CHAPTER I- PRESENTING THE SINGER AND HIS SONG
"The Negro and his Songs: A study of Typical Negro Songs in the South"
THE NEGRO AND HIS SONGS
A STUDY OF TYPICAL NEGRO SONGS IN THE SOUTH
BY HOWARD W. ODUM, Ph.D.
KENAN PROFESSOR OP SOCIOLOGY AND DIRECTOR OF THESCHOOL OP PUBLIC WELFARE, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
AND GUY B. JOHNSON, A.M.
THE NEGRO AND HIS SONGS: CHAPTER I
PRESENTING THE SINGER AND HIS SONG
"I'm a worker, a pick and shovel man — what I want is an outlet to express what I can say besides work," wrote Pascal D'Angelo, Son of Italy, with the hardihood of a worker-poet trying to express his "living sufferings." I Nevertheless the poetic "cry of a soul stranded on the shores of darkness" had its counterpart in a "certain air almost of jollity, a smiling friendliness, without any trace of bitterness, that woke one's wonder," and in his own verses he represents the soul of a whistling, plodding farm lad as a bright blue sky, while the souls of many who speed faster through the valley "are dim with storms." So come the mixed messages of one worker, ethnic representative of a large group whose picks and shovels have contributed much to this golden age of industry.
"Law', cap'n, I's not a singin', I's jes a hollerin' to he'p me wid my wu'k," smiled a cheerful pick and shovel man, Watrous, Son of Africa, gathering himself and his song at dayspring. And, "You mus' be stringin' me to call that singin'." Yet what singing! Any one hearing him sing day in and day out, together with thousands of others like him, must agree, in all good will, with the oft-repeated song claim of the "musicianer," "music-physicianer" and "songster," that "All don't see me goin' to hear me sing." Not only does he sing, but he sings much and sings long, with such richness and variety as may be understood only by those who hear often and listen well to an enviable range that calls forth the verdict,
Well, he sets my soul on high,
Makes me laugh and makes me cry.
Thus come the mixed songs of another group, basic in the agricultural and industrial development of the Nation. Has the Negro succeeded more in his work and song than other peoples?
And what vast amount and variety of things "besides work" the Negro singer can say and does say with art, humor, pathos, spontaneity. This volume is a part of the story; a small part, it is true, but nevertheless a very real and vivid part, rich in examples of the Negro's creative effort within the limitations of the collection, vivid in the visualization of his imaginings and the technique of his song. What skill and pride are found in the improvisation of the song leader whose song had been sought by a university dean who had listened with growing interest to the road gang singing as they worked in front of his house. This dean accordingly sat himself down on his rock wall to see if perchance he might not take down some of the songs which he heard, the singing of which he so much enjoyed. He was thinking how oblivious the workers were to his presence and to all things else save their work. He marveled that the words of the song he could not gather; nevertheless he would be persistent, he would get them. And so he did, with the somewhat startling effect, approximately versed to meet the workman's technique:
White man settin' on wall,
White man settin' on wall,
White man settin' on wall all day long,
Wastin' his time, wastin' his time.
That the "white man" immediately moved on need not be taken as evidence that he appreciated the song any the less, but perhaps the incident reminded him of other times when the words he sought were indistinct, or it may recall to others with vividness similar Negro songs about the white man.
Something of the Negro singer's imagery, style, and creative effort will be set forth in detail in a later chapter. But it seems only fair at the beginning to introduce the Negro singer and his song by pointing out some of the outstanding characteristics which promise the reader a measure of pleasure as well as of information concerning the important aspect of Negro life and labor. What more appropriate mechanism, for instance, for the Negro laborer on a hot day, under the broiling sun, than the following song?
Well, she ask me — whuk — in de parler — whuk,
An' she cooled me — whuk — wid her fan, — whuk,
An' she whispered — whuk — to her mother — whuk,
Mamma, I love that — whuk— dark-eyed man — whuk.
Well, I ask her — whuk — mother for her — whuk,
An' she said she — whuk — wus too young — whuk,
Lord, I wish'd I'd — whuk — never seen her — -whuk,
An' I wish'd she — whuk — never bin bohn — whuk.
