Front matter (continued 3)

Almost equally interesting is “That’s another Witness for my Lord.” It will be noticed in these songs that references and phrases taken from the old songs are often used, but in different combinations. They thus lose their former worth. It will be interesting, too, to compare the negro’s religious conceptions of the Bible and God as expressed in these songs with those expressed in the older productions: Has he advanced in his theology?

“After ’While” gives a slightly different form of verse, but with somewhat the same characteristics in other respects as those just given. There is little regularity in the metrical arrangement, but it makes a good song.

In a general mixture of old song and new song, of old traits and new traits, the negro sings a beautiful song which he has called: “Whar’ shall I be?” The usual imagery is seen.

The exact meaning of the following song could not be ascertained. It is apparently derived from some idea of the scriptural invocation and blessing upon the disciples. It is said to have a special message to the preacher, and is sometimes represented as being the words of God; at other times the encouragement of a friend and the reply.

Another song of the modern type seems to appeal to the negroes very strongly. Again he is seeing a vivid picture of the Christ in the long years ago. But just where he gets the exact ideas by which to make the combinations is a little doubtful. Perhaps he gets the central thought from the miracle of Cana.

So, too, you may moan, weep, cry, pray, brother, sister, father, mother, backslider, and any others that the singer happens to think of, and the chorus, “Drinkin’ of the wine,” is the favorite refrain. Again in “The Blind Man” the picture is one of confusing the scriptural scenes with those of the present, and of placing himself in the stead of the central character of the story.

He also sings “sister, don’t you hear,” etc., brother, father, preacher. A peculiar modification of “Walking in the Light” is the song of the same name among the negroes, which seems to have its origin in the scriptural injunction, “Ye are the light of the world.”

The negro prays to be remembered at Calvary; so, too, he asks to remember Calvary and the Lord. A single fragment of the old song remains:

The “Pilgrim’s song” that has been considered so beautiful is still a favorite; the words of the stanzas differ little. It may be called a standard hymn of the negroes. There is a story that Bishop Allen, the founder of the A. M. E. church, composed the song on his dying bed. He was very well educated and a man of considerable ability and feeling. While the sadly hopeful words of the song are of a higher type than the average spiritual, and while its metrical form is far above the usual, the song still combines many of the ideas and phrases of the favorite spirituals of the slaves. One of these songs, “I hope my mother will be there, In that beautiful world on high”, embodies the same sentiment and in similar words. Another, “Give ’way Jordan, I want to go across to see my Lord. I heard sweet music, I wish dat music would come here”, represents the other part of the song. The Pilgrim’s song as it is found is:

The only differences in the versions of the old song and its present form is the substitution of “But” for “yet”, “and” for “their”, and “free” for “from”, “drop” for “quit” in the various lines. Very much in the same class of song is “Steal Away”. The present version is much the same in general as the old, of which there were several, differing only in minor details. There is in some of the church song books a version of the song; however, the most common verses now sung are:

One of the most beautiful and at the same time simple and pathetic songs of the negroes is “Heal me, Jesus”. Here the negro is at his typical best in prayer: without pretension, without reserve, claiming nothing, he simply pleads for his desire.

The negroes are great believers in dress and uniform. Color, too, appeals to them as significant and the more strikingly distinct the color, the stronger impression it makes upon their imaginations. Chief among all others is the white which the angels wear; gold and purple, too, are concerned with the heavens. Among men red and black are strongest. This idea of color dressing has become interwoven in many of their songs. The rhyme helps to give the picture its vividness. The following song, with its variants, is still sung with considerable zest.

Instead of “mourners jus’ got back” the negroes sing “a sister, a sinner, a hypocrite, etc., jus’ got back”. Once the negroes sang: “Who’s that yonder all dressed in black? Must be children of the Israelites”, which is the common version for the answer to “Who’s all them come dressed in white?” The songs almost invariably have a different chorus for the different versions and combinations. In one of the old songs, the above verses were sung to the chorus

with this last line as a refrain after each line of the song, just as above in “I heard the angels singing”. In another of the old songs the chorus was:

The negro visualizes with a good deal of satisfaction. He imagines that he can see the things about which he sings. So they have imagined seeing the people dressed in white, black, red and blue; so he imagined that he could see “two tall angels comin’ after me”, or “big tall”, “long tall”, “band of angels” or whatever form the song has taken. So the negroes have told wonderful stories about the whale and the gourd vine; about the “cutter worm” as well as Jonah. The old song, modified and adapted with characteristic phraseology and expression still appeals to the negro. The “Big fish” and “Sherk” represents the terror of the sea to the negro. One old darkey explained this fact by saying that it was because the negroes were terrified as they were brought over from Africa, and that they saw the whales and “fishes” in “de sea” and that “de race hain’t nebber got ober it yet”. Another ascribes the fear and imagination much to the biblical story of the whale and Jonah. Perhaps neither determines to any marked degree this feeling. However, the song “Big fish swallow Jonah”, which has made such a hit in its paraphrases and in the glee clubs, and variously, is still current in this form:

