Where did you sleep last night?
Friday, October 9, 2009 at 7:02 PM The song “Where did you sleep last night?” by Leadbelly expresses some of the conceptes we have learned about inlecture and in readings. I think the main concept that it expresses is the idea of authenticity. This song is essentially a folk song and being authentic is an important aspect of folk music. Leadbelly was a convicted murderer and discovered in prison. This may have made people think that he was more authentic when singing folk songs than someone who had lived a law abiding life style. Leadbelly sings in a low pitch very slowly. This gives the song a more authentically sinister feeling around it.
The lyrics are expressed by Leadbelly singing in a very low pitch throughout the song. His pitch becomes a little higher at the end of verses and choruses. The melody of the song is also relatively unchanging. It changes throughout the song, but only very little. The rhythm of the song is very slow. All of these aspects of the song, “Where did you sleep last night?” add on to the sinister and sad emotions of the song. The accompaniment in the song also adds to the feeling of hopelessness as well as blind despair in the song.
Reader Comments (6)
Mary - what exactly makes you feel the song is sinister? I know the singer is sinister, but I don't think of sinister when I think of the lyrics. I'd be really interested to hear how you interpreted the lyrics. I'd also be interested to hear how you connect this sinister quality to a more authentic rendering. If you choose to do an essay on this topic, I'd think a lot about what the simplicity and dark qualities of this song mean to you...you say that you think Lead Belly's audiences saw him as authentic, but do you? Why? Are there any other things that make it an "authentic" rendering? A comparison between this song and Bill Monroe's version may bring up a lot of interesting topics for you.
I suppose that "sinister" is not the right word to describe the lyrics of the song. The lyrics of the song have a certain quality of darkness to them that I wish to explore firther in an essay.
Mary,
Well, although you may now re-track the word "sinister" as to describe the song, there is much to infer. Why was your immediate response to this song that strong? If you had this this instinctive reaction, imagine how the audience who saw Lead Belly live feel from not just the somber, melancholy melody and expression of the song, but from seeing this 'primitive' criminal sing it. Perhaps, the Lomaxes were striving for just that exact reaction. So, because they were pulling out such strong emotions from the listener, they perhaps used this method to label their music 'authentic.'
I get where you come from when you describe the "aspects of the song" as "sinister". But I think deep or dark might be a more appropriate word for his performance. It's a very dark and deep feel to the song when he sings in his low pitch and the slow rhythm, especially when you compare his song with Bill Monroe's version which sounds more upbeat.
A lot of students observed that the Kossoy Sister's version of "On the Banks of the Ohio" sounded “disturbing” or “morose,” like Megan Moore, whose post you can read here: (http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/meganmoore). Why do the Kossoy Sisters in particular catch your attention? It could be argued that Bill Monroe, at least, if not Johnny Cash as well, performed with the same lack of emotion as the Kossoy Sisters. So is it their gender that makes a difference? Do we find their rendition “creepy” in the same way we find, for example…the twin girls in The Shining creepy? Is it because women are seen as more innocent? Do we expect men to commit murder before women? Kim Riamaud does a good job of explaining her opinion on this notion: (http://benleedscarson.com/by-banks-in-pines/author/kimrambaud).
(If this doesn’t seem relevant to your post, please think about it and make comments anyway, because it is relevant to the class! Also, make sure you’re commenting on other students’ posts, not necessarily just replying to me, your TA.)
I agree that Leadbelly's version of the song is considered authentic because he is singing a song he learned by word of mouth, being passed from generations before. Although I think the fact that he was singing and being marketed as a criminal made this song less authentic for that reason. The Lomax's forced him to dress up in prison garb even though he was no longer an inmate. The fact that he was being shown as a criminal rather than just a regular singer made him less authentic because his identity was just a commercial sham.
I also agree with other people that I wouldn't exactly consider this song sinister, I would consider it a dark and sad song. Leadbelly isn't singing it to be scary, he is singing the song to tell a sad story which is where the dark and somber feelings come from.