Browse Items (7 total)
- Tags: genre: blues
Sort by:
John Henry [Belafonte]
This song can be used to teach about the Reconstruction-era South racism and the dangerous working conditions found in the building of U.S. railroads. John Henry is an African-American folk hero from Virginia who, according to legend, was victorious…
Statesboro Blues
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…
Tags: genre: blues, U.S. South, United States
Come on in My Kitchen
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…
Crossroad Blues
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…
Tags: devil, genre: blues, U.S. South, United States
Back Water Blues
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.
Tags: floods, genre: blues, U.S. South, United States
John Henry [Bell]
This song can be used to teach about the Reconstruction-era South racism and the dangerous working conditions found in the building of U.S. railroads. John Henry is an African-American folk hero from Virginia who, according to legend, was victorious…
Another Man Done Gone
"Another Man Done Gone" centers around the American South's early 20th century penal farm system, whose conditions were notoriously terrible. Like many institutions of the post-reconstruction era, they were heavily racialized with a disproportionate…
Tags: genre: blues, genre: folk, prison, U.S. South