_Fellow in Psychology, Clark University._
To know the soul of a people and to find the source from which flows the
expression of folk-thought is to comprehend in a large measure the
capabilities of that people. To obtain the truest expression of the
folk-mind and feeling is to reveal much of the inner-consciousness of a
race. And the knowledge of those evidences which are most representative
of race life constitutes the groundwork of a knowledge of social and moral
tendencies, hence of social and moral needs. The student of race traits
and tendencies must accept testimony from within the race, and in the
study of race character the value of true expressions of the feelings and
mental imagery cannot be overestimated. Thus it is possible to approximate
knowledge of a race. To bring a people face to face with themselves and to
place them fairly before the world is the first service that can be
rendered in the solution of race problems.
To preserve and interpret the contributions of a people 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 folk-lore 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 the 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 changing environment, and not even remain to enrich the soil from
which it sprang. Justice to the race and the scientific spirit 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 in primitive thought is thus advanced. The exact form of
expression itself constitutes a contribution to knowledge and literature.
The value and importance of folk-lore are gladly recognized. Its
successful study and a more comprehensive recognition of its worth have
revealed new problems and new phases of thought. Not only its relation to
civilization as an historical science and as it bears definitely upon
peoples of modern cultural areas is recognized, but its essential value in
the study of psychological, anthropological, and sociological conditions
has called forth the most careful study that has been possible to give it.
On the scientist's part, knowledge has been increased, while on the other
hand, the peoples of the world have become more united in the appreciation
of the kindred development of human thought. The vast contributions to
folk-science and their relation to scientific interest, bear testimony to
this truth. And perhaps even more with _folk-song_, a greater work is to
be done. As a part of folk-lore it represents less of the traditional and
more of the spontaneous. Its collection and study is now being pursued
with more zeal and with marked success. And the hope may well be expressed
that with the growing interest in folk-song may come an increased
knowledge of all that is nearest and truest to the phyletic as well as the
genetic concept of a people, and that with this knowledge may come
effective efforts toward race adjustment and new aids in the solution of
race problems.
The situation of the Southern negro is unique. His problems are peculiarly
intricate. The problem of the relations between the whites and blacks is
far-reaching. Social conditions are changing and it is of paramount
importance that every step taken shall be well founded and in the right
direction. The political, the social, and the economical position of the
negro, his education, his religion, his tendencies--these are themes that
demand definite and accurate comprehension above all else. Truths have too
often been assumed. Passion and prejudice have often hindered the
attainment of noble ends which were earnestly sought. A true knowledge of
actual conditions, if properly set forth, must convince the sincere
observer as to the proper relations which should exist between the two
races. Nothing else should do it; nothing else can do it. And any
evidences that will assist in fixing the real status of the negro should
be welcomed by both the whites and the blacks; progress may then be
encouraged from the proper starting point. In revealing much of what he
_is_ rather than what he _appears to be_, the folk-songs of the Southern
negro are superior to any superficial study made from partial
observations. The insight into negro character gained from their
folk-songs and poetry accompanied by careful and exhaustive concrete
social studies may be accepted as impartial testimony. And on the other
hand, the changing economic and educational conditions, the increasing
influence of the white man upon the negro, and the rapid progress that is
being made on every hand in the South indicate that if the present-day
folk-songs of the negro are to be preserved, they must be collected now.
Should they be permitted to become a lost record of the race?
In the present work some of the popular songs that are current among the
negroes of the Southern States are given. They are highly representative.
They may be classified into two general divisions: The religious songs or
spirituals, and the secular songs. The secular songs are again divided
into two classes, the general social songs, and work-songs, phrases and
"shanties". For the most part collections of negro folk-songs in the past
have been limited to the old spirituals. The present-day religious songs
and the social productions are equally interesting and valuable. The
particular nature and characteristics of these songs are discussed in
connection with the examples. They are flexible and have various forms,
they consist of broken and unbroken melodies, they have stately and rapid
minor cadences. Musical notes can give only a skeleton of the real melody
that accompanies the words; the peculiar qualification of the negro
singers to render their melodies defies art to exactly symbolize it. The
words of the songs are given as they are sung, and the reader must needs
employ an imagination kindred in vividness to that which is reflected in
the songs themselves if he would comprehend their essential qualities. The
characteristic quality is often found in an improvised arrangement of
words which makes the dominant feeling that of mingling words and
cadencies successfully. The meaningless phrases and refrains do not hinder
the expression of feeling through the minor chords. 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 melancholia 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 in 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 any modern
refinement of language and thought may approach. Rhythm, rhyme, and the
feeling of satisfaction are accompanying inherent qualities. The natural
poetic spirit and the power of the imagination in the negro are worthy of
study.
