Discussing and Writing About Blues Divas (Rainey and Smith)

To participate in discussion, read these thoughts below, including the instructions “DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT” below— and then click on “Post New Entry” above to begin your participation in this conversation.

Songs in the playlist “(Pre-war) City Blues” include some of the first popular examples of the blues form. The lyrics of these songs were developed by black artists who were already famous for singing spirituals, musical theater, or minstrel shows. The music certainly reflects a popular notion of how African American musicians expressed themselves, and their conditions, through singing. But these recordings contain a mixture of “Parlor Song” performance practices, with the practices of traditional, rural, African-American “blues” songs. This is because the musicians were discovering the types of songs known to the blues tradition, as outsiders. They saw themselves less as “authentic” carriers of a tradition, as representatives of black America, trying to bring an unfamiliar tradition to a new audience.

And much of that audience was the early 20th-c. Anglo-American middle-class. As a result, we have to consider the possibility that these lyrics, and this music, “romanticize” the black experience. Furthermore, from Angela Davis’ article, we know that references to sexual freedom in some of these blues recordings backfired, perhaps reinforcing hyper-sexualized stereotypes of Black Americans.

***

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT (Due October 15 — or submit by October 10 at noon to get TA guidance toward an essay):

Choose one recording from the “Pre-war City Blues” playlist, and analyze what you hear. Treat each of the elements of the song separately. How are the lyrics expressed — does the expression change in any way from one part of the song to another? What is the form of the song, and what words would you use to distinguish one part of the form from another? Do the lyrics of the song, or the sounds that the performers make, seem to express any concepts in the readings or our lecture-discussions? Try to answer at least two of those three questions.

Your initial post (submitted through the “Post New Entry” button above) should be about two paragraphs, about 200 words. Once you’ve posted, please read your classmates’ posts and begin commenting on them…your TAs will contribute to the conversation as well. Full participation requires you to comment on your classmates’ posts and try to keep the conversation going!

***

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT (Due October 15 — if you choose to write an essay in this unit):

After reading Angela Davis’ “Mama’s Got the Blues,” choose one of the songs on the “Pre-war City Blues” playlist, and write your own thoughts on what might motivate the way a singer expresses herself musically, and lyrically, in that song. What Davis says about “Empty Bed Blues” might be a good model for what you can say about another song, whose layers of social meaning might also be very complex.

To begin, think carefully about one of the recordings on this list. What is the music like? When does it change, or stay the same? What do the lyrics express, and how does the music itself (how it sounds, how it changes or stays the same) make a difference to the expression of the lyrics? How and why would these performances be heard differently by audiences from varied backgrounds? What does the song imply about power dynamics in sexual relationships, or the status of women in relation to men? Does the music play any role in that expression?

(You don’t need to answer all of these questions—and you may choose to focus on just one or two. But consider them carefully as you plan your comparison of the songs.)

Optional: compare and contrast the presentation of sexuality and empowerment in one of these songs, to a represention of sexuality by a contemporary blues, R&B or hip-hop artist.

***

To write your essay, carefully follow our instructions on the “How to do the essays” page.

Your finished essay (due before noon on Thursday, October 15) should be between 600-800 words long, about the length of four double-spaced pages. Please keep in mind your peers will want to respond to what you say, so make your thoughts intelligible, organized, and easy to read. When you are finished, post the essay to the Blues Divas Essays page, under Unit 1 in the discussion section of the website.

When you are done, please take time read your peers’ posts and essays, compare and contrast your thoughts, and continue discussion.

"Bad Luck Blues"

     Listening to the voice of Bessie Smith while following the lyrics provided, it seems to me that everytime Bessie stresses a word she gives off a notion of sadness. I know the song is meant to be sad and all, but in the second verse (or stanza, I don’t know the exact difference) when she talks to the Lord I imagine a woman on her knees crying to the heavens. The expression does change from high to low pitch. The first two lines for example: “Hey people, listen while I spread my news” and “I wanna tell you people about my bad luck blues”.  To me it went Hey (high) people (stressed and lower pitch), listen while I spread my (high) news (stressed and lower pitch). With the second line until the word ‘people’ everything was high while people was stressed and lower pitched. ‘blues’ was also lower pitched and stressed; ‘about my bad luck’ was higher pitched.

