The “Divas of Blues” sang about various aspects of relationships with men, which most women could identify with. In a time where women were gaining more recognition singing, specifically in the blues category, these songs captured women’s attention. Relationships were “recurring themes of women’s blues music,” which “revolve around male lovers and the plethora of problems posed by heterosexual relationships” (Davis 45). Ma Rainey understood the importance of this and sang of stories and lessons learned. These songs spoke to women and as Angela Davis wrote, “this aesthetic community of women emerges in its most developed form when blues women share stories about abusive partners or advise their sisters how to conduct themselves in relation to such men” (Davis 54).

       The song, “Black Eyes Blues,” sung by Ma Rainey, told of a woman in an abusive relationship who could take no more. In the first half of the song, Ma Rainey is simply watching Miss Nancy Ann’s relationship with her man and in the second half, Ma Rainey sings from Miss Nancy’s point of view. In the first half of the song Ma Rainey sounds almost bored, as if Miss Nancy is constantly at qualms with her man. And when she gets to the third line, she emphasizes the last word, “Then I hear Miss Nancy SAY,” as if she is finally proud that Miss Nancy recognizes that she is beginning to notice that there is something wrong with her relationship. And once Ma Rainey gets to the second part of the song, she tells of Miss Nancy getting beat by her man; at this point she switches to Miss Nancy’s voice. Here, the voice alters to sound like she is warning her man to treat her poorly no more. With the lyrics, she explains to her man that he should change or be warned, she is fed up.

      When Ma Rainey begins to speak as Miss Nancy, her lines become very even, making the words seem like she is finally speaking everything that has been on her mind, almost like a list. Her words begin to pick up momentum, making her song sound like a rant because she is just beyond fed up with her man. Certain words are also emphasized with the use of pitch. Ma Rainey emphasizes “your gal” in “Why do you treat your gal that way?” to convey what should be important to the man, his girl. She also stresses “eyes” in “blacken both of my eyes,” essentially egging him on, since he has already treated her so badly, it can’t get any worse. She continues to repeat the line “Gonna catch you with your britches down,” illustrating that she doesn’t trust her man and sooner or later she will catch him being unfaithful. In other words it sounds like, don’t tempt me, especially when she sings, “I mean it.”

Although the lyrics change to convey a change in expression, the music never changes throughout the song. This was unexpected because in many of today’s music, the music in songs will become louder or pick up speed, highlighting the change in expression. This creates a tension because while the words change and the expression changes, the music remains the same. This is a characteristic of a folk song, reaffirming that this song is geared for workers, family members, friends, and members of a particular community. This song also has a characteristic of the blues, which is the continuous plucking of the guitar as the basis of the song. The music seems to be the delta style, which is one type of strum that creates a simple rhythm. And throughout the song her rhythm stays the same, the lines stay the same for the most part. Because of the rhythm of the lines and the repetition of some of the lines, the song could also be a “parlor song,” so that many could follow along with the easy lyrics.

       The entire song is comprised of an underlying implication of the roles in sexual relationships, of what a woman’s role sometimes is and what it should be. While listening to this song, it is hard not to feel that although song is telling a story, it is also preaching. When halfway through the song Miss Nancy decides to react to her man’s mistreatments, the tone in Ma Rainey’s voice alters, almost encouraging women to do the same and stand up for their role in the relationship. Ma Rainey could have chosen to sing this song because of the gender roles in the song and Miss Nancy’s choice to change them. This song implies that sometimes men can not only treat women disrespectfully, but also can also cheat and beat women. This does not mean that women are weak, just that women need to recognize their maltreatment and stand up for themselves, asserting their role in the relationship.