In addition to these general qualities of the negro folk-songs, it need
only be suggested here that the best conception of his religious, moral,
mental and social tendencies is reflected in them. That which the negro
will not reveal concerning his religion, his religious songs tell better
than he could possibly do. His social nature and unconscious ideals bubble
out from his spontaneous social songs. In the expression of his natural
feelings and emotions he gives us the reactions of his primitive thought
with environment. That which is subsequently treated at length may be
anticipated in the approach to a careful consideration of the fullest
spirit of the negro folk-songs, namely, that it is important to note that
the faculty of the negro to think, not exactly as the white man, or to
think in terms of modern science and literature, but in terms of his own
psychological conditions, is pronounced. The negro is a part of a nation
at the same time that he is a distinct people; he, perhaps, has more
anthropological importance than historical standing. His present status is
an essential consideration of each of these relations to the civilization
of to-day. The emotions, the religion, social aspirations and ideals--in
fine, the character of a people is accustomed to be expressed in their
literature. The negro has no literature save that of his folk-song and
story. May these not speak for him, both the good and the bad, in the
following chapters?
The work here presented is not exhaustive but representative. The songs
are not those of a single plantation, community or section of the Southern
States. They are not the songs of the coast negroes or of the river type.
But they are sung popularly as much in Georgia as in Mississippi, as much
in Florida as in Tennessee. They are distinctly the representative average
songs that are current among the common mass of negroes of the present
generation. They belong to the negroes who have been constantly in contact
with the whites and to those who have had less association with the
refinement and culture of the white man. They have been collected
carefully and patiently under many difficulties. Many of them are sung
only when the white man does not hear; they are the folk-song of the
negro, and the negro is very secretive. Not only are they not commonly
known by the whites but their existence is only recognized in general.
They are as distinct from the white man's song and the popular "coon
songs" as are the two races.
The scope of investigation is large and the field is a broad one; the
supply of songs seems inexhaustible. Yet the student may not collect them
hurriedly. He who has not learned by long observation and daily contact
with Southern conditions the exact situation will make little progress in
gathering valuable data. While all contributions to the total of negro
folk-songs have been very valuable, still it is true that they have been
too long neglected and the studies made have been too partial. The nature
of the negro's songs is constantly changing; the number is continually
increasing. They should be studied as the conditions of the negroes are
investigated. They are the product of our soil and are worthy of a
distinct place in literature. In the following work the effort is made to
present the best of the negro's songs and to interpret impartially the
exact spirit of their essential qualities. In the following pages the
effort is made to note many of the negro's mental characteristics as
studied in the interpretation of the scope, meaning and origin of his
songs, and the essential qualities of his religion as found in the
analysis of his
_Religious Songs and Spirituals._
The religious songs of the negro have commonly been accepted as
characteristic music of the race. The name "spirituals" given them long
years ago is still current, while these songs, composed by the negroes,
and passing from generation to generation with numerous modifications,
retain many of their former characteristics. In former days the spirituals
were judged to be the most beautiful production of the race and the truest
representation of the negro's real self. Some of these songs have been
published, and for a time their emotional beauty and simplicity of
expression won for the negro a definite place in the hearts of those who
had not hitherto known him. He was often judged by these songs alone,
reported only imperfectly and superficially, and forthwith came many
expressions of delight and enthusiasm for the future possibilities of the
negro. These expressions indicate not only the power of the singing of
negro spirituals upon those who heard them, but also many of the
characteristics of the old and present-day spirituals.
The following expressions represent a summary of past judgments and
criticism of negro spirituals.[2] The hymns of a congregation of
"impassioned and impressible worshippers" have been "full of
unpremeditated and irresistible dramatic power." Sung "with the weirdest
intonations", they have indeed appeared "weird and intensely sad"--"such
music, touching and pathetic, as I have never heard elsewhere", "with a
mystical effect and passionate striving throughout the whole." And again,
"Never, it seems to me, since man first lived and suffered, was his
infinite longing and suffering uttered more plaintively." Besides being a
relaxation to the negroes these quaint religious songs were "a stimulus to
courage and a tie to heaven." Or again, "I remember that this minor-keyed
pathos used to seem to me almost too sad to dwell upon, while slavery
seemed destined to last for generations; but now that their patience has
had its perfect work, history cannot afford to lose this portion of the
record. There is no parallel instance of an oppressed race thus sustained
by the religious sentiment alone. These songs are but the vocal expression
of the simplicity of their faith and the sublimity of their long
resignation." Such songs "are all valuable as an expression of the
character and life of the race which is playing such a conspicuous part in
our history. The wild, sad strains tell, as the sufferers themselves
could, of crushed hope, keen sorrow and a dull, daily misery, which
covered them as hopelessly as the fog from the rice swamps. On the other
hand the words breathe a trusting faith in rest for the future to which
their eyes seem constantly turned. The attitude is always the same, and,
as a comment on the life of the race, is pathetic. Nothing but patience
for this life--nothing but triumph for the next." "One can but feel that
these quaint old spirituals with their peculiar melodies, having served
their time with effectiveness, deserve a better fate than to sink into
oblivion as unvalued and unrecorded examples of a bygone civilization."
Many have thought that these songs would pass away immediately with the
passing of slavery and that the old system of words and songs "could not
be perpetuated without perpetuating slavery as it existed and with the
fall of slavery its days were numbered." And "if they be found neither
touching in sentiment, graceful in expression, nor well balanced in
rhythm, they may at least possess interest as peculiarities of a system
now no more forever in this country."