     This is my personal opinion, but I don’t think the piano is a good addition to the song. I rather have just the saxophone play throughout the whole song. I don’t know why but it seems to me that the piano gives off an upbeat feeling in contrast to the sadness of the lyrics. Unless the upbeatness is meant to contrast the song. The saxophone given my minimal exposure to the blues, is the one instrument that is good for protraying emotions of sadness.

Ma Rainey's "Bad Luck Blues"

        From the Pre-War City Blues list, I have chosen the song entitled “Bad Luck Blues” By Ma Rainey for analysis.  The song follows the form A, A’, B typical of many American songs, with some minor differences.  The easiest way to describe these differences is to break the song down line by line.  The first line is given the letter A with not much to say about it except that the last word “news” feels like it should “resolve”, or for lack of a better explanation, the note should go back down.  In the next line, the resolve is heard, however rather than at the end of the phrase, where it feels most natural (in my opinion), it is found in the second word “people” and again the end of the phrase remains the same as the first line.  The slight difference at the beginning of the phrase, however, makes it A’.  The third phrase concludes with the same resolve I looked for as a listener at the end of the first phrase but did not find.  This third line doesn’t follow the patterns in the first or the second line making it B.  This same pattern continues throughout the rest of the song.  
       “Bad Luck Blues” is an expression, so it seems, of the call and response typical of religious services of Black Americans after the Civil War.   Ma Rainey addresses the audience directly when she says, “Hey People” and “I wanna tell you people”.  She also refers to “the Maker above” and the “Lord” which is another obvious expression of religious influence.  Slightly less obvious perhaps is what the artist herself thinks is the most important message(s) of the song.  Rainey repeats the lines: “Hey people, listen while I spread my news” and “What’s the use of living if you can’t get the man you love” and variations of the lines: “Did you ever wake up just at the break of day” and “Lord, look where the chump’s done gone”.  Clearly these are the words she wants to resonate with her audience.  

Ma Rainey's "Dream Blues"

In analyzing “Dream Blues” by Ma Rainey I was able to see many elements that we have been discussing in class stand out. The lyrics are expressed in a manner that completely defines blues of the time. She begins the song by explaining her dream, a concept that should seem somewhat peaceful, but then goes on to explain the severity of her dream. Even though it seems she has come to accept her reality she continuously mentions how life can be unbearable. The expression changes from one part of the song to another in the sense that she starts out by describing her dream and then goes on to mention the pain from her childhood dealing with her father that continues on to the present because of this “dream”.

         If I’m not mistaken I believe the form of the song A B A B. This helps the song maintain its constant rhythm as well as the tone. The entire song revolves around one main issue in the singers life therefore there are no new melody’s that need to be brought in to express change in the singers attitude. She presents longing for her mother while stressing the severity of the situation and the fact that she’ll die if she doesn’t go back home. The fact that the song has no real change in pitch and that it is one constant melody flow puts a little more emphasis on the actual words and what the singer is trying to get through to the audience about her life.

Ma Rainey's "Prove it on me"

The melody of the song definitely seems to be repetitive with the same basic rhythm repeating itself over and over again throughout the song.  Im not really sure about the form, but I think it might be an A B A B form.

This song is obviously sad, but to me it also evokes a sense of empowerment for women.  When I listened to this song I definitely felt an emotional tone in her voice as she sings through the narration of a female character. I believe that her lyrics to this song are directly referring to gender roles and female sexuality.  For example the lyrics of the song are about going out with a crowd of women because she doesn’t like men, and dressing in masculine clothing.  Also I felt that when she sings refrain (“They said I do it, 
Ain’t nobody caught me 
Y’all got to prove it on me”) she seems to portray a sense of rebelliousness and defiance.  At this point in her song her pitch goes slightly higher and the form changes to a different type of melody.

