That Bad Man
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 9:59 PM I must admit that I really wanted to write this response about Charlie Patton’s “High Water Everywhere,” since I’ve always been a fan of two-parters; it’s as though the first one had too much to say, and a second had to be written to add more depth and complexity to the artist’s message. What happened in “High Water Everywhere (part 2)?” Did poor Charlie survive the first song only to find that he was surrounded by yet another torrential flood?
Yet, I found myself inexplicably attracted to Mississippi John Hurt’s “Stack O’ Lee” Blues. It’s a simple tune, with only one vocal melody repeated over and over as Hurt narrates the events of Stack O’ Lee’s murder of Billy De Lyons. The lyrical pattern operates in an A B C fashion in the form of three line chunks: the first of the three lines introduces Hurt’s perspective as it changes throughout the course of the song, the second continues to explain the circumstances, and the third consistently chastises “that bad man, oh cruel Stack O’ Lee.” This pattern is repeated six times, shifting from the scene of the murder as Billy and Stack O’ Lee exchange words, then Hurt (as the narrator) comes across the dead man’s body, and finally the song ends in court as Stack O’ Lee is convicted and executed.
Despite the song’s dark tale and antiquary language, I found the song to be extremely accessible to a 21st century listening audience. Perhaps this is because, as a Piedmont-style song, it is inherently influenced by ‘pop’ music – even with a catchy vocal line and a straightforward structure, the song is still able to tell a story line by line.
Reader Comments (3)
Hi, Benjamin,
Good analysis of the lyrics. For your essay it would probably be worthwhile to discuss the musical content (independent of lyrics) more. Describe the melody, how the singing and fingerpicking interleave, and so on.
You say that this song is accessible to 21st century audiences. What are the qualities of a song, in general, that make it accessible to today's listeners? Is it simply a catchy vocal line and simple structure? Your reference to storytelling piqued my curiosity -- while I freely admit that I am not the most in tune with current pop music trends, it is my understanding that storytelling in songs has generally fallen out of favor. (There was a resurgence of this in the UK during the 90's with the BritPop movement.) What else might make a song accessible to modern listeners? And what do you really mean by "accessible?" Is that really just a synonym for "enjoyable?"
I think the accessibility comes in the song's simplistic structure, allowing the listener to expect "That bad man, oh cruel stack o' lee" each time it comes up. It's a predictable song, and I think popular audiences really go for that sort of thing. This is how I define "accessibility;" that is to say, the tune isn't jarring or confusing, even on the first listen.
As for the storytelling, I definitely think you're right Andrew. That bit isn't necessarily reflective of popular music, I should've been more clear. The lyrics don't really reveal themselves unless the listener is reading them along as the song plays, or is listening intently. I should take a closer look at the accompanying guitar part, especially now that we have started to talk about syncopation, and how the vocals and guitar interweave. There is certainly a lot to these songs, much more to be discovered upon each listen.
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 aspects of culture and diaspora that has informed these songs.
How do you hear the affects of diaspora in these songs? What about these songs do you think made them popular? Is it some sort of shared American sentiment, or are they just great for dancing? How do you feel they reflected the culture of the day, and how do you feel the culture of the day reflected back onto the songs? Let's get a discussion going, and don't be afraid to argue. Just keep it respectful.
Here are a couple of posts you should look at:
Noemi thinks the popularity stems from a catchy tune. Well, there are lots of catchy tunes that have fallen out of favor in popular culture, right? So how did these catchy tunes capture the mind of the public?
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/2009/10/10/salty-dog.html
Benjamin thinks that at least "Stack O'Lee" is accessible to modern day listeners. Why is that? What does it take for a song to become popular, and how can that popularity transcend generations?
http://benleedscarson.com/charlie-patton-blind-willie/that-bad-man.html
--Andrew