The negro found satisfaction in singing not only at church but perhaps
even more while he performed his daily tasks. Those who heard the old
slaves sing will never forget the scenes that accompanied the songs. After
the lighter songs and brisk melodies of the day were over the negroes
turned toward eventide to more weird and plaintive notes. The impressions
of such singing have been expressed: "Then the melancholy that tinges
every negro's soul would begin to assert itself in dreamy, sad and
plaintive airs, and in words that described the most sorrowful pictures of
slave life--the parting of loved ones, the separation of mother and child
or husband and wife, or the death of those whom the heart cherishes. As he
drove his lumbering ox-cart homeward, sitting listlessly upon the heavy
tongue behind the patient brutes, the creaking wheels and rough-hewn yokes
exhibiting perhaps his own rude handiwork, the negro slave rarely failed
to sing his song of longing. What if his words were rude and its music
ill-constructed? Great poets like Schiller have essayed the same theme,
and mighty musicians like Beethoven have striven to give it musical form.
What their splendid genius failed adequately to express, the humble slave
could scarce accomplish; yet they but wrought in the same direction as the
poor negro, whose eyes unwittingly swam in tears, and whose heart, he
scarce knew why, dissolved in tenderness as he sang in plaintive minor key
one or another of his songs."
The above quotations have been given promiscuously, and while others might
be added, these suffice to give the general attitude toward the songs of
the negroes in the ante-bellum days and since. One other will be added,
giving the expression of a present-day negro leader toward the songs of
the slave, as the best interpretation that has come from within the race.
In his introduction to _Twenty-four Negro Melodies_ by Coleridge-Taylor in
_The Musicians Library_, Booker Washington says: "The negro folk-song has
for the negro race the same value that the folk-song of any other people
has for that people. It reminds the race of the 'rock whence it was hewn,'
it fosters race pride, and in the days of slavery it furnished an outlet
for the anguish of smitten hearts. The plantation song in America,
although an outgrowth of oppression and bondage, contains surprisingly few
references to slavery. No race has ever sung so sweetly or with such
perfect charity, while looking forward to the 'year of Jubilee.' The songs
abound in scriptural allusions, and in many instances are unique
interpretations of standard hymns. The plantation songs known as the
'Spirituals' are the spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor,
and had their origin chiefly in the campmeetings, the revivals and in
other religious exercises. They breathe a child-like faith in a personal
father, and glow with the hope that the children of bondage will
ultimately pass out of the wilderness of slavery into the land of freedom.
In singing of a deliverance which they believed would surely come, with
bodies swaying, with enthusiasm born of a common experience and of a
common hope, they lost sight for the moment of the auction-block, of the
separation of mother and child, of sister and brother. There is in the
plantation songs a pathos and a beauty that appeals to a wide range of
tastes, and their harmony makes abiding impression upon persons of the
highest culture. The music of these songs goes to the heart because it
comes from the heart."
It will thus be seen that emphasis has been placed almost entirely upon
the emotional beauty of the negro songs. They have been portrayed as the
exponents of sadness in the race, and the feelings of the black folk have
been described with no little skill. Observation for the most part has
been made by those who have heard the negro songs but have not studied
them. No careful analysis has been attempted. Perhaps casual observers
have been mistaken as to the intensity of the emotions expressed and have
given undue emphasis to its practical relation and effect upon the
individual and upon the race. The judgment of those who have not known the
negro, and to whom his singing is a revelation, leads to sweeping
generalizations. On the other hand, those who have known the negroes in
many walks of life, and have come to know him better than any others, have
often emphasized a single phase of the negro folk-song. There can be no
doubt as to the beauty and weirdness of the negro singing, but a careful
analysis of the general emotional feeling predominating, together with
careful interpretation of all things concerned, make comparisons less
dangerous and expressions less extravagant. Slavery has passed, four
decades of liberty for the slave people have signalized the better
civilization, and there still remains among the negroes the same emotional
nature, the same sad, plaintive, beautiful, rhythmic sorrow-feeling in
their songs.
Some of the qualities of the negro's emotions as seen in his singing will
be noted subsequently. Omitting for the present this feature of his songs,
and qualifying the statement by interpreting his nature and environment,
it may be affirmed that all that has been said of the spirituals is true.
They are beautiful, childlike, simple and plaintive. They are the negro's
own songs and are the peculiar expression of his own being; much may be
said concerning them. Many of the spirituals are still popular among the
negroes, and often take the place of the regular church hymns. The less
intelligent negroes sing them, and they are sung freely by the more
intelligent class. Ministers of all denominations take advantage of their
peculiar power to sway the feelings of the negroes into accustomed
channels. Many of the old spirituals that were common in slavery are
still current and are sung with but little modification; others are
greatly modified and enlarged or shortened. Traces of the slave songs may
be found in the more modern spirituals that have sprung up since the war.
The majority of the songs have several versions, differing according to
localities, and affected by continual modification as they have been used
for many years. Some have been so blended with other songs, and filled
with new ideas, as to be scarcely recognizable, but clearly the product of
the negro singers. Besides the old and the mixed songs, there are many
that are entirely new, arising out of various circumstances and developing
with successive renditions.
