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Thursday
15Oct2009

Experience Blues

In the song, Experience Blues by Ruth Willis and Blind Willie Mctell, the artists go through a standard blues progression with the first line is repeated and the next line delivers some kind of a solution to whatever was proposed in the first line.  The song starts out slow and slowly builds up tempo as the song progresses.  Ruth Willis speaks about how her man shows her little love and means her no good.  Her voice expresses much emotion especially in the second line when the chord changes and she says the reason why she wants to leave her man, John.  For the most part the composition of the song stays on track with the basic AA’B blues style, until right before the last verse Blind Willie Mctell plays a soulful guitar solo to try and prepare the audience for the closing of the song, the last two lines.

This song definitely is more lyrical than instrumental, the meaning of the song is shown through the lyrics of Ruth Willis.  She outshines the guitar with her intense voice and deep lyrics.  She gives the song that “bluesy” feeling, upset, angry and heartbroken. 

 

Reader Comments (1)

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

Oct 16, 2009 at 1:34 AM | Registered CommenterAndrewPascoe
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