Mississippi John Hurt’s Salty Dog
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 1:44 PM This piece by Mississippi John Hurt uses a simple version of the Piedmont finger picking guitar. By using the guitar’s deeper bass notes, the artist complements the melodies of the song. This is very typical of the Piedmont style blues; using the guitar to play both a melody and an accompaniment for the piece. There are two melodies present in this song, one being played by the higher notes of the guitar, and the other (more prominent) melody is sung. These two melodies often alternate; the singer will sing a line and the guitar will “answer back”. This kind of technique gives the guitar an interesting feel, almost humanizing its “voice”.
Lyrically, John Hurt’s Salty Dog touches upon some serious issues in a sort of silly manner. The feel of the song is quite light-hearted, but some of the lyrics such as “scardest I ever was in my life, Uncle Bud like to caught me kissin’ his wife” hint at adultery. Even though the topic is somewhat serious, John Hurt makes the issue seem mild and reasonable by issuing the lyrics “you salty dog”, which seem to resemble the old saying “boys will be boys”. The song is up-beat and often relaxed, as some of the lyrics do not even fall into a specific rhythm. All of these aspects of the tune create an almost care-free vision of the “old south”.
NoemiVillalpando
Your post on Mississippi John Hurt’s song “Salty Dog” touches on subjects that I let slip on my previous post. Mentioning the piedmont sytle fingering captured the technique that the song uses to stay within the Delta style Blues perfectly. It was interesting to see your perspective on what you thought the song was about. It was similar to mine, but your insight captured the adultery side of the song better. The part where you compared the chorus and the title of the song “you salty dog” to the saying “boys will be boys” was very clever.
Noemi Villalpando
AndrewPascoe
Hi, Noemi,
I don’t want to hassle you about this because your posts thus far have been very good, but it might matter for the midterm: Delta Blues style and Piedmont style are distinct. My extensive Wikipedia research suggests that Piedmont style is also known as “East Coast” style, which is geographically separated from the Mississippi delta.
—Andrew
Reader Comments (2)
Hi, Otto,
I find it interesting that you suggest the melody on the guitar is almost "humanized." Instruments taking over the melody during a part of a song is an ancient tradition. Do you think it is the intent of the artist to humanize the instruments? Is there a conscious attempt to do more than just alter the texture?
Both you and Noemi characterize this song as silly and comical, despite the subject matter. Perhaps the two of you should discuss what it is exactly that makes the song funny. You know: what are the qualities of this comedic element, and how do they come together? I'm sure the two of you could come up with something specific.
--Andrew
Hello, students,
As per Ben's instructions, I've divided the posts in this topic into groups. The divisions aren't perfect, but it seems like you would be interesting in discussing the emotional content of these songs.
What is it that makes a song emotional? How can you tell if a song is sad or happy? Can "nonchalant" singing reflect a particular emotion? How does the instrumentation, melody, and tempo affect the feel of a song? Surely it can't just be slow/fast or high/low notes -- there are happy and sad songs that fit all those categories. Try to pin it down with your classmates, and don't be afraid to argue. Just do it respectfully.
The posts I think you should all look at are here:
Otto thinks "Salty Dog" sounds silly, despite the serious lyrical content:
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/2009/10/11/mississippi-john-hurts-salty-dog.html
Kathryn thinks "Statesboro Blues" is light-hearted, but I hear a lot of pain:
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/statesboro-blues.html
--Andrew