The spirituals current among the Southern negroes to-day are very much
like those that were sung three or four decades ago. The differences may
be seen in the comparisons that follow in the examples given: There are
more rhymed words in the present-day negro song than there was in the
earlier ones; consequently there is often less meaning in a line or
stanza. The tendency seems to be more toward satisfactory sound
_impression_ than for spontaneous feeling _expression_ as in the older
spirituals. Meaning and words in general are often sacrificed in the
effort to make rhyme, to make the song fit into a desired tune, to bring
about a satisfying rhythm, or to give prominent place to a single
well-sounding word or phrase. It would thus seem that the religious songs
composed in the usual way by the negroes of the present generation have
less conviction, and more purposive features in their composition. The
dialect of the older songs is purer than those of the present-day negro.
One finds little consistency in the use of dialect in the songs that are
sung now; rarely does one hear the lines repeated in exactly the same
form. Dialect or the common form of the word, it would seem, is used
according as feeling, the occasion, or the necessity for rhyme or rhythm
permits or demands. Many of the negro songs that are the most beautiful in
their expression would appear expressionless were they robbed of their
dialect and vividness of word portrayal. The imagery and dialect give the
songs their peculiar charm; the more mechanical production that is
apparently on the increase may be sung to the same melody, but the song
itself has little beauty. However, the negroes themselves prefer the old
songs and almost invariably return to the singing of the more primitive
ones that have become a part of their heritage. In those cases where the
tunes differ from the old melodies, the song has assumed a characteristic
nature, either from its origin and composition, from constant usage by the
negroes, from local qualities, or from unusual combinations. And in these
original creations of the negro religion are found the truest expression
of nature and life as it is reflected in the negro of to-day; it is not
the expression of complex life, but of simple longing. In the outbursts of
joyous song and melody the note of victory is predominant; in the
sadder-toned songs, sung in "plaintive, rhythmic melody", the prevailing
note is that of appeal. In either case there is some sort of conviction
back of the song, and it becomes the expression of primitive human life.
They set forth the more simple thoughts of an emotional and imaginative
worship. They magnify the personal and the spectacular in religion. They
satisfy the love of melody, rude poetry, and sonorous language. Simple
thought is expressed in simple rhyming phrases. Repetition of similar
thoughts and a single chorus, with simple and pleasing music which lends
itself easily to harmonious expression, are characteristic. The music is
specially adapted to the chorus-like singing which is produced by the
clever and informal carrying of many parts by the singers. The song often
requires a single leader, and a swelling chorus of voices take up the
refrain. It is but natural that these songs should be suited to protracted
services as good "shoutin' songs" or "runnin' speerichils." The same
rhythm makes them pleasing to the toilers who are disposed to sing
religious songs while they work and promotes a spirit of good fellowship
as well as being conducive to general "good feelin'." The united singing
of children is also beautiful. Throughout these characteristic songs of
the negro, the narrative style, the inconsequential, disjointed
statements, the simple thought and the fastidious rhymes are all
expressive of the negro's mental operations.
All of the negro's church music tends to take into it the qualities of his
native expression--strains minor and sad in their general character. The
religious "tone" is a part of the song, and both words and music conform
to the minor key. The negroes delight in song that gives stress and swell
to special words or phrases that for one reason or another have peculiar
meanings to them. For the most part, all religious songs are "spirituals"
and easily merge into satisfying melodies when occasion demands. With the
idea gained from the music of the songs must be joined the church scenes
and its personalities freely mingled with the music. The preaching,
praying, singing and with it shouting and unity of negro
worship--perfection of rhythmic sing-song, these with the throbbing
instinct of the people make the negro music what it is. The negroes sing
their regular denominational hymns with the same feeling, often, as they
do the spirituals, and while mention must be made of their church hymns as
such, they often reach in singing them a climax similar to their most
fervent outbursts, and freely mingle them with the old songs. In addition
to the tune in which the hymn is written the negro puts his own music into
the singing, and his own interpretation into the words. This together with
the "feeling-attitude" which is unconsciously his, and the satisfaction
which he gets from his singing, places negro church music in a class of
its own. A glance at the part which singing plays in the negro's church
services will aid in the interpretation of his songs.
Church services are opened with song; a leader may occupy his place at a
central table or chair, select a song and begin to sing. Or they may wait
for the "speerit" and a leader from the pews may begin to sing, others
join in the song, while the congregation begins to gather in the church.
The leader often lines his song aloud, reading sometimes one, sometimes
two lines, then singing. He often puts as much music-appeal into the
lining of the song as he does in the singing. The rhythmical, swinging
tone of the reader adds zest to the singing which follows. Most of the
negroes who sing know a great many songs--in fact, all of their regular
songs--if they are given a start by the leader. On the other hand, the
congregation often gives the leader a start when he lags, and both
together keep the song going until they are ready to stop singing or to
begin another song.
