"St. Louis Blues"
Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 4:28 PM 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.
Reader Comments (5)
I think you should discuss the fate of the singer with Rachel. I get the impression that you think that the singer is still hopelessly in love and is going to stay that way, while perhaps Rachel thinks that the singer is gaining strength to move past this lover. Her post is: http://benleedscarson.com/ma-rainey-and-bessie-smith/2009/10/10/st-louis-blues.html
Your discussion of form is good. Please indicate where in the song the sections begin by indicating the corresponding lyrics.
A: I hate to see that evening sun go down
I hate to see that evening sun go down
'Cause, my baby, he's gone left this town
A: Feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today
I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way
B: St. Louis woman with her diamond ring
Pulls that man around by her
If it wasn't for her and her
That man I love would have gone nowhere, nowhere
C: I got the St. Louis Blues
Blues as I can be
That man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea
Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me
And I think it goes back to the A form after this, which I forgot to mention in my first post.
A:I love my baby like a school boy loves his pie
Like a Kentucky colonel loves his mint'n rye
I love my man till the day I die
Re-reading the lyrics I do agree with the fact that she is still in love with her man because in the ending lyrics "I love my man till the die I die" is in the present tense which I guess I didn't really realize. The reason I feel that the woman has gained strength to move on is because she says, "If I'm feelin' tomorrow like I feel today I'll pack my truck and make my give-a-way". This shows her strength to get up and leave instead of staying around for a man who is wasting her time because he chose money over love.
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 the protagonist is strong. I mean the way she sings you don't hear a lot of sadness in her voice. There are points in the song where her voice gets stronger which seems like even though its hard to leave her man, whom she will always love, she did the best she could and has pride in herself. What I took away from the way this song was sung was this woman wasn't going to sit around and give up her dignity for a man who is more into money than love even though she has to loose the love of her love.