St. Louis Blues

In the song “St Louis Blues” sung by Billie Holiday the lyrics are expressed from her point of view and their expressed from her strength. This song is about her man leaving her for another woman only because of her because he was incapable of loving her and material things were more important to him so he had to distant him self from her. In the end she talks about how she was a good woman and loved him faithfully “till the day [she] die” but if she’s “feelin’ tomorrow like she’s feelin’ today” then she’s going to leave him. The rhythm stays constant throughout the whole song as well as her voice except in two parts. In the part where Holiday starts singing about the “St. Louis woman” her voice gets more powerful but not changing her tone drastically. This is to emphasize the fact that this woman with all this money, that can afford jewelry and store bought hair, took her man away from her. As well at the end of the song Holiday voice gets stronger when she talks about how good she loves her man to show she did no wrong and was the good faithful partner in the relationship. In “Mama’s Got the Blues”, it talks about how women conveyed their jealousy and rivalry as well as the unity and strength of middle class woman through the blues. In this song Holiday sings about the rivalry of the “other woman” and how she was wealthy which excludes her from the middle class women. As well, you never hear despair or pain in her voice, which emphasizes her strength and basically saying; I did the best I can but his decision wasn’t my fault.

"Dream Blues"

     In “Dream Blues” by “Ma” Rainey what I analyzed and got from this song is that she is talking about how she is in an abusive relationship. Which she has been since she was smaller, starting with her father. So she was beaten both by her father and her husband. And this hurts her so much because she does not want to live through this anymore, she doesn’t want to feel the pain anymore. This does tie back to the reading “Mama’s got the Blues” by Angela Davis, because in this reading it states one of the reason for blues lyrics like “Dream Blues” was because of the mistreatment towards women.

“…While women are clearly perceived as antagonist-as potential intruders into others relationships-they are also viewed as possessing common fears and common interests…This aesthetic community of women emerges in its most developed form when blues women share stories about abusive partners and advise their sisters how to conduct themselves in relation to such men” (pg 54).

    From listening to this song I can see that it is in A B A B format. It stays constant throughout the whole thing even in the part where she is speaking for her husband and in the last stanza when she speaks in third person. It stays constant. The only part that confused me is in the second to last stanza because before that she is speaking as if she is her husband and I am not sure if she is still speaking for her husband or it is her speaking. In the last stanza she is expressing how she feels and that she doesn’t want to feel like that anymore and would not mind dying.

"Black Eye Blues"

           In Ma Rainey’s “Black Eye Blues,” you can obviously see the issue of spousal abuse. In this song, we are told the story of Miss Nancy Ann and her feuds with her husband. Even in the song’s title, “Black Eye Blues,” you can guess that there is going to be some sort of violence. Couples break up because of laziness, violence, or adultery. Either or all of these reasons lead to mistreatment. In this case Miss Nancy is the victim of violence and abuse. I can also sense some adultery in the line “Give it to another woman, come home and tell me lies.”

            In the first half of the song Ma Rainey is narrating the story from an outside view. Then we go into the voice of Miss Nancy. In this second half, Ma Rainey really takes on the part an angry woman tired of the cheating and abuse. During the second half of the song as Miss Nancy, Ma Rainey’s voice is higher and angrier. I really heard a woman who wanted revenge and was going to get it. I was a little amused at the line “Gonna catch you with your britches down.” Here she implies that she’ll catch him when he least expects it- when his trousers are down. I also found it interesting that the melody of the song was so upbeat, considering that this song is about a serious issue. I also heard the guitar playing one of the verses, which we have heard from examples in class.

 

Bad Luck Blues

I choose to discuss the song “Bad Luck Blues” by Ma Rainey. It is a in the Pre-War city Blues section of the site. It is obvious it is from this time because of the constant use of “blue” notes throughout the song. The song is in a A, A’, B format. What I find interesting about it is that the A’ lines are the exact same lyrics as the A lines, they are just emphised different to create a new sounding line. I think Ma Rainey did this because this creates more emphasis on the emotion in the words she is saying. By saying it again, it causes the listener to really pay attention to what she is saying. Also, after every line is what sounds a trumpet solo, doing a blues solo that really adds to the bluesy sound of the peice. The piano in the background seems to not flow too well, and that could be because of the recording we just cant hear every note. It seems to come in and out and the notes’ volume level varys.

