Ma Rainey's "Prove it on me"
Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 5:53 PM 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.
Reader Comments (5)
I think you are very close to identifying the form here. Could you clarify where the A and B sections are? You can indicate these by using lyrics. One thing that can help in identifying form is listening for changes in the tone or mood of the song like we talked about in class with the music video examples.
I agree with your statement that this song generally portrays a feeling of empowerment for women. I would suggest re-reading the Angela Davis article with this song in mind. How is it different from the songs that she mentions? How is it different from the other songs in the playlist? What audience do you think would be most responsive to this song (middle class whites, working class blacks, middle class blacks, etc.)? Do you think any of these audiences find the song offensive?
I also do believe that the angela davis article can help you out alot here, especially with this song that deals with sexuality, gende, and women empowerment. This song i believe is very different from all the rest just because of the feelings behind the lyrics. This is a time where stuff like this was unheard of atleast in the white anglo communities, because it contradicted with their religion and beliefs. I think finding a song with somewhat of the same meaning and lyrics like this; but in this time, it would be great to compare and contrast. Just the differences i guess in how people might have viewed it back then and how they view it now.
After listening to the song "Prove it On Me" again I feel that the song is actually an A A' B format according the first verse of the song:
Went out last night A
Had a great big fight A'
Everything seems to goin’ all wrong B
Also, in regards to the lyrical content of the song i found it extremely helpful to go back and read the article by Angela Davis. She talks about how these early women blues artists are talking about their sexuality and womanhood as a mode to express their independence and freedom in a way that they couldn't do before. Working class women like Ma Rainey, and the characters in her songs, were singing about topics that would probably make other middle class whites uncomfortable. I just cant see a song about homosexuality being well received with that audience. I imagine that its blatant subject matter must have been a bit of a shock for that time period. Also in contrast to Ma Rainey's other songs "prove it on me" is not about competition and jealousy between women over a man. A lot of the Davis article focuses on these types of songs, which have a very different feel to them than "prove it on me" does.
Those of you that wrote about “Prove It On Me,” you all felt that the song was definitely an expression of an empowered woman. Some of you even feel that she is so empowered as to feel comfortable expressing her homosexual feelings, by dressing and acting like a man. Do you feel this song expresses an empowered lesbian or just an empowered straight woman? Or is that even an important distinction here? I liked the comparison that the following posts made with modern portrayals in pop music of lesbian relationships which are less about the women and more about men liking the idea of two girls together. What do you think? Is modern pop culture limited in the way it expresses female/female love? Do you think this song was controversial when it was released? Please respond to one of the two posts below to add your thoughts to the discussion.
http://benleedscarson.com/ma-rainey-and-bessie-smith/girls-kissing-girls-oh-my.html
http://benleedscarson.com/ma-rainey-and-bessie-smith/prove-it-on-me-blues-1.html
After listening to the track again, reading the lyrics and comments, I also agree that this piece is very empowering. Not just in that time period, but is also empowering now. I'm not sure of the character's sexuality because I don't think I can make a judgment based on a few lines. I can say that she sounds powerful, simply through her willingness to dress differently and stand out in a crowd. Especially back in her time, when women predominately wore dresses or skirts, her appearance would've been outlandish in public. Comparatively to today, women who excitedly scream at football games, are also distinguished among their gender. Not as dramatic as Ma Rainey's time, but still notable.
In response to "Girls Kissing Girls," I agree that lesbian relationships are exploited by male fantasies. Many current artists disdainfully evolved female to female relationships, friendship or romantic, into a disrespectful sexual presentation of women. Currently, modern culture is limited to their expression of female/female love, but hopefully with changing times more artist will be able to truly dignify the relationship without sexual connotations.