In the same manner are sung other lines:

In addition to Jonah—and the last two stanzas are not common in the old songs—“Peter on the sea”, “Gabriel, blow your trump”, “Daniel in the lion’s den”, are sung. Those who have heard the latest form of this song rendered would scarcely imagine that it was a very appropriate church song.

It has been stated that the negro makes a song his own by the simple act of singing it. If he is free and unrestrained at the same time that he is thoroughly wrought up, he adds enough to his song or changes its version sufficiently to make it almost unique. In the common tunes sung by both white and black people, the negro’s rhythm and graceful passing from one line to another, together with the insertions of shouts and “amens” renders them distinct. A number of the favorite “old time” religious songs are thus rendered by the negroes. They are the old “stand-by” hymns. The nature of some of them was indicated in the first chapter. The following songs will serve to illustrate the common practice of singing among the “spiritualists”.

In “The old-time Religion” there are as many versions as the singer can make combinations. It is “Gi’ me dat ole-time religion”, or it is “’Tis that ole time religion”, or it is “Was that ole-time, etc.,” or “Will be the old time religion”. In the same way it may be “good enough”, “It’s good enough”. It is, was, will be good enough for “mother, my mother, my ole mother, father, brother, sister,” and all the list of biblical names, chiefest among whom are Paul and Silas, Peter and John. So again, it is “good when dying, living, mourning, sinking, praying, talking”. It is good “when in trubble, when de worl’s on fier, when the lightening flashes, when the thunder rolls, when the heavens are melting, when the stars are falling, when the moon is bleeding, when the grave yards are opening”, and all other times that are conceived as being a part and factor in destiny. Likewise the chorus or the lines may be sung with additional “Yes”, “sure”, “well”, “Uh”, and various other expressions that are the product of the moment.

One who has heard the song “Bye and bye we’ll go and see them”, rendered in an effective way must recognize its power and beauty. It is pre-eminently a song for the emotions, and suggests scenes of the past and of the future; it brings back memories that have been forgotten and forms emotions and conceptions that have not before existed. To the negro it is all this—in so far as he is able to grasp the better emotions—but it is mostly a medium through which he can sing his rhythmic feeling off. And with the additional interpretations and additions both in words and in expression, it is scarcely surpassed by any of his spirituals. The simplest form is exactly the same as that of the regular song: “Bye and bye, we’ll go and see them”, From this the negroes vary to “Bye and bye I’m a goin’ to see him, them, her”. To this chorus they nearly always add in alternate lines “Well it’s”, “Well”, “An’” and such expressions, thus:

These expressions inserted or omitted at pleasure, serve to give an additional rhythm to the song that seems otherwise to be lacking. The verses of the song, like many others, are practically unlimited. Each is repeated three or six times as the singers prefer, with the refrain “On the other shore” added at the end of each stanza. The negroes sing not only of a brother, sister, father, mother, auntie, preacher and friends, but they also sing of Paul and Silas and Daniel and Moses; they are at liberty to use any name that comes to mind. And they manifest as much feeling and emotion about meeting Moses or Noah or Abraham as they do about a dear old mother. Not only will they meet these loved ones but there will be scenes “over yonder.”

If necessary they then turn to the sinner and sing: “Sinnin’ time, gamblin’ time, etc., will soon be over.” The old plantation song, instead of saying, “Brother Daniel over yonder,” had it, “Wonder where is good ole Daniel? Bye an’ bye we’ll go an’ meet him, ’Way over in de promise lan’. Wonder where’s dem Hebrew children? Wonder where’s doubtin’ Thomas? Wonder where is sinkin’ Peter?” This form is apparently not sung to-day.

