... With the forty four
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 12:00 AM The song I decided to analyze is Mississippi John Hurt’s song “Stack O’ Lee. This song caught my attention initially because it seemed to have a sort of light, almost simplistic melody. As the song progressed, I realized that the song was actually about a crazy murderer, which reminded me of the Irish folk songs we had analyzed earlier in class, which generally were morbid and sad stories about murder and death, yet were sung to light melodies that didn’t change at all. This of course makes sense, considering that John Hurt belongs to the “Piedmont-style” of finger picking, which is influenced by Anglo-American Folk music.
When the melody begins, the listener is introduced to the two layers (of sorts) of guitar finger picking: The “top” layer, which is the more prevalent and dynamic stream, and the “bottom” layer which is the more steady base-like line. When the lyrics begin, the first verse sets the model for the rest of the song- with the first line (ending with “be?”) acting as the “A”, the second (ending with “Lee”) as the “B”, and the third line (“Lee” again) as the “C”. This scheme repeats- and doesn’t change throughout the rest of the song.
Reader Comments (3)
I think your interpretation of the overall feel of the song is interesting and accurate. When the song starts out, the melody of the guitar suggests that the song is going to be about a positive subject. As Mississippi John Hurt starts singing though, we find out that it is indeed about a murder. I am a bit curious as to why he hums an entire verse of the song and wonder if you have any insight as to the reason he would do this.
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
Hey i don't know about you, but i listened to this song about a million times haha and for some reason it got better every time. I had to look up the lyrics just to make sure he was singing about what i thought he was singing about because the melody is so light and Hurt's all nonchalant about it. I wonder if he was aware of how complex this song can be... or if he ever thought in a million years, college students would be listening stack o lee on repeat, breaking it down into pieces. there were a ton of awesome artists in this units listening and i was thinking i'd pick billie holiday or bessie smith but im glad to have picked this one. best of luck on the first midterm tomorrow!