A Life of Blues: Reflection of African-American Struggles in Music

Running head: A LIFE OF BLUES
A LIFE OF BLUES
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1A LIFE OF BLUES
The blues serves as an artistic expression of the realities faced by African Americans—
hardships, successes, sorrow, and/or joys.
Blues is referred to be one of the oldest music genres that developed in the United States
around the time of the 1870s. Blues genre developed in the southern part of the United States
where the African-Americans sung these kind of songs while in a process of doing various
activities. Blues music can be traced to the original folklore of Africa because in the initial days
blues developed as a music using traditional African instruments that were majorly based on the
African traditions of music. The word blues was derived from the word ‘blue devils’ which
referred to a sense of melancholy or sadness because the kind of songs that are found in the blues
genre of music possesses a kind of story telling of how the African-Americans’ struggle in terms
of slavery and inequality in the society dominated by the ‘whites’ (Palmer). Blues genre of music
was a medium through which the exploited individuals could share their situation to the entire
world. This paper analyses how songs like “Take a Little Walk with Me” by Robert Lockwood,
“Swing Low, Chariot” by Sister O.M. Terrell and “Young Woman’s Blues” by Bessie Smith that
renders a sense of deep meaning in their lyrics which consists of the realities and struggles that
were faced by the song-writers themselves and the only they could spread it to the world was by
their music (Gussow). The thesis statement for this essay is that the blues genre of music
reflects the living conditions of the Afro-American society in the late 19th and early 20th
century.
Robert Lockwood in his song “Take a Little Walk with Me” possesses a deep urge in
which he requests his better half of his life to take a walk with him to a place where the couple
always wanted to be. This song is in deep connection with the situation faced by the
sharecroppers and the field hands who hail in the upper delta of Mississippi, with an urge in their

2A LIFE OF BLUES
hearts in which they all want to flee off to Memphis, in order to feel a relaxation that they have
not experienced for a long time due to the kind of monotony in which they were living. In this
song, Lockwood sings it out how the sharecropper always knew about Memphis has been a city
which offered soul-quenching jazz music every Saturday. It has always been a city that was full
of pleasing art and music and the farmers longed to be a part of that sweet experience that was
full of Jazz music and brilliant pieces of art. Furthermore, in the lyrics that sing “same old
place”, Lockwood tries to mention how Memphis is a place, where the farmers can visit again
and again, and never get tired of it. It is place where the farmers can find a whole new level of
solace that will not match to the previous experience. Thus indicating a new experience with
every visit. The lyrics of “Take a Little Walk with Me” is an indication of Lockwood in which he
mentions the farmers who are at times also stricken with poverty live with the only hope that one
fine day they will be able to combat the monotonous way of living and escape to the world of
freedom. A world where only fun and love exists. This song seems to be alive for eternity
because even after decades the song was released, the modern generation is still able to connect
with every word of the lyrics, especially those who have been trapped in the loop of professional
life devoid of all fun and love. Every individuals trapped in this not so pleasing monotony of life,
tries his best to make full use of the little time that individual gets, by spending it in a joyful
manner surrounded by his/her loved ones. This song is an expression of struggle that the farmers
are willing to undergo just because they have a hope that one day they will be able to escape this
struggle and reach to the place they always wanted to be.
Sister O.M. Terrell’s song “Swing Low, Chariot” is an indication of how the underground
railway developed were coming to the states who have been performing slavery. In this song, the
word ‘chariot’ is a metaphorical representation of the developing underground railways that is