"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" by Leadbelly
Friday, October 9, 2009 at 7:52 AM Leadbelly’s version of the song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” is in itself an example of a diasporic movement showing that by Leadbelly moving from the South to the North he changed the course of American music. Without John and Alan Lomax discovering Leadbelly, this song would be just another song of the south that would be passed down the generations but would never have made it into the sphere that is American popular music. The simple and storytelling feeling that this song encompasses makes it a folk song rather than what would be considered an art song. Leadbelly learned his large repertoire of songs from fellow prison inmates, making “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” a true folk song-a song passed to other people and generations through simply singing the song and memorization of the song.
The way that Leadbelly interjects little personal sayings such as “Come on now, tell me baby” after a verse of singing makes the song feel more real and true which brings about the idea of authenticity. Leadbelly was unspoiled by all commercial music and was simply singing what he felt and experienced. Most of the lyrics are expressed and sung in a very straightforward manner yet when he gets to the word “shiver” his voice warbles and shakes, giving the listener a true sense of the story. It feels as if he is living the story and he imparts on the listener the emotions of the song and the story that is being narrated.
Reader Comments (11)
Hannah – great observations. I especially like your observation that this is a “true” folk song, learned in the purest way one can learn a song: from fellow human beings, in a non-commercialized manner, just one person to another for no other reason than passing the time. This especially shines a light on Nirvana’s possible inauthenticity: Kurt Cobain learned this song from the RECORDING Leadbelly made, without any personal connection between the two. It would have been significantly harder for Kurt Cobain to have learned the song any other way, but still, it’s a very interesting point. If you choose to expand on this in an essay, I would encourage you to examine how Leadbelly’s personal interjections, coupled with why you think it’s a true folk song, connect him with authenticity. What do you think Lead Belly was experiencing when you say he sings about his personal feelings and experiences? Don’t worry about getting the “right” answer as we don’t expect you to do outside research, but do spend a little bit of time thinking about it. Very good start, I’m looking forward to your essay.
P.S. - Your observation about Leadbelly moving from south to north is very clever, but I’m not sure I would call it a diaspora because diasporas connote largescale movements of oppressed or otherwise traumatized peoples. But you’re right, the song might not have nearly the notoriety it has today had he not began performing under the direction of the Lomaxes.
I really enjoyed the comments you made about Leadbelly's version, in particular, how it is a real folk song. I agree with the fact that Leadbelly does not change his pitch or tone throughout the song, except extending the word "shiver." To me I found that interesting because it did not seem like Leadbelly sounded like he truly cared where his girl was because he didn't emphasize any words. Although when he speaks "come on and tell me baby," it does make it seem more intimate, as if he is talking to the girl, I still found it not fully believable that Leadbelly wanted to know where she slept last night. Where she slept last night implies that she was not completely faithful, and I would think Leadbelly would be upset if this were true.
At first listen the song does seem like a simple folk song. It has a verse chorus verse and ABAB structure. And most important, it comes from a long tradition. But as far as we've learned, folk, along with some other traits, essentially has only these aspects. It's not necessary to make the instruments convey what the lyrics say, yet Leadbelly makes his guitar even more mournful than his voice. In that sense perhaps it's a blues influenced folk elegy. Categorizing the song is much more difficult than what you would expect. I talk more about this in my post. As for the spoken word interjections, I completely agree. They're almost like a reminder of its word of mouth transmission.
Good observations Hannah. I completely agree with you about Leadbelly's vocal affectations giving the song a sense of authenticity, however, I'm not sure that one can really categorize this as a "true" folk song. Firstly, you have to consider the fact that Leadbelly's version is a recording meant for a primarily white audience. Whereas folk music is community oriented and speaks to the experiences of people in a specific time and place, recordings like the ones by John and Alan Lomax are meant to display music like for a completely new audience. Inevitably, the music takes on new meanings for the new groups of people that embrace it. In this case, I think this recording represents a sense of the "authentic", "primitive", or "unspoiled" for a new white audience. I think it would be difficult to really evaluate the "authenticity" of a song without being a part of the community from which it was created. Rather, I think this recording is largely Lomax's attempt to represent his own notion of "authentic black folk music". Just to clarify, i'm not trying to put down this recording or Leadbelly, I think they are both great. I just feel like its very difficult for us to really evaluate its "authenticity".
I'm going to have to agree with Nicholas. Although "true" can have lots of different meanings, I think that Nicholas has the most correct one for this folk song. Everyone is agreeing that it is a "true" folk song but in order it to be legit, it has to be part of a community the singer is from. the song also has to be targeting people from it's own community. Whereas Leadbelly's version was for white audience which is not part of the community at all. On the other head, Lomax's version is more of a "true" folk song than Leadbelly's because it's meant for the community and he doesn't have to really target anyone. The community that he sang about and for will come to it naturally and that's what makes a "true" folk song a true folk song.
Jack and Nicholas both make good points; though the song may have been learned authentically, and I still agree it was, the manner in which it is presented and performed may be more inauthentic. Jack, you say that Lomax's version is more true, which version are you referring to? Monroe's?
And Nicholas - it IS difficult to evaluate authenticity! Really difficult! I'm a TA and I'm wrestling with it still. It's not an easy assignment, but as long as you think critically and explain your thoughts well, no one will be penalized.
Great insights about this song! I also noticed the words "shiver" when I listened to the song that it was the only part that Lead Belly had changed the tone of his voice. I have to say he was not exactly "unspoiled by commercial music". He was found by Lomax and I think he had a big part of actually running the show. Lead belly was performing in an orange jumpsuit when he wanted to wear a suit. Obviously, he was not doing what was authentic to him or in another word, what felt right to him. He was doing what Lomax felt was authentic to the audience. He changed lyrics of "black girl" to "my girl" to appeal to the white audience. However, I do agree that his tone of voice was quite authentic and he was probably going to be as close as the mass audience is going to get to real, authentic music.
In your posts, many of you considered the effect Lead Belly’s spoken interjections had on the authenticity or lack thereof in his version of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” Christopher Yoshonis made an interesting point when he noted the Jazz influence in Lead Belly’s interjections, implying that they detracted authenticity. Check out Christopher’s post here: (http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/2009/10/10/lead-bellys-in-the-pines.html). Hannah Sherman, on the other hand, felt that these interjections increased authenticity as they reflected what Lead Belly “felt and experienced.” Take a look at Hannah’s post here: (http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/2009/10/9/where-did-you-sleep-last-night-by-leadbelly.html). Using these examples as a springboard, what effect do you think Lead Belly’s spoken interjections have on the song’s authenticity and on the song in general? Why do you think Lead Belly chose to speak the specific lines that he did, as opposed to any other lines? And looking at the topic in broader terms, what effect do you think spoken interjections have on songs today? Feel free to post youtube links to examples of present-day songs featuring spoken interjections and to discuss these examples with your classmates!
Hannah
I really like your observation of the way Leadbelly's voice changes when he sings certain words. That could be an interesting aspect to add to an essay. I think it would be interesting to find any other vocal changes like this one in the song. Also maybe you could compare the way Leadbelly sings certain lines or words to a different artist's version of this song.
I completely agree with this reponse. Leadbelly, being my favorite artist from the bunch truly did "was unspoiled by all commercial music and was simply singing what he felt and experienced." His authentic touch to music inspired many other to pursue careers.