St. Louis Blues
Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 7:56 PM 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.
Reader Comments (6)
Here's a few ideas to get started thinking about the form. Print out the lyrics and try to determine whether each line is similar or different from the line before. Keep in mind the A, A', B blues form we discussed in class, and see if that is applicable here.
I think you may want to discuss this song with Cal. I get the feeling that he seems to think that the singer has not given up on her man, and is going to continue to love him despite the pain, while it seems that you think that she has decided to move on.
His post is: http://benleedscarson.com/ma-rainey-and-bessie-smith/2009/10/11/st-louis-blues.html
I feel she is Ready to move on, but like BethRatay said she is most definitly going to continue to love her man.
Also, when her voice picks up at the end, I do not feel she does so to empahsis her role in the relationship. I think it more so has to do with her acknowledgemnt that she simply still loves her man. There is that instrumental break down before this verse and, to me, it feels like it is a moment of reflection for the singer, and after much deliberation she can say she loves her man and she is happy for that. She holds no grudges and does not feel she is better than any of the party member involved in situation.
I really like how she portrays her feelings throughout the song. She is very emotionally tied to the subject & feels this want to stand by her man no matter what he's done to her. This portrays the African-American woman's dependence on her man and the live she feels for him. Definitely moving!
I think you analyzed the lyrics of the song very well. Like BethRatay mentioned though, make sure to take note that this is in fact A A' B form. I find the lyrics to be very emotional but strong at the same time. Although her man left her, it seems as though she loves him very deeply and is willing to stay with him through anything. Even though it's such an old song, it is definitely one that a lot of us can relate to even today.
Those of you that wrote about “St. Louis Blues” often mentioned that this song shows women as being empowered. Many of you felt that the woman is ready to move on with her life at the end of the song. Some of you, including Alexandria, do not agree with that. They see her as being weak because she can not help but love him. What do you think? Is the protagonist of this song weak or strong? What musical clues make you think that? Please comment on this post to add your thoughts to the discussion.
http://benleedscarson.com/ma-rainey-and-bessie-smith/st-louis-blues.html
I think that the protagonist of this song is a fairly strong women. In her song she mentions that she's going to love her man until the day she dies, even though he left her for someone else with money. Its apparent that she is upset, but based on her tone it came across to me that she was her own women and does not need a man to make her a better person. The protagonist is not weak for loving this man. It is natural to still be in love with someone after the relationship ends. I think the protagonist would be weak if she kept refusing to admit her true emotions. Since she is capable of admitting her feelings she is a stronger woman. I disagree with the statement that says the protagonist is dependent on her mans as in typical african american female songs. In this song Billie Holiday portrays her woman ad dependent, which is obvious by the fact that her man left her.