Examining the Songs of Slavery In America Essay

For some reason, the last mental strain you hear on the radio always sticks in your head. Later in the day, you catch yourself render itand you realize that its not even a claim that you like Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for completely those around you, we can sing that melody, no matter who, including yourself, cares to take care to it. No adept is going to punish you for the quirkiness that goes with having the guts to actu onlyy sing a outcry that the guy in the cubicle next to yours on the button busted up the radio for playing. Music is dissociate of our everyday lives.It is something that most of us arouse never lived without. Something in a song empowers us, saddens us, angers us, and makes us add up in love. So many of us can link a special memory to a songand that 4-minute composition of playscripts pen by someone whom youve never even, met can take you sand to that place, if for only a moment, and make you feel that way again. Songs are a way of br eeding for most of us, and they have been for many years. Today, we listen to songs freely. History, however, reveals that many of us were not born with the same granting immunity. smoke you imagine universe punished for en cheering melody?For historys striver community, singing, humming, or listening to music was prohibited (Lang, p. 13). To break ones back owners, the practice of music portrayed a relaxed state for the striver. Most tangle that carrying on with such nonsense would interfere with the slaves focus, resulting in poor performance. The opposite, however, was the outcome. When they were allowed to sing, the slave found joy in the day Crane/Fleming 2 (Watts, p. 1). Singing was an outleta way to say how they felt about their owners, the job being done, family, God, and about dreams for themselves.Originating during the Civil War slave days, singing soon caught on all over the South and beyond. It served both hidden and obvious purpose. Not only could a slave could s ing a song, and feel relaxed performing assigned duties, a slave could also chant a song to communicate messages to faller slaves. So much mystery story lies behind this aged practice, and uncovering the mystery go away leave you appreciating the creativity utilized, whether you are of slave ancestry or not. If you have ever been to a traditional, majority Black church, you would walk out feeling energized.The energy exercised to convey Gods word is pretty unmatched by churches of other ethnicities. Its as if the Black community has been doing this for yearsand they have been. In early slave days, slaves were not allowed to read scriptures. Instead, they learned of God through white tribe church (Brown, p. 1). It was at these meetings that they listened to hymns, heard a few bible scriptures, and were t venerable mind their masters. Soon, the slaves took it upon themselves to meet privately and handle God and what he had planned for them.After the meetings, several would stay b ehind and ring shout, or chant songs about God and His plan for them. Foot tapping and hand flushping were accompanied by paced singing, and as the song continued, the pace would increase (Watt, p. 1). Men and women slaves became so involved in the chanting that they would collapse in emotion to the ground. Ministers were disturbed by this unusual behavior and soon banned the practice of ring shouts. It was at these early gatherings when the historical slave songs evolved. The very nature in which they are practiced lead stake to the days of ring shouts.Soon, the topics of the shouts veered from being only about God, and began to include chants of hopes, prayers, and displays of confidence. Crane/Fleming 3 In the movie, nimbus (Zwick, 1989) the men of the Fifty-fourth prepare to fight by performing a ring shout to bear hopes of achievement against the men they will soon face. These black men, formerly slaves, start slow and humble, and soon roar to a fast paced shout of faith in God, love of family, and belief in each other. Hands clap and legs are slapped for rhythm. This eyeshot in the movie portrays the sole possession these men have to hold on to each other.With a bit of encouraging, one soldier is assisted by another to not comely say his hopes for the battles outcome, but to demand them with confidence that his prayers will be answered. Although Hollywood glamorized this scene with em bell shapeishments such as a pre-determined beat and a chorus, this type of shouting is how it all began. Knowing how it all began leaves us with the need to know why it all began. Why did slave songs (Ware, Allen, and Garrison, p. I) become such a big part of history? No other group in history utilized song the way that historys slave did.Not only did singing pass the day, but singing helped the slave to identify with themselves. Bringing God into the lyrics, they composed biblical images (Silverman, p. 79) of who they compared themselves to during biblical times. umteen compared themselves to Moses, and sang of leading all slaves to freedom, unspoilt as Moses take the Israelites from Pharaohs captivity. This gave the slaves hope. Soon, this boost of hope led to singing songs about what it would be like when they were free. In Slavery Chain Done Broke at Last (Silverman, p. 83), the slave