"Statesboro Blues"
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 2:17 PM Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” begins with a slow and simple guitar introduction. When Blind Willie’s vocals come in, it is clearly to go along with the song as he “wake up Mama”. Though the song begins with a slow, consistent melody on the guitar, as it progresses the melody not only gets faster, but more complex. By the end of the song, there is a new, underlying melody that has been added on the guitar and the overall sound is more upbeat even though the lyrics express that everyone in the entire family is experiencing Statesboro Blues.
Although the melody of the song gets progressively more complex, there are a few points where Blind Willie breaks the melody down completely and begins strumming one cord at a time in a syncopated rhythm (such as when he sings “Big Eighty Left Savannah”). These changes seem to occur when the verse changes to a quatrain form as opposed to the repetitive three line stanzas that preceded them.
Like in most blues songs, Blind Willie uses the lyrics to express the woes of his life, but in an almost nonchalant way. He sings about the death of his parents leaving him wild, problems with women, and being ugly all while managing to sound upbeat. It actually almost seems to be the more he goes into the details of the misfortunes of his life, the more lighthearted the song sounds.
Reader Comments (4)
Hi, Kathryn,
I like your analysis of the song. Only real critique: is it Piedmont or Delta style?
Other than that, I'm curious about your assertion that Blind Willie is singing nonchalantly. Of course, it's just a matter of interpretation, but particularly at the beginning of the song, I hear some element of depressed ennui with a hint of pain. I would also like to know what you think the qualities of the song are that make it lighthearted. For example, getting faster could be interpreted as an intensification of emotional content. I guess I hear more of a frenetic desperation. Once again: this is subjective! But it would be good for you to think about how you would describe the song as being lighthearted.
--Andrew
I would say it's Piedmont style. I agree that speeding up a song could be interpreted as an intensification of emotion, but it's the overall sound of his guitar playing and the chords he chooses that make me feel the song is lighthearted. I guess what I was trying to convey is that to me the lyrics and the way he chooses to sing and play the song don't quite match up for most of the song. The reason I said he is singing almost nonchalantly is because the only real inflections of emotion that are obvious are his high pitch squeaks at the end of some words (such as country after singing about "cousin tell my friend"). Also, I just interpreted the way he is singing in the beginning of the song as sort of a way to go along with the lyrics, like he's waking up himself (if that makes any sense).
Kathryn, I can see where you would get an upbeat feeling from the song, as the song is played quickly, versus slower, almost in a depressing pace. But not all sad songs are played at a slow pace, though I can see how they might appear a little less sad when the tempo is quickened. I interpreted the way that he sang as not nonchalant, but almost in an effort to tell his story quickly without getting too caught up in what was making him sad. I don't know if that makes any sense.. but in my post, I wrote that he was trying to forget, but failing to escape his troubled past..so maybe the way he was singing, (very quickly as the song progressed), was to get his story out, but not dwell on the initial emotions that were triggered from those memories.
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