This song is very representive of the blues. The lyrical themes are exactly what most people would say are blues lyrics. Lyrics like “What’s the use of living if you can’t get the man you love.
You might as well go die, give your soul to the Maker above” 

"St. Louis Blues"

Billie Holiday has been one of the worlds most renowned blues singers of all time. She has remained a fundamental icon in the world of jazz and blues. Her ability to trap themes of hardship, heart-break, and despair are romantically charged in most of her songs. “St. Louis Blues,” originally composed by W.C. Handy, is no different. The song is about her lover who has left her for another woman of a seemingly affluent background and left her feeling broken-hearted. It is suggested that this woman that her lover has left her for is of wealth because it is mentioned that she has a diamond ring when section B of the song is introduced. She goes on to describe her lover as having “a heart like a rock cast in the sea.” However she also sings that she remains in love with this man despite him having abandoned her and caused her pain. She uses nostalgic similes to describe her passion for this man such as “I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie,” and “Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint’n rye.” 

The song I believe is in a A – A – B – C pattern where the “A” and “C” sections are twelve-bar blues, while “B” seems to have sixteen measures. The walking pizzicato bass line allows the accompaniment of piano and trumpets to freely play in the background, supporting the vocals. 

"Empty Bed Blues"

Bessie Smiths’ “Empty Bed Blues” shows how Diaspora of the United States during the turn of the century and the 1920s, the time this song was recorded, has changed music, and culture. The Untied States development, and commodification of cultural aspects such as music is because of this said diaspora, the continuous traumatic displacement of people throughout history. It also shows how African American music has changed from the 1800s and earlier, from not being written down, and mostly characterized as gospels and religious music to the 1920s, the extremely influential in both musically and advancement that were made for women’s empowerment. The movement most relevant to the Pre-War City Blues is the mass migration of African Americans in the 1800-1900s from deep south to the northern cities to escape the constant and sometimes even deadly racism. Additionally, it displays the very common usage of romanticization of African Americans community. Smiths’ song lyrically communicates what Angela Davis’ was saying in her article “Mama’s Got the Blues,”about the sexual freedom, and sometimes backlash surrounding the blues. Bessie Smiths’ “Empty Bed Blues” song form can be denoted as an AABA song. The A is started with the lyric “Woke up this morning with an awful achin’ head.” The B is started with the smaller lyric “My new man left me.”

"DREAM BLUES" by Gertrude "Ma" Rainey

Ma Rainey expresses the lyrics in her song, Dream Blues, with short sentences pattern and a bland rhyme scheme but utilizes an elongated rhythm that highlights her distress and confusion. As with most blues songs, the melody and rhythm is pretty consistent throughout the song with the exception of her last two sentences, “Yes, I had a bad dream last night/ Mama don’t mind dyin” in which she varies her pitch to a much higher level and then abruptly drops it. Her catchy melody mostly uses long notes to create a flowing and feminine rhythm which repeats throughout the song with an A, A’, B pattern. The rhyme scheme in the song is overly simple and tends to rhyme the same words without much variation. The straightforward word choices make the song easy to comprehend and relate to for her audience in the early 1900’s. As Elijah Wald points out, “blues was the heart-cry of poor, backcountry black folk” and Rainey successfully captures the intended audience with her lyrical content, simple rhyme schemes and memorable melody. The distress of being mistreated by men is a prevalent theme within most of Rainey’s songs and effectively works as a cultural commodity to heighten her success as a blues singer.

 

Bad Luck Blues

         The song “Bad Luck Blues” sung by Ma Rainy represents a woman’s sadness of not having the man she loves. The song was filled with emotions and the “true blues” of heartache from love.  Ma Rainey starts the song by informing her audience to listen to what she has to say, then move on with the meaning of “bad luck blues” is and lastly the cause to her blues. The lyrics emphasize how she feels from not have the man she loves to the audience. While listening, I could hear Ma Rainey’s change of voice to certain stanzas and words for example in the line, “I wanna tell you people all about my bad luck blues “, Rainey sings the word blues extremely low compared to the beginning of the line. The audience can hear her emotions through her performance. I also discovered the format of the song was in A, A, B format and the lyrics rhymed with each other. Along with the lyrics, the corresponding music of the piano and saxophone matched well with the lyrics. The saxophone is a popular instrument used in the blues. However, as I listened to the song I felt as if the piano was contradicting the sadness and the meaning of what Rainey is trying to convey to her audience. The piano gave an optimistic contribute to the song where as the saxophone emphasizes what Rainey is trying to express  in her song.