If the service is prayer meeting or a class meeting the leader usually
continues the songs throughout the singing part of the exercises; at
regular preaching services the preacher reads the regular hymns and leaves
the beginning and the final songs to the leaders. In the class meeting,
the general congregation led by song-leaders sing, as a rule, while the
class leaders are engaged with their classes. Now a woman on this side,
now a man or woman on the other side of the church begins the song and
others join in the doleful tunes; so too, while collections are being made
the singing is kept up continuously. The process is the same: a leader
begins to sing, another joins in the singing, then another and another
until the majority of those present are singing. Most negroes who attend
church participate in the singing, although many will not do so regularly,
preferring to remain quiet for a time, then to burst out into song. The
negroes have been proverbial for their good singing, and undoubtedly they
have won a deserved reputation. A group of five or ten negroes singing at
a mid-week prayer meeting will often appear the volume of song equivalent
to that of many times their number of white people singing. The
comparison, however, is not a fair one, for the music is entirely
different. One can scarcely appreciate the singing of the negroes until he
has heard them on various occasions and in different capacities. Let him
listen on a quiet Sunday evening from a position on a hill to the singing
of four negro congregations, each clearly audible. It would appear to be
the rhythmical expression of deep human feeling and longing in an
unrestrained outburst of ten thousand souls. Inside the church one may
watch the leaders as they line the songs and listen to their rich,
tremulous voices; he may see the others respond and listen to the music of
each peculiar voice. The voice of the leader seems to betray great
emotions as he reads the lines and begins to sing. He appears literally to
drink in inspiration from the songs while his soul seems to be overflowing
as he sings the words telling of grace and redemption. However, he
manifests the same kind of emotion when he sings one song as when singing
another, the same emotion when he reads the words wrongly as when he has
read them correctly; it makes little difference to him. He is consumed
with the music and with the state of feeling which singing brings to him.
After all, perhaps one feeling dominates his whole being while he sings,
and there can be no song to him which does not accord with this.
A complete analysis of the negro church music in its detail is worthy of
the efforts of any one who could describe it. And while the folk-song is
of more importance in the present work than the music of these same songs,
a few further details that are apparently characteristic of the negroes
will not be amiss. The singing begins slowly and with time-honored
regularity but is followed by the agreeable and satisfying effect made by
the joining in of varied voices. Many times the singers begin as if they
would sing a simple subdued song, or a hymn with its written music. But in
a short while, apparently not being able to resist the impulse to give
their feelings full sway, their voices fall into that rhythmical swing
peculiar in a large degree to the negroes; all measures alike become
stately. The average negro is proud of his stylish choir because it
represents a step towards a model which the negroes wish to follow: but
they do not like the choir's _singing_ as well as their own informal song.
In general the negro's song will characterize his natural self wherever he
sings or hears it sung; he is loath to give it up. And while some pastors
have testified that there were no members in their church who would not
sing the church songs, it is very evident that many of the younger negroes
do not enter fully into the spirit of the old songs and they must
necessarily undergo radical changes and rapidly pass away.
Before coming to the further study of the negro spirituals, it will be
well to inquire into the nature of the favorite standard church hymns
commonly used by the negroes in their church services. A comparison may
then be made with the popular folk-songs. The favorite songs and most
common themes sung by the negroes may best be seen at their prayer
meetings or class meetings, or at such gatherings as require no formality.
One may attend week after week and hear the same songs and feel the same
pathos emanating from the songs which the worshippers have learned to sing
and love. They enjoy singing of _heaven_ and _rest_ and _luxury_ where
_ease_ abounds and where _Sabbaths_ have no end. They love to sing the
praises of the Deliverer who shall free them from life's toils. They have
chosen the "good old" songs that have vividness and concrete imagery in
them; they have placed a new feeling into them and a different
interpretation. The meaning of the words and the sentiment of the song are
transcended by the expression in the singing. The accustomed manner,
together with their responsive feeling, absorb whatever of pure devotion
might have existed in their attitude--the sinking itself becoming
devotion. The negro looks always to some future state for happiness and
sings often:
This earth, he cries, is not my place;
I seek my place in heaven.
The negroes sing with a peculiar faith the common stanzas of their hymns:
"We've seen our foes before us flee," "We've seen the timid lose their
fears", "We've seen the prisoners burst their chains", "We've seen the
guilty lose their stains." So, too, they conceive, as of old, of the
eternal rest and sing, with its full stanzas:
How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end.
The singing of these hymns is beautiful and impressive, testifying to the
truth that their favorites appeal to the fitness of worship and accord
with the ideal of rhythmical perfection as expressed in the feeling of the
worshipper.