Well, I led her — huh — to the altar — huh,
An' de preacher — huch — giv' his comman' — huch,
An' she swore by — huch — God that made her — huch,
That she'd never — huch— love 'nother man — huch.
The details of the meter of this and similar songs will be discussed in the chapter on Work Songs; the reader, however, will already have seen the rhythm, with the nasal caesural pause, long enough for the singer to catch his breath and start another stroke. If one wants to find scansion here, the triseme and trochee will serve him well, but that matters little in the imagery of the song and the swing of the pick.
Reviewers of Mr. Kennedy's delightful Black Cameos have complained that it concerned itself only with the Negro in his lighter vein. "Has the Negro," asks one, "no tale of true sorrow and tragedy to tell — tragedy ennobled by the simplicity and directness with which he can recount other stories? Must the Negro's sorrows forever be expressed only in his music, in the minor cadences of those spirituals which stir listeners to tears? Not far from the cabin door there must be more than has yet been written." [See The Saturday Review of Literature, January 3, 1925, and The New York Evening Post Literary Review, November 22, 1924.]
Of course, there is; and, of course, it has its expression outside the ordinary range of the white man. In the introductory part of the later chapter on Social Songs it is pointed out that, contrary to common opinion, the current secular songs of the Negro show as much sadness as the original spirituals, although slavery has been gone these several decades. It is left for the reader and student to interpret these, keeping them alongside the greater number of joyous and humorous songs, and not ascribing too much to the significance of whatever emotional mechanisms may result. But whatever else may be said about both the lighter and sadder songs, there can be no doubt that they represent, with rare distinctiveness, the Negro singer as nothing else does or can. They are the essence of his genius and his spirit and, whatever their defects, they most certainly reach the realm of art, and they interpret life. There is besides the sadder strains much that tends to bitterness. The singer is not only:
Po' boy 'long way from home
Got no where to lay my weary head,
but also:
Got de blues but too damn mean to cry.
He used to sing:
You hurt my feelin's but I won't let on,
but now he sets forth:
Me'n my pad'nah an' three-fo' mo',
Goin' raise hell 'roun' pay cah do'.
And in that remarkable work song in Chapter VIII, where the singer complains to his "captain" of his cold feet, cold hands, work in the rain, night work, long hours, little food, he exclaims,
Well, if I had my weight in lime,
I'd whip my captain 'til he went stoneblin'.
But even here with all his complaints the singer tells a story on himself, what the captain says and does, how the "fohty-fo's" or field peas are all gone, how the captain licked the neighboring boss, and ends with
Well, I got up on level, look as far as I seen,
Nuthin' wus a comin' but a big capteen,
who is so "dam' mean, musta come from New Orleans, haw-haw." And although he would much rather be a Negro than a cheap white man, he realizes that the Negro has his own characteristics, among which is a sense of humor:
Nigger be nigger whatever he do,
Tie red ribbon 'round toe of his shoe,
Jerk his vest on over his coat,
Snatch his britches up 'round his throat,
Singin', high stepper, Lawd, you shall be free,
Yes, when de good Lawd done set you free.
With the singing of which, in his best moments, the Negro singer can defy imitation, banish ill feeling from himself and the white man, and project himself beyond the realism of human limitations into the land of the spirit, where after all
'Way up in de Rock of Ages
In God's bosom gwin' be my pillah.
Listening in on the singers at camp, on the roads, in field and construction gangs and hearing the jollity of their morning and evening conversations as well as the humor of their daily talk, one must still recognize in the Negro common man a rare type who has not lost the art of cheerfulness or the practice of gayety. Good will and good wishes for the race follow the singer.
Recently a number of writers have pointed out something of the dual personality of the American Negro — one personality for himself and his race and one for the white folk with whom he comes in contact.
................
1 This situation is not new to Southern whites who have
1 See, for instance, "Homo Africanus" in the December, 1924, American
Mercury.
