust@aol.com Date: 22 Oct 97 - 12:27 PM Does anyone have a copy of "I'm Sold and Going to Georgia"? It 's on a 4LP set of Civil War Songs (American Heritage) sung by Tom Glazer. Obviously no longer available for purchase, I'm trying to find someone ready to sell the LP or willing to copy it for me. Many thanks BelleHoust@aol.com |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: marshalorraine@hotmail.com Date: 21 Sep 99 - 10:28 PM In highschool chorus (1969) our teacher sang a song that was so beautiful. I remember a few lines and i use to sing it to my daughter when she was small. She loved it too!! i want to know all the words so I can sing it to my grandson.(her son) It started off "summer time and the living is easy---the fish are jumping -- and the cotton is high----your daddies rich and ya mamas good looking --so hush little baby doooon't you cry------------- someone please e-mail me and tell me the name of this song and how I can get the rest of the words. ---- I truly love this song!!!! thanks, Marsha |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: emily rain Date: 21 Sep 99 - 11:22 PM marsha, that's "summertime" from porgy and bess by gershwin. i'd tell you the plot, but unfortunately i'm a plebian and have no idea. the second verse:
one of these mornin's i have the most heavenly recording by ella fitzgerald and louis armstrong, mmmmmmmmmmmmm....... |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Stewie Date: 22 Sep 99 - 12:57 AM Of the more recent songs, 'Harriet Tubman' by Walter Robinson is excellent. It is on 'Carry It On' (Seeger, Sapp and Kahn)Flying Fish. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GeorgeH Date: 22 Sep 99 - 06:57 AM Hey, guys, please be careful about bluring the distinctions between workday drudgery and slavery (or even transportation and slavery). Sure there are parallells, but let's not over-state them. G. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SUGAR TRADE^^ From: Susan-Marie Date: 22 Sep 99 - 09:50 AM Two songs come to mind for me - "Follow the Drinking Gourd", about escaping from slavery, and a James Taylor/Jimmy Buffett (WARNING NON-FOLK CONTENT) song that talks about the complexities of effect and blame:
Back when this earth was a silver-blue jewel
While down in the African slavery trade
Oh, the crown and the cross, the musket and the chain This song is on JT's Dad Loves His Work album if you're interested in it. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SO HOE, BOYS, SO HOE^^ From: Art Thieme Date: 22 Sep 99 - 11:45 AM I enthusiastically suggest Dena Epstein's fine book __Sinful Tunes And Spirituals---Black Folk Music To The Civil War__ (University Of Illinois Press--1977). Here's part of a song...1841 (call and response while working): Leader: I loves old Virginny. Chorus: So hoe, boys, so hoe. Now's pickin cotton time.. My master is a gentleman... He came from the Old Dominion... And mistress is a lady... We live in Mississippi... The land for makin' cotton... They used to tell of cotton seed... As dinner for a nigger man... But boys and gals it's all a lie... We live in a fat land... Hog meat and hominy... Good bread and Indian dumplings... Music roots and rich molasses... The negro up to picking cotton... The old ox he broke his neck... He belong to old Joe R... He cut him up fro negro meat... My master say he be a rascal... His negroes shall not shuck his corn... No negro will pick his cotton... Old Joe hire Indian... I gwine home to Africa... My overseer says so... He scold only bad negroes... Here goes the corn boys... I don't love the peddlars... They cheat me in my rabbit skins... When I bought their tin ware... The parson say his prayers in church... Then deliver a fine sermon... He cut the matter short my friends... He say the blessed Lord send it... Now's the time for plantin' bacco... Come my negroes get you home... Jim, Jack---Joe and Tom... Go draw your plants and set 'em out... Don't you stop a moment, boys... 'Twas on a blessed Sabbath day... Here's a pretty preacher for you. -----------------------Art Thieme
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Jack (Who is called Jack) Date: 22 Sep 99 - 01:04 PM No more auction block.
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Lesley N. Date: 22 Sep 99 - 07:50 PM No one's mentioned Darling Nelly Gray. I don't much care for the tune but it's a classic. My own favorite is "FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD" - because it was code for escaping to the north. It's here (http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=2072). And a page to "decode" it is here (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk/gourd2.html). |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HARD TIMES IN OL' VIRGINIA^^ From: Barry Finn Date: 23 Sep 99 - 02:14 AM Here's a song from slavery heard & reported around the early 1800's & then was taken shipboard to lead a more pleasant life as a shanty. Ch: Ol Virginia, hard times in Ol Virginia (2x)
My ol misses is a rich ol lady
Ch:
Go to the well gonna fetch some water
Ch:
My ol misses is a rich ol lady
Ch:
Get some corn lay it down by the fire (2x)
Ch:
My ol misses she promised me
Ch:
My ol misses she get so old
Ch:
My ol misses is a rich ol lady Barry |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: fox4zero Date: 23 Sep 99 - 10:15 AM The only slave song that I know is Uncle Dave Macon's PATEROLLER [Patroller] SONG, also known as RUN NIGGER* RUN! Uncle Dave speaks an apologetic preface before he sings the song in the early 1920's original recording ...recently available on VETCO 105. I also remember a 1950's or 60's version sanitized to RUN JOHNNY RUN which had to do with illegal whiskey making. The original lyrics actually cheered the escaping slave on. *I hope that this is not too offensive |
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Subject: Lyr Add: NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK FOR ME From: Frank Hamilton Date: 23 Sep 99 - 08:06 PM This is quite a wonderful thread with many fine examples. Jack started with his suggestion:
No more auction block for me.
No more driver's lash for me.