The general state of feeling which accompanies the song thus has much to
do with the song itself. The singing with its results is the most
satisfying and agreeable part of the worship to the negro's nature. It
satisfies his social wants and relieves to some extent his child-like
psychophysical cravings. His worship is music to his soul, whether it be
in the word-music of the sermon and prayer, or in the natural outburst of
his song, or in the rhythm of all combined. It is all freedom from
restraint and the gratification of impulse and the experience of sustained
languor. Although the negro expends a great deal of energy in his singing,
it is nevertheless rest for him as he feels it. Unrestrained expression
goes far toward relieving him of his troubles, sometimes real, sometimes
imaginary. What the negro imagines to be total confession and contrite
submission has a very soothing effect upon him; the songs reach the climax
of this state of feeling. Many negroes may be seen, with their heads
resting backward and eyes closed, singing vigorously their favorite songs;
often they lean forward, sway back and forth, apparently in a complete
state of passivity. Tears and shouts of joy are not inconsistent with the
saddest strains of pathos. Their senses are all turned toward the
perception of one attitude, and besides a wonderful tranquility of
feeling, they also feel and see visions. At such a time the negro is at
ease and is at liberty to give full expression to his feelings among his
own people, without incentive to action and without interruption. Is it
surprising that after a day's work, while he has passed the hours away in
emptiness of thought or in misguided thinking and with perverted notions,
he finds sweet rest in some melodious songs and rhythmic verses as he
rests his body in the pew? Is it surprising that he is unwilling to leave
the church until a late hour or that he does not tire of singing? For what
has he to attract him at home where he unwillingly begins to think of
work again? It is little surprising that after the outburst of song and
shouts which reveals so much of the negro's nature that his attitude is
one of listlessness and apathy when he has finished.
This revelation of emotions which the negro shows in his singing but
manifests the reality of his religion. And although the greater part of
his feeling in religion is pleasurable excitement, it is, nevertheless,
for this very reason the one reality in life to him. A study of the
emotional element does not, then, detract from the beauty and value of the
negro's song; it does aid in interpreting that part of his songs that
arise spontaneously and also shows something of their origin and growth.
Indeed without a knowledge of the negro's nature and environment, one
would scarcely realize the fullest appreciation of his folk-songs. In
proportion as the investigator becomes acquainted with the people and
circumstances which have furnished unique folk-songs, to that degree will
he be eager to search out their origin and be able to interpret them
intelligently as they are fundamentally related to the race.
The negro has found much material upon which to base his songs and many
sources from which he has selected a wide range of subject-matter. His
religion is often synonymous with his song, and he has sung with little
restraint the various religious experiences common to such a religion. The
sermon and prayers, even the songs themselves suggest new themes for an
imaginative and religious being to sing. So, too, the Church, the
Christians and the "world" have furnished themes for his song. Sin, evil
and the devil are ever-present subjects for religious thought. The scenes
of everyday life form continuous allegories to be imaged with the
assistance of the negro's definite self-feeling. But perhaps nowhere has
the negro found more acceptable subject-matter for his song than in the
Scriptures; his songs abound in references to scriptural characters and
often portray individuals and scenes with unusual concreteness. A perusal
of the negro's songs thus reveals the most common themes, but it is more
difficult to locate the accidental circumstances which gave rise to
particular forms of a song, or to ascertain the temperamental nature which
originated many of the best known spirituals. In general, it may be said
that the folk-song of the negroes has found its rise in every phase of
negro life. It is scarcely possible to trace the origin of the first
spirituals and plantation songs. The American negroes appear to have had
their own songs from the earliest days of slavery. And while their first
songs were undoubtedly founded upon the African songs as a basis, both in
form and meaning, little trace of them can be found in the present songs:
negro folks produce spontaneous song. The linguist and the anthropologists
are able to find the parallel and apparent origin of many words, that have
been used by the Southern negroes in their lore and song, among the
peoples of Africa, but there is now no practical relation between these
words and the meaning of the words in their present usage. The origin of
folk-song has always been an interesting theme, proving full of
fascination for him who finds it, nymph-like, vanishing from his grasp.
Still the song of a people is ever present and appear, almost like myths,
to have sprung into life in some way and at some time which no one can
exactly tell. Many a bard of the common life has intensified their meaning
and made them a part of that life.
However, many of the negro folk-songs may be explained when one has
observed the negro in many walks of life, or has found the origin from
which they arose. Many of the old spirituals were composed in their first
forms by the negro preachers for their congregations; others were composed
by the leaders of the church singing: others were composed by the slaves
in the various walks of life, while still others were first sung by the
"mammies" as they passed the time in imaginative melody-making and sought
harmony of words and music. A great many of these songs never became
current because they lacked the pleasurable features that appealed most to
the negroes. Those that proved satisfactory were seized upon and their
growth and popularity dated from the moment they were heard. With the
negroes of to-day songs have arisen in much the same way. The difference
of environment must necessarily make a difference in the nature of the
songs; at the same time the coloring of present-day life is much in
evidence in some of the old songs composed by the slaves but sung by the
negroes of the present generation. Some suggestions as to the natural
origin and growth of negro songs may be both interesting and valuable.
The negroes have always been known as full of feeling and very expressive.
Their natures demand not only some expression of their emotions but this
expression must be easy and rhythmic, at the same time that it is intense
and continuous. The negro's musical nature easily turns these expressions
into melody, and a word, phrase or exclamation becomes a song in itself.