[ ]observed discriminatingly and have been frankly willing to see the situation; it is the merest common-place to the Negro, a situation about which he has had his fun all along, albeit also his very serious disposition of the matter. Much more artistically expressed is this attitude in his songs than in the bolder talk of individuals or groups or even in written fiction or essay
now constituting an important part of Negro literature. All the more artistic is the Negro singer's effort if he now hides and now reveals his feeling-attitude toward the white man. "Ain't it hard to be a nigger?" complains the singer, "for you can't git yo' money when it's due."
Well, it makes no dif'unce how you make out yo' time,
White man sho bring nigger out behin'.
If you work all the week, an' work all the time,
White man sho to bring nigger out behin'.
And again the, plaintive humor and protest:
Nigger and white man playin' seven-up,
Nigger win de money, skeered to pick 'em up.
This may be well balanced, however, according to the singer who affirms that
When he gits old, old and gray,
When he gits old, old and gray,
Then white folk looks like monkeys,
When dey gits old, old an' gray.
These examples showing some of the lighter aspects of the Negro and his song are presented to indicate the great variety and contrast found in the Negro songs in this collection. The more serious religious songs and spirituals are presented in Chapters II and III. No one who knows of the vast amount, seemingly unlimited, of native material, descriptive of the folk, the life, the regional civilization of the Negro can fail to regret its neglect. Here are language, literature, and if poetry be the product of feeling and seeing, then poetry of unusual charm and simplicity. They are parts of the story of the race. And to preserve and
interpret the contributions of a people to their own development and to civilization is to add to the science of folk-history. Posterity has often judged peoples without having so much as a passing knowledge of their inner life, while treasures of folklore and song, the psychic, religious, and social expression of the race, have been permitted to remain in complete obscurity.
Likewise peoples have lived contemporaneously side by side, but ignorant of the treasures of folk-gems that lay hidden and wasting all about them. The heart and soul of the real people are unknown, science is deprived of a needed contribution, and the world is hindered in its effort to discover the full significance of psychological, religious, social and political history of mankind. That which is distinctly the product of racial life and development deserves a better fate than to be blown away with a changing environment, and not even remain to enrich the soil from which it sprang. The scientific spirit and fairness to the race demand the preservation of all interesting and valuable additions to the knowledge of folk-life. The successful study of the common development of the human intellect and primitive thought are advanced, while the exact form of expression itself constitutes a contribution to knowledge and literature.
In this collection of songs there are certain specific values and certain obvious defects. It has been pointed out in the preface that the volume reflects much that is paradoxical and contradictory. There is likewise much that is incomplete. It would be a fine thing if Negro writers of ability today would set themselves the task of collecting and presenting the great body of folk material, in the abundance of which they would find rare opportunity. They could enrich the literature and heritage of the race and find in these songs and poetry media not only for the development of their own capacities, but for a more effective literary expression, and experience in meeting evolving, changing situations. This collection is suggestive of that larger body of material which can be gathered only through the devotion and ability of Negro writers and students. [1] This collection is of value and is presented as found, but it has all the shortcomings of work done from the outside, although with great care, with sympathetic interest, and at some length and expense.
This volume may be said also to be an effort toward good will and good wishes. From this viewpoint the objective presentation has its advantages. If the musical nature and potential of the race can be emphasized again and again; if the good nature, the resourcefulness and adaptability of the Negro may be studied from varying viewpoints; if the Negro's skill and art may be presented in this way; if his hypocrisy and two-faced survival mechanisms may be suggested along with his good manners, his diplomacy, his artistic expression and rare harmony, then added values may be found in the volume.
[1] See Bibliographical Notes for a statement concerning other collections of
Negro songs.
Explanatory and introductory material will be found in connection with each division of the songs. The manner of singing, the type of song, the environment of the singer — these and other important aspects must be interpreted with the song. The plan of this volume provides for a presentation of the Negro's religious folk songs and spirituals, preceded by an analysis of some of the chief subjects: heaven, hell, the judgment, Jehovah, Christ, the Lord, Scriptural characters and others. In this analysis not only the songs in this collection but those in former collections have been utilized so as to give an adequate picture of
the Negro's religious imagery as expressed in his song.