 

Black Eye Blues

            I found Ma Rainey’s Black Eyed Blues interesting, and expressive of what I have been told and read about Ma Rainey.  The song specifically tells the story of a ‘Miss Nancy’ and her repetitively abusive husband, and explains how she is waiting for the chance to get her revenge when she catches her man “with his britches down.”  I think Ma Rainey is stressing the fact that women should not stand down to men, and should use violence if necessary, as the reading said she believed.  I also find it interesting that in the song the line is included that Miss Nancy says “Still I’m gonna hang around” even after she describes the beatings Miss Nancy is receiving.  I believe that this line may be a protest of the social structure for black women of the early 20^th century, who were expected to “hang around” even if beaten because that was tolerated at the time.

            Ma Rainey sings the song in the typical folk fashion of having an upbeat style although the song is a bout a very serious subject (spousal abuse).  She does not fluctuate much in her telling of the story of Miss Nancy, and tells it in the style of a narrator exploring the events she witnessed, expressing what Miss Nancy says in quotes so as to not have it be protesting her own life experience, but simply point out the wrong in society.  The song is split in form every two lines and follows the structure of A B A B and then a chorus, with the next half of the song having only 2 lines before the chorus instead of 8, and finishing with a long variation of the chorus.

 

Ma Rainey- "Dream Blues"

The form of this song is ABAB.  The first line “Had a dream last night” ends in a high pitch and the second line “And the night before” ends with a slighly lower pitch.  The following two lines (same lyrics as line one and two) are the same form but with very low pitches.  Each line of the musical form is: theme, contrast, theme, contrast-therefore giving you an ABAB form. 

The lyrics of this song represent the blues in that it is a sad song.  Ma Rainey is singing about a bad dream.   She says she dreamed of her man not treating her right, just like her dead father did.  However, later in the song Ma Rainey says she feels like crying, her heart is aching, and wouldn’t mind dying.  These lyrics seem like it is not a dream and the situation is really happening to her.  One line says “Take me back, Mama, or else I’ll die” when Ma Rainey sings this she sounds helpless and is talking about herself.  She also ask the Lord what to do, another indication that the song is about her.  This song is very sad and the one instrument, the banjo, helps define this blue song. 

Ma Rainey's "Black Eyes Blues"

I chose Ma Rainey’s “Black Eyes Blues” because I was most intrigued by the articles that centered around the women singing blues and what their songs conveyed to the consumer during that time period. Ma Rainey’s song seemed like a song that spoke to many women, especially those in unhealthy relationships. Another reason why the song would connect to women is because in the first part of the song Ma Rainey is the spectator, noting what Miss Nancy Ann’s and her boyfriends relationship is; in the second part, Ma Rainey sings from the point of view of Miss Nancy Ann. 

In the beginning part of the song, Ma Rainey sounds slightly disappointed while singing about Miss Nancy Ann’s relationship. But when the song changes to become Miss Nancy Ann’s voice, the sound begins to sound more threatening, like she is warning her man about what is to come if he does not shape up. Miss Nancy Ann sounds like she is telling off her man and daring him to tempt her. Especially when she says “Take all my money, blacken both of my eyes,” taunting him to see what happens if he does it again. Also, Miss Nancy Ann essentially tells her man that it will only be a matter of time before she catches him with “his britches down,” meaning with another woman. She tells him “I mean it” in between the two lines of “catching him…” and there she sounds extremely powerful. 

After reading the blues articles that centered around the women, I felt that these lyrics too expressed a woman in power, although she is currently in a bad relationship. She has finally been fed up and is taking control of the relationship. The sound of the guitar was very plucky, which is a main characteristic of the blues. Ma Rainey also utilizes pitch to emphasize certain words, like in the beginning when she sings “say,” it is high as if to signify everybody listen up because this girl is going to tell somebody off. The rhythm was also very even throughout the song, the lines remained a similar length and structure the entire time. 