The song is completed by the imaginative mind and the sense of fitness in
sound. Worshippers often follow the preacher through his sermon in a
mental state of song and when he has finished they burst out into song,
singing no other than an elaborate sentence which the preacher has used in
his sermon. When this is joined to a familiar chorus and tune, and then
varied, a song has originated. Sometimes the song is remembered and sung
again; sometimes, like the words of the preacher, it simply becomes a part
of the satisfaction of the hour and is forgotten. A negro preacher
recently reached a climax in his discourse in the phrase, "Oh, with the
wings of the morning, I'd fly to that heavenly land." He repeated this a
number of times and made gestures with his arms suggestive of flying. His
black robe added to the forcefulness of the suggestion and the impression
became a part of the song of that church. So with praying, the pathetic
appeal and word-music of a _p-l-e-a-s-e My Lo-rd_ is often the inspiration
for a song when a happy phrase from the prayer becomes an addition to a
song that follows. Even more than preaching and praying, shouting gives
rise to song among the negroes; during exciting times in worship the
negroes often sing unheard of songs nor do they ever recall them again. It
is indeed a mixed scene of song and motion, each contributing largely to
the other, while the spectator looks on in wonderment at the astonishing
inventiveness of the worshippers. The general motion, expressions of the
face, words and harmonies, rests and rhythm, sense of fitness and even of
humor, repetition--these make an occasion that defies limitation to its
expression. If a single personality dominates the whole in an expression
that appeals to the present sense of fitness, he is the author of a new
song. Such a personality in the person of a visiting minister recently
shouted out during such a scene: "Oh, the hearse-wheel a-rollin' an' the
graveyard opening--h-a, ha," but got no further for his refrain was taken
up by the chorus and the next day was a new version of the well-known
song.
Such occasions might be cited in great numbers. Not infrequently a negro
who has assumed the position of song leader sings a line while the others
join in with a chorus of singing and shouting. When the leader has given
all the lines that he knows, he will often continue in the simplest manner
possible, as if he had known them for a long time, to improvise lines,
which often have little meaning, but which fit into the tune and sound
well. This process may be continued indefinitely, sometimes with
repetition of lines already uttered but slightly varied and the emphasis
placed on the differing particular. It thus happens that the songs need
not have a limit. The necessity of the occasion becomes the cause for the
invention of the song. Itinerant worshippers are often thus gratified to
sing to new congregations. As a rule the negroes always give attention and
respect to strangers so that the man or woman who comes to them is at
liberty to sing old or new songs, and they often become skilled in
improvising songs. The new songs are then learned and begin their history
as folk-song. Again, negroes often feel themselves called upon to
introduce new features into some of their songs and conceive of various
novelties. The negro's feeling toward leadership puts a premium upon such
a practice. In this effort, a song that is little known among the negroes
will be changed in some particulars, printed on a sheet of paper and
distributed as the song of brother or sister So and So. The song may be
found in a hymn book. However, songs entirely new and the efforts of their
own poetic attempts are often thus circulated. This gives rise to a new
class of negro spirituals, examples of which may be seen in the following
pages.
A number of popular spirituals apparently had their rise in the effort of
the church to satisfy the physical cravings of the negroes. The church
deemed the fiddle and the dance instruments of the devil, and although the
negro was and is passionately fond of dancing, he was forbidden by the
church to do so. The church needed some kind of substitute for the rhythm
and excitement of the dance that would satisfy and still be "in the Lord."
Consequently marching services were often instituted. The benches were
piled up together and marching room left for the worshippers. They had
various orders for this service and many forms of it have been known to
exist. Sometimes they marched two by two, a "sister and brother in the
Lord", sometimes they marched singly, and at other times they marched in a
general "mix-up." At first they followed a leader to a simple melody,
keeping step and working into a rhythmic swing. Then as they became more
excited they became more expressive and with the elaboration of the march
into a dance their songs became marching songs. Often they thus marched,
with intervals for rest, until the hours of the morning. Sometimes they
all sang; sometimes the leader sang the leading part and all joined in the
chorus with more satisfactory effect. In the march the negroes swayed back
and forth, to and fro, and found the usual satisfaction that comes from
absolute lack of restraint. As the songs given in the following pages
indicate, the negroes often imagined themselves to be the children of
Israel, while their marching songs represented Moses leading them out from
under the bondage of Pharaoh, or they considered themselves as marching
around the wall of some besieged city. Victory would be theirs sooner or
later. This is not confined to the songs composed by the slavery negroes,
but is common in the later songs. Such scenes are often portrayed by negro
preachers of the present day and very appropriate applications, as they
think, are made. The march songs that have been found current to-day were
composed since the war. Often the negroes enacted similar scenes without
the formal putting away of the benches in the church, and the same general
results were the outcome. Shouting scenes in negro worship to-day are very
much similar to the old marches except that they are more promiscuous. The
"strange, sweet harmonies and melodies" of the old songs are still good
shouting songs.