No more peck of corn for me. Indentured servitude is a form of slavery. The first Old Joe Clark was probably an indentured slave. George, drudgery and danger in an occupation that is brought about by unscrupulous managers and bosses is a form of slavery. Songs of the sweat shop, the early coal mines, conscripted convict labor used to break picket lines, and the repression of social "agitation", the exploitation of child labor and the cotton mill girls are all under the rubric of slavery in my opinion. I believe that it's a "high context" issue of which Black slavery is a part.
Frank Hamilton |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Susan A-R Date: 23 Sep 99 - 10:46 PM There's an add-on verse to Amazing Grace, and when last I requested information on who wrote it, I got about four different answers. It's a great verse though
Shall we be wafted to the skies I also am partial to the Henry Clay Work material. Have never gotten up the nerve to sing Kingdom Coming, but it is an interesting perspective. We do Wake Nicodemus, and it's lovely. I also think of all of those spirituals that were underground railway songs: Steal Away, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, was Deep River also one? And isn't there some song from the perspective of a black regiment, the something Arkensas, to the tune of the Battle Hymn? And what is the deal with We are Coming from the Cotton Fields? Susan A-R |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Pete Peterson Date: 24 Sep 99 - 11:12 AM I have been singing Kingdom Coming for about 35 years without changing the words. Sometimes at our historical gigs, we will read a typical advertisement for a runaway SLAVE and then say what made this song so funny at the time is that it was about a runaway MASSA. My friend Carl Baron replaces "darkies" with "slaves, they" so The massa run, ha ha And the slaves they say, ho ho it must be now that the kingdom comin' In the Year of Jubilo (Work really knew his Bible. I think the reference is Leviticus 35, 10) |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: DWDitty Date: 24 Sep 99 - 12:24 PM Oscar Brown. Jr.'s "Bid 'em in" is about as brutal an account of slavery as I have ever heard. I'll dig out the lyrics this weekend and post them. DW |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ROLL THE COTTON DOWN From: Matthew B. Date: 24 Sep 99 - 06:25 PM There's actually a version of "Roll the Cotton Down" that seems to lament the end of slavery, and reminisce nostalgically about the good old days "before the war" and then suggests that the black man's lot has only gotten worse since then.
Here are some of the lyrics (just the ones that illustrate my point): Your guess is as good as mine. |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Art Thieme Date: 25 Sep 99 - 12:12 AM Whenever I see blue I try to click on it. You made me waste half a night. Thanks a lot! ;>) Art |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: M. Ted (inactive) Date: 26 Sep 99 - 06:05 PM No one has mentioned the collection, "Slave Songs of the United States" collected by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, from 1867--it was the place that first introduced songs like "Follow the Drinking Gourd","Run, Nigger, Run!" "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" Roll, Jordan, Roll"(and many others) to the wider world-- Dover has reprinted the original version, with a preface by Harold Courlander, and it is inexpensive and wonderful.. A slave song that I have always loved, both for it's story and for the song itself, is "This May Be the Last Time", which, it is said, was traditionally that last song sung by slaves who met when their masters got together, and alluded to the possibility that the group might never meet again, because of the possibility of being sold, or worse-- "Time for Us to Go" scans perfectly to the melody of "Log Jam on Gerry's Rocks"-- This is a very interesting thread--I guess because it touches on a sensitive point, and that is that our culture's music has been fundamentally shaped by a group people who have(and continue) been horribly abused and mistreated by the culture--
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GUEST,Dani Date: 12 Oct 01 - 08:26 PM Hoping to bring this with me to the Getaway, I was looking for more history on the lyrics Susan refers to above. A Yahoo search brought me right round to the Mudcat, and this old thread! I learned this verse from the singing of Sweet Honey in the Rock. They, and many others, attribute this verse to Sojourner Truth: "We are colored Yankee soldiers >Who've listed for the war >We are fighting for the Union >We are fighting for the Lord >We can shoot a rebel farther >Than a white man ever saw >As we go marching on." Dani |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 12 Oct 01 - 08:43 PM I always think of No More Cane On The Brazos as a slave song, although it could just as easily be a prison song. And yeah, having a lousy job, or even being an indentured servant isn't the same as being a slave. Oh freedom! |
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Subject: Lyr Add: FIRST ARKANSAS MARCHING SONG From: GUEST Date: 12 Oct 01 - 09:28 PM FIRST ARKANSAS MARCHING SONG By Captain Lindley Miller
Oh, we're the bully soldiers of the "First of Arkansas."
CHORUS: Glory, glory, hallelujah!
See, there above the center, where the flag is waving bright, CHORUS
We have done with hoeing cotton; we have done with hoeing corn. CHORUS
They will have to pay us wages, the wages of their sin. CHORUS
They said, "Now, colored brethren, you shall be forever free, CHORUS
Father Abraham has spoken and the message has been sent, CHORUS
Then fall in, colored brethren. You'd better do it soon. CHORUS Thanks to Benjamin Tubb of The Music of the American Civil War (1861-1865) for permission to use his MIDI file of The First Arkansas Marching Song. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.
Songs of the Union |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GUEST,Dani Date: 12 Oct 01 - 09:31 PM Sorry about the anonymous post: I've disappeared, apparently. Anyway, here's what that website has to say about him: "Lindley Miller, a white captain of the First Arkansas Colored Regiment, is credited with composing this song. The literary artifices used in the lyrics lend credence to this notion, although the skillful use of Negro idiom suggests a certain amount of collaboration between white officer and black troopers." Anyone know anymore? Dani |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: GUEST,massa dear, massa dear Date: 28 Nov 01 - 11:27 PM |
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Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery? From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 29 Nov 01 - 02:45 PM Re. Shallow Brown. Stan Hugill gives the lines as Love you well Juliana. and Bound away for St.Georges. Also, a line Shipped on board of a whaler. I take it as a slave sold as a crewman.Did this occur? Bound away, Keith. |
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