Bessie Smith's "Empty Bed Blues"

Bessie Smith’s Empty Bed Blues is a perfect example of how sexual metaphors were embedded in the lyrics of many blues songs of the period. Right from the start of the song, Smith’s voice allows the listener to feel the agony of the lyrics. Her tone indicates that she is agonizing over her “new man” leaving her in and empty bed after he gave her the time of her life. Her pitch increases towards the middle of each line, where she is practically yelling, then tapers off to lower notes. There is a constant repetition of rhythm through both parts of the song—where she elongates one or two words at a time, then returning to a more regular pace. Where she elongates her words, she increases her pitch, causing the listener to experience the emotion of the song with her. It is very apparent based on the way she sings the song that she was very passionate about her “man” and is suffering some sort of loss, especially since the lyrics indicate he had quite an impact on her life. There is some indication that her “gal friend Lou” may have taken him away—and example of jealousy described in “Mama’s Got the Blues”.

The song is in the form of AAB, with the first line of each verse repeated once, proceeding onto the B portion with new lyrics. There doesn’t appear to be any specific repetition in the trombone playing, but the piano in the background seems to follow both Smith’s voice and the trombone playing. Every time Smith expresses some sort of sadness in the song, the trombone mirrors that by playing lower notes. There is, however, no particular repetition in the notes being played, but rather a sort of improvisation on the player’s part (from what I can tell).

St. Louis Blues

In the song “St. Louis Blues”, Billie Holiday sings of her man being with another woman because she is much wealthier than her. In the beginning of the song, she claims that because of her anticipation of him going to see the other woman during the night, she is contemplating leaving him. However it is unclear, even by the end of the song, whether or not she is going to do so. As she states in the last verse, this is because she is in love with him and will love him forever. The sad tones of the song reflect that she is not jealous of the wealthy woman, but instead depressed because her man does not love her like she loves him: He is more interested in wealth rather than love and loyalty.

This song is representative of post war city blues because it shows how women often struggle to keep their men from other women. Although it differs from other songs of the era because it doesn’t emphasize women’s empowerment, it does show women’s open expression of love and can relate to the women’s community and its troubles.

 

What it Means to Have "The Black Eye Blues"

The song “Black Eye Blues”, by Ma’ Rainey, illustrates some of the concepts that Angela Davis discusses in chapter two of her book Mama’s Got The Blues. The “frequently recurring themes of women’s blues music revolve[ing] around male lovers” that Davis writes about are shown behind Rainey’s lyrics which are about an abusive relationship (45). Despite the predicament Ma’ Rainey’s character Miss Nancy is in, she is still shown to be a strong women that will get her revenge. The fact that Miss Nancy is getting back at her man is an example of Davis’ idea that, in women’s blues, the female does not play victim for long (61). Davis’ also discusses the themes of woman empowerment and rivalry between women which are seen in Rainey’s lyrics “take all my money blacken both of my eyes, give it to another women”.
    Not only do the lyrics expresses the meaning behind the song, but the way Ma’ Rainey delivers the lyrics illustrate the chacters emotion to the listeners.  At first Ma’ Rainey sings her lyrics with a steady beat; however, the way she expresses the lyrics changes when she sings about Miss Nancy’s revenge. When Miss Nancy’s voice is being heard the melody of the song changes and Ma’ Rainey conveys Miss Nancy’s frustration toward her man. During Miss Nancy’s proclamation the pitch of the song is higher when Ma’ Rainey delivers the lyric “take all my money” which again proves that Ma’ Rainy is using the melody of the song to portray Miss Nancy’s dissatisfaction. 

Dream Blues

I listened to “Dream Blues” by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey.  The rhythm of the song was slow like a song sung at the end of the night.  Listening, I imagine a distraught women singing in a smoky bar describing her tiresome experiences over the past few days.  At the beginning of the song the lyrics are expressed with heartache through the lips of a desperate woman needing her man.  Towards the climax of the song, she expresses intelligence and strength denying the man who has been “mistreating” her like the rest of society.  The song ends with a self-respecting woman with the strength to overcome her heartache.

In Angela Davis’ “Mama’s Got the Blues,” she describes the autonomy black women were able to express in sexuality.  In “Dream  Blues,” Ma Rainey references to her dreams, her bed, and her man.  Women were empowered through their expression of sexuality, without feeling censored or ashamed.  These expressions were not limited to just sex, but provided insight of the working-class black woman.  In “Dream Blues,” Ma Rainey’s words are words other black woman can relate to, which strengthen the listeners connection to the performer.  Songs such as “Dream Blues,” were a conduit for working-class black women to express their harsh world without ridicule.