Browse Items (42 total)

Minstrel songs were part of 19th-century pop music. "The Old Folks at Home" was originally sung from the perspective of an enslaved person longing for his life on the plantation. The song remains Florida's state song but its lyrics have undergone…

Sung from the perspective of a flood victim in Nashville, this song discusses floods, a common occurrence in Southern life and a common theme found in blues music. The song's release coincided with the notorious Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

This song introduces the common Blues music themes of crossroads and collective suffering. Crossroads, high traffic vehicular roads, feature prominently as landmarks in the Mississippi Delta area that Johnson called home. In the song, Johnson tries…

This song can be used to introduce students to the influence that Appalachian music had on modern country music. Many early country songs were based on British ballads and were combined with musical influences from African-American musical traditions…

Many of those living in the Appalachians can trace their heritage back to England and Scotland, where they have a longstanding folk song tradition. As the song has no definitive author/s, several versions of this song exist as it was common to alter…

"Ode to Billie Joe" is an account of how each of the members of a Mississippi family take the news of Billie Joe McAllister's suicide. A number of ambiguous details in the narrative, which emphasizes loss and was released in 1967, lend itself to a…

This rap provides a space for expression about various topics such as race, the Confederates' legacy, amongst other things amidst the generally, more conservative South. The key characteristics of the subgenres of Southern Rap and "Dirty South Rap"…

The song could be used as an example of the loose narrative and references to the supernatural and/or folk beliefs often found within the blues genre. Though the song lacks a linear narrative, the collection of somewhat unrelated vignettes which…

The song could be used as an example of the loose narrative and supernatural references and/or folk beliefs often found in the blues genre. Though the song lacks a linear narrative, the collection of somewhat unrelated vignettes which included…

This song could be used to introduce students to murder ballads, a subgenre of folk music. Like many other Appalachian murder ballads, "Knoxville Girl" is an adaptation of British broadside ballads. Once brought over to the States, these ballads were…