Following the religious songs, the social songs are presented with analysis, examples and typical songs. Then follow the work songs and phrases. Finally, a chapter on the technique and creative effort of the Negro singer is presented.
Little attempt has been made at consistency in writing the dialect of the songs because there is no regular usage for any word in the Negro's vocabulary. The common and average dialect was copied in so far as it obtains in the easy and careless speech of the Negroes. In their rhymed words of the common verses they show a decided habit of making all final consonants silent. Thus mind, round, surround, hand, understand, land, sold, told, long, friend, wind, world, kind, and found are very common examples; they are most generally pronounced without the final consonant, though not always. While "d" is most commonly silenced, others are thus muted in proportion to their frequency of occurrence. Thus the final "g" in running, dropping, hanging, and all present participles is not sounded at all; the same is true of nouns and adjectives ending in this letter. More, before, door, floor, and sure are pronounced mo', befo\ do', flo\ sho. Fire is fier, like is lak, from is frum, last and past are las'' and pas', don't is often doan, Lord is Lazvd and Loyrd, dead is often daid, and is usually an', to is often ter, of is uv, uf, o', for is often fer, this is dis, with is wid, been is bin, there is often dere, them is dem, these sometimes dese, the is de, just is jus 7 and jes, because is often 'cause, declare is 'dare, enough is 'nuf, about is 'bout, your is yo\ unbelieving is onbelievin' , was is often wus. Besides these and many other similar words, the usual colloquial forms of verbs are used: you'd, you're, he'll, they'll, I'll, I'm, can't, ain't, wouldn't, couldn't, don't and so on. "Have" in the perfect tense with would, should and could is usually a\ "I would a done this," "I would a come through." But it is sometimes er, as in "If I had er died when I wus young, I never would a had dis risk to run." So before the present participle and in qualifying words to make a simple rhythm, "a" is not infrequently inserted. "My father died a-shoutin' an' I'm goin' to die a-shoutin' , too." "Ezekiel said he spied the train a-comin' ." The use of the double negative is too general to call for examples. The above illustrations will serve to indicate the principal characteristics of the dialect; others may be seen from the study of the songs themselves.
The reader must needs employ a vivid imagination like that which is reflected in the songs' themselves if he would comprehend their essential qualities. The chief characteristics are often found in an improvised arrangement of words which makes the dominant feeling that of mingling successfully words and cadences. The meaningless phrases and refrains do not hinder the expression of feeling. Simple emotion, inherent melody, and colloquial language are combined with fine and differentiating imagery and humor in an under-meaning common to the folk song. An element of melancholy may be felt underlying many of the songs. But with all alike, vigor of expression, concreteness and naturalness of mental imagery, and simplicity of language and thought are combined with striking folk art. The Negro's projective mental imagery assumes that the hearer's comprehension can easily grasp the full picture of description, moral maxims, and dramatic dialogues, all combined into a single verse, and that he can do it without confusion. Here may be seen much of the naked essence of poetry with unrefined language which reaches for the Negro a power of expression far beyond that which modern refinement of language and thought may ordinarily approach. Rhythm, rhyme, and the feeling of satisfaction are inherent qualities.
The aim throughout the work has been to portray objectively the song life of the Negro. Consequently little has been ventured in the way of interpretation or evaluation. This collection of songs is but a fraction of the whole. For every song in this volume there are twenty that have never reached the ears of one who realizes their unexplored value for the sociologist and social psychologist as materials for the objective study of race problems. But this wealth of song will not continue indefinitely. Already the processes of civilization are operating to make the Negro ashamed of his old spirituals and to relegate the more naive of his social songs to a rapidly diminishing lower class. Slowly but surely the folk creative urge will be dulled
and this great body of folk song, perhaps the last of its kind, will pass away. It is to be hoped that sufficient research ability will be centered upon the songs of the Negro to preserve them for science and for [1] posterity before it is too late.
1 See Carl Van Doren's Introduction to Pascal D'Angelo, Son of Italy, New
York, The MacMillan Co., 1924.
2 The Negro and His Songs