Individuals have composed spirituals while at work or while wandering from
place to place, as a simple outgrowth of the circumstances. The
expression, so common in negro songs, "O my Lord", seems to have been
introduced into a number of songs in this way. The single expression
repeated itself forms a favorite melody that is often sung. A group of
negroes sing while working; one sings a new verse of the song: "Where you
git dat?" "I made hit maself, didn't you know I'm a songster?" And he did
make it, and thus gratified, tries other attempts; with him others begin
and they have become "songsters". Negroes, in order to verify a boast that
they know a certain song to exist, have been known to compose on the
moment just such a song, mixing all sorts of songs together with the ideas
that arise. Others who have been offered an attractive price for songs
have composed them without scruples of conscience and when asked to sing
them, have done so with perfect ease. They were paid for the songs,
thinking that they had "fooled that white man", who valued his song thus
composed as much perhaps as an old spiritual that was still current. What
the negro composed accidentally he learned to sing, and thus introduced a
real song in his community, which was to be soon carried to other
localities. The negro is going to sing whether he has a formal song or
not. The following song originated with two negro laborers, apparently in
a dialogue. The lines may be sung to any tune and put to any chorus.
The church bell a ringin', how sweet I do declar'.
Why don't you go to meetin' an' pray all day long?
I'm goin' to church an' pray all day long.
Of course I'm a sinner but prayin' might do me good
An' if I do succeed I sure will tell the news.
Another song that was composed spontaneously in the effort to dignify his
conversation is the following. It will be seen that for the most part it
is composed of phrases common to other songs, and it is only the
combination that is new.
Walk right and do right an' trust in the Lord--
Lay down all yo' sinful ways an' trust in the Lord.
_I am goin' to trust in the Lord,
I am goin' to trust in the Lord,
I'm goin' to trust in the Lord till I die._
My God he's a wonderful God an' trust in the Lord,
He will answer yo' prayers don't care wher' you are,
_An' trust in the Lord_.
The next example was composed by a negro man after he had recently "come
through." He always loved to talk of what he had seen, what he knew would
happen and how he could get out of difficulties. Along with this he had an
unusually imaginative mind and told many ingenious stories. Here is the
song:
The devil come down to the worl' one day
An' I heard him holler, hoo-ray, hoo-ray!
Come out, I'm havin' a holiday.
That was the word I heard him say,
But I knowed if I danced to his holiday,
There'd be something doing an' the devil to play.
The above song is difficult to classify. It would seem to be very much
like some rhymes that the negro had seen published in a newspaper but for
all his purposes it was a good song and it mattered little where he had
obtained the ideas. It was indeed his own song. One other example of an
effort to compose a new song shows the tendency of the negro to mix his
serious themes with ridiculous expressions.
There was a man by the name of Cy,
He never prayed an' he never try,
So when ole Cy was come to die,
He hollow out, "in hell I'll cry."
_In hell ole Cy did cry,
In hell ole Cy did cry,
In hell ole Cy did cry_,
Now don't you die like ole Cy die.
The song is a variation of two or three secular songs and becomes a
religious song because of its chorus. It is actually sung in the churches.
The "author" continued,
Ole Cy did lead a mighty bad life,
He was always after some other man's wife,
which clearly showed the trace of the secular element; this phrase is
applied to many of the notorious characters in the negro secular songs.
Still there was an opportunity for the moral and the song represents the
peculiar gratification which the negroes find in having composed something
more or less original.
Enough has been said to give a definite idea concerning the actual and
possible origin of some of the negro folk-songs. Further examples will be
given when the discussion of the negro's secular song has been reached.
The psychology of negro music and song is not difficult to explain in the
light of the facts already suggested. His plaintive appeals in prayer, his
emotional and religious nature, his primitive expression, his love of
rhythm and melody, his feelings and misguided imagination, his
interpretation of life and Scripture, his faith in dreams and visions
quickly exaggerated into fabrications, his whole nature but reveals within
him what we call the musical nature of the race. With the negro, motion
and song instinctively go together. Systematic movement is more conducive
to singing than a careless, haphazard motion. Movement and song give
rhythm that is not to be found under other circumstances. Regularity and
rhythm in movement, emphasis and rhythm in music, these give the negro
songs essential pleasure-giving qualities that appeal strongly to the
negro's entire being. If his music is primitive and if it has much of the
sensuous in it; if his songs and verse are full of primitive art having
many qualities of possible worth, nevertheless they are not thereby
rendered less distinct.
In no way can a better insight into the negro's religion be obtained than
by a careful study of his songs. An analysis of those songs that have been
preserved will give us at once a better conception of his folk-songs and
his religion. The references are reproduced in their exact forms in order
that they may serve as an aid in the study of the verse contained in the
common songs of the negroes from the time of slavery to the present day.
Only the chief conceptions which have been portrayed in negro song are
here given; further analysis may be made in connection with the songs
themselves. The devil is prominent in the religious songs of the negroes.
He is the constant terror and proverbial enemy of the race. He is alive,
alert, and concrete. He represents the demon trickster incarnate in the
form of a man. He is the opposite of God but always less powerful. He is
the enemy against whom the battle is always on; it is a personal battle,
but he is usually outwitted or disappointed. Here are some pictures of
"Old Satan" as found in the songs of the slave and the negro of to-day:[3]
Ef you want to see ole satan run,
Jes' fire off dat gospel gun.
Ole satan is a liar an' conjurer, too,
An' if you don't mind he'll conjure you.