sings of how freedom is abound.He is sure to thank God, and vows to continue telling God his problems, in hopes of receiving more help when needed. In other songs, such as Oh, Freedom, (Ware, Allen and Garrison, p. 33), slaves give thanks at the end of a long and grave journey to freedom. On the other side of serious purpose, slave songs were not always sung just to say thanks. They were also sung as a way to Crane/Fleming 4 entertain, just as nowadayss music does for us. A good example of this is Now Let Me fly ball (Brown, p. 1), where slaves sing of African people who could fly.Songs like these were loved by children, as their imaginations soared with images of flying people. just on with singing about being thankful and creating silly images for children, these songs served another purposeperhaps the most big purpose of all they served as a form of communication among the slaves (Johnson and Johnson, p. 18). Slaves lived a hard life. Along with being owned by another human being, the slaves owner employed harsh rules for the slave to live by. One of these rules was that they were owned property, and could not leave on their own accord to be a free person (Watts, p.1). Discussions of being free were punishable by whipping, beating and starving the slave. The slave was coerce to create a way to communicate ploys to parry, warnings of a masters mood, new slaves joining the old slaves, and many other issues in code. The slave song was the perfect way to convey messages without being discovered. Many of the slaves work songs were composed out of sheer desperation to warn others of trouble ahead, or to keep an escape attempt fro m getting botched. Let Us Break Bread Together (Allen, Ware, and Garrison, p.34) allowed fellow slaves to know about meetings to be held in the early morning hours (before sunrise) to discuss concerns, share prayers, and plan an escape. These meetings were held out-of-the-way(prenominal) earlier than the masters waking hours. Plans were make, escape routes were decided, and updates on other slaves escape attempts were provided. Later in the day, in the fields, around the house, or where ever else work was to be done, the slaves sang their songs, inconspicuously passing messages to one another. Other songs, such as No More Auction Block for Me (Johnson and Johnson, p.20) conveyed a message of weariness of a slaves hope. This song was often sung under ones breath, during or Crane/Fleming 5 almost immediately after being beaten. One slave could often recognize the beaten slaves mouth movements, and gather the support of fellow slaves to bring forward new hope if the beating was survi ved. Happy, sad, useful, or light-hearted, the hidden messages of these songs were understood among all those who sang or listened to them. Although germinal in nature, and almost ingenious in creation, these songs were recorded in words for us to read today in the exact format in which they were written.It is interesting to read some of the lyrics of these songs, spelling included, particularly because these songs were written down exactly the way they were spoken. The spoken English of some slaves could be somewhat choppy, and sometimes grueling to understand. Though the message is clear, songs such as Hear from Heaven Today (Allen, Ware and Garrison, p. 2) display a perfect example of how the words of the song were to be pronounced a baby born in Bethlehem, and I yearde De trumpet sourd in the oder bright land My name is called and I mus go De bell is a-ringin in de oder bright worldMy brudder, my brudder Joseph and sista Mary -Anonymous Though some are difficult to read, the au thenticity of unedited lyrics links us to a part of history not to be misunderstood. While the level of precept is evident, what can be proven is that slaves were absolutely not ignorant people. Sometimes the subject matter of a song is simple. An example of this can be found in Git De Chores Done (Brown, p. 1). The slave sings, Did you fertilize my cow? Yes, Maam. Will you tell-a me how? Yes, Maam. Oh, what did you give her? Cawn and hay. Oh, what did you give her? Cawn and hay. -Anonymous Crane/Fleming 6 The slave was encouraged by something as simple as a brief conversation between him and the slaves owner to create a song that added motivation to the days duty. On the other side of the work song (Watt, p. 1) is a song far more complex. Codes were often sent through songs. In Get Dem Chilen internal (Brown, p. 1), the slave sings of certain obstacles to look out for Take deliberate when you turn dat coner. He waitin fo you, waitin fo you, always watchin. Get Dem Chilen H ome by way of dem hills, But take careful when you turn dat coner. -Stephen FosterIn history, no other group of people made full use of song the way the slaves did (Watt, p. 1). Not only did they sing about what they did, they saved lives and led each other to freedom. Their songs changed what we know about history in a colorful way. Love it or not, music and song are here to stay. We have the great fortune to do with it what we will. Some will choose to listen, and others will choose to write. We may never again do with song what the slaves did with it, and thats o. k. But who knowsmaybe one day our childrens children will be writing a paper on what people of our time did to change music and song forever.