In the same way the negroes have modified the comparatively new songs that have been successful among the evangelists the country over. One would scarcely recognize even the tunes at first hearing, while the verses are usually entirely different. The chorus, as a rule, remains the same, save for the variations already mentioned. One or two songs may be taken as illustrations. “When the Roll is Called up yonder” appealed to the negroes for many reasons. Most of the churches sing it, and sing it “rousing” well. Their chorus is beautiful and the parts, though carried informally, make a splendid effect. But the negro does not sing the prescribed stanzas. After singing the chorus, with such additions as he feels disposed to make, and after two or three, perhaps one, of the written verses, he sings his own song:

And without limitations he sings this new song into his old and favorite themes, often inserting stanzas and words that belong to the oldest existing negro spirituals in the same verse with the evangelist’s best efforts. Another may illustrate further: “Blessed be the Name of the Lord”, has a great many variations, some of which would never be recognized without considerable study and investigation. At first the searcher is inclined to wonder at the distance the singer has got from his original, but the evolutionary steps make the process quite clear. The negroes love to sing blessing to the Lord; much of the basic principle of their theology is based upon gratitude for the final deliverance of bondage from work and suffering. It is not surprising, then, that this song should become a favorite. One of the present versions, most commonly sung is:

And encouraged by the happy putting in to this new song an old verse, the singer proceeds to put in as many as he wishes; then in his desire for rhythm and his habit of repetition, together with the cries of “amen” or “Lord” the chorus often becomes: “My Lord, blessed be the name of the Lord.” The outcome of such a chorus may be seen in the song already cited: “Lor’ bless the Name.”

In the effort to make new songs or to appropriate songs themselves, the negroes are thus constantly introducing various songs into their worship. The most common method, that of having the song printed on a single sheet for distribution, has already been mentioned. And as was there suggested, these songs are often verses taken at random from song books or poems, and put into song form. In most cases such songs are varied in such a way that the song may both meet the demand for a song of its kind and at the same time appear original. Some, indeed, are purely original productions, some of which have been cited. Just between the “spirituals” and the standard hymns are these innovation songs. They show well the circumstances which they represent. The effort is often made by members of the younger generation of negroes to substitute the new songs, together with the standard hymns for the old spirituals. They represent a step forward; young educated negroes do not like to be heard singing the simple spirituals. They claim that they are songs of the past, and, as such only, are they beautiful. The following song, given in the exact form in which it was distributed, will serve to illustrate.

Such a song is neither sung to an old melody nor a new tune; it is not a spiritual; it is scarcely native nor yet borrowed. It represents the general result that comes from a free intermingling of all. To such a song there may be any number of tunes; likewise there are a great many such songs introduced and may be sung alike to simple tunes. A tune is as easily selected and rendered as are the words; words are as easily improvised, or written with some care, as the melodies are natural. But they appeal less strongly to the negroes as a rule for the simple reason that “they don’t put a feelin’ in you like the old songs.”

Thus the negro’s religion is dependent upon feeling; song facilitates and intensifies the feelings, and song is the essential joy of much of the negro’s life. Whenever and wherever occasion demands religious manifestation, the song is the prerequisite. Not only at the church, but at lodge celebrations, funerals and memorial services, the song begins the process of “putting a feelin’” in the congregation. Again, the stress of the negro’s religion is placed upon the supernatural and the life that lies beyond his present sphere. A religious attitude is scarcely conceived by the negro without the fundamental conception of the next world. Thus is life contrasted with heaven and hell; the sinner and the righteous are but temporary; so will the souls of all one day sing with Jehovah the songs that the angels love; and there will be feeling there, too. It is thus that the central themes of the negro’s religious songs reveal both his religious nature and his mental attitude, together with the emotional characteristics that predominate. And it is easily seen that the negro’s imagery and imagination are scarcely surpassed. His religious fervor depends upon the reality of such imagery; the folk-song reflects this imagery as nothing else does. Again, the negro’s sense of sin is ever present in a feeling of guilt in the struggle between himself and the real or the imaginary; consequently he insures himself against a final sense of guilt by strong declarations of his righteousness as opposed to the sinner’s state. His sense of sin thus becomes less practical; it is rather an imaginative expression of a religious feeling. As the clearest exponent of the negro’s real self, the folk song reveals the heart of his psychic nature; it is indeed a witness to the fact that “’Ligion’s so sweet”. Does he not sing well and truthfully?

Footnotes:

[1] This paper presents in substance the contents of Chapters I and II of a study on “Negro Folk-Song and Character,” with other chapters as follows: Chapter III, The Negro’s Social and Secular Songs; Chapter IV, Types of Social Songs among the Negroes; Chapter V, Work Songs and Phrases; Chapter VI, The Negro’s Mental Imagery; Chapter VII, Negro Character as Revealed in Folk-Songs and Poetry.

[2] See Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XIX, pp. 685 seq., Scribners, Vol. XX, pp. 425 seq., Lippincott’s, Vol. II, 617 seq.

[3] For verses not found in the present-day negro spirituals, see Slave Songs in the United States, W. F. Allen, New York, 1867, The Jubilee Singers, New York, 1873, Plantation and Cabin Songs, New York, 1892.