Spirituals, Works Songs & Gospel

"the music was our history"

The songs I have been listening to this week possess incredible soul and beauty despite being born out of the most supreme ugliness. Leroi Jones writes how the black music tradition was shaped out of necessity: stripped of all other forms, music was the only means of expression which was unable to be controlled. Any cultural form which resulted in an artefact did not survive, yet the musical legacy from this period is incredibly strong. The sense of disconnection on all sides is heartbreaking. The slaves were torn away from Africa and taken to a radically different country and culture - 'the complete antithesis of the African's version of human existence'. However, any sense of Africa is immediately displaced amongst the new generations. They were Americans with no hope of assimilation, belonging to nowhere. This is a feeling that I think is echoed in Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child. 

I have been thinking about the prevalence of bible passages within the spirituals, or 'sorrow songs'. The Christian religion was forced upon the slaves by their Western masters, and even though this is reflected in the songs' lyrics - there is still a duality to the message. The Christian ideals are not suited to the hardships faced by the slaves. The people were blinded their enslaver's own religious convictions and their focus on freedom and deliverance. The songs therefore, seem distressingly futile. However, these spirituals are not reworkings of biblical passages but an entirely new cultural arrangement; one that is very distinctly African-American.

This week I found it difficult to focus on one particular song due to the breadth of material I had before me. I found that the emotions I experienced when listening to these songs are more easily expressed through sketching while listening - formed through a very immediate connection to the music.