The Essence Of Blues Music

The Essence Of discolor MusicBlues medicinal drug at its inception is the melody of the d inducetrodden and poor. Having its grow in the plantations of the South, megrims melody gave expression to the trials and sufferings of Afri jakes-the Statesns who had suffered bondage, injustice, and poverty. According to Scaruffi (2003), Music rebrinyed the main vehicle to vent the frustration of a people, but the end of slavery introduced the individual instead of beingness defined by a sort out (the faithful or the workers), the colour singer was now free to and unresolved of defining himself as an individual. His words and mood still echoed the narrow of an intact people, but solo singers represented a new take on that condition, the view of a man fin both(prenominal)y enabled to travel, and no longer a prison houseer of his community, although, sometimes, more lonely. The songs of a negro were the diary of his life (road, van, prison, saloon, sex), lots an itinerant life, as opposed to the diary of a community (plantation, church) (1)The blue is a song of lamentation of self pity. The songs often fill in with themes that deal with an individuals pain and ar often told in a tongue-in-cheek manner. It is a highly individualizedized account of what an individual is going through, and is reflective of the unpleasant realities of life of the American blackness faces in the deep South. Oftentimes the lyrics of vapours deal with unhappy situations brought about by being jobless, poor, lonely, hungry, or being betrayed and deserted by an unfaithful lover.The whole essence of megrims melody was pain, but while the songs seems to be a paean to an individuals plight it does non w each(prenominal)ow in tragedy but rather it celebrates it and recognizes the inevitability of the situation. And in the song Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash has managed to capture all of these elements and succeeds in revealing a story about a prison in-mate who landed in pr ison because he killed a man so that he could see how he would die. (2)There are two natural elements in the song that is consistent to the tradition of blues music. The first is the prison and the other is the train. These two elements can be seen as metaphors for two themes that were substantial to the downtrodden and roofless negro the reality of being a slave, both actual and figurative, and on the other hand the longing for freedom and redemption which delinquent to his dwelling in monastic order he can neer have. For the prison in-mate in the song his prison cell is a reality he cant escape from. It is a reality brought about by his own actions and to some extent it is a reality that he accepts and concedes to. While the train that he sees from his prison cell represents all the things in life that he would want to have but can never have receivable to his companionable status in life. In fact the train with all its rich folks is actually taunting him make him feel irate about his situation.Scaruffi makes mention of this stating that, Theoretically, the civil war that ended in 1863 freed the African slaves (slavery was officially abolished in 1865), and, in fact, the first collection of negro songs was published shortly afterwards, Slave Songs of the United States (1867). In practice, it did little to improve the condition of the black man same job, same inconsistency. Even for the blacks who left the southerly states, the cities of the North promised freedom, but mostly delivered a different kind of slavery(1)This discrimination and the inability of blacks to escape the imposed state of things can be intelligibly reflected on Johnny Cashs song albeit with a prisoner taking the place of the black man with the train representing egg white hostel. The social condition that has spawned blues music is still in existence straight off in the black ghettoes of America and is seen in the implied racism that most of the poor running(a) progr am African-Americans are still suffering from. It is for this reason that blues music and the themes that it deals with are still relevant today as it was then. But like every defecate of popular culture that gets assimilated in the mainstream blues music today has lost its socio-political power and is now viewed more of a musical writing style and is celebrated more for its contributions to the world of music. Today most people with pair blues music with such bands as the Rolling Stones and other white musicians who were influenced by such blues legends such as Muddy amnionic fluid and BB King.But if you define blues broadly as the music of the downtrodden and the dispossessed then one can say that the blues music has influenced every form of music that has embraced the themes and issues that blues musicians sang about. During the 1950s blues music gave birth to rock and roll a musical style that took blues guitar chords and riffs and brought about a whole new form of expression that went against button-down values. Blues themes also found expression in the late 80s in the musical rebellion called punk music. alike the blues punk music was born out of the suffering and despair of a marginalized social course of study this time instead of black plantation workers you have the disillusioned working class youthfulness singing about their plight.Rap music can also be seen as the direct descendant of blues music. Like the blues, rap music is a vocal expression of the African-American youth of today to illustrate the problems that he is facing in a society that has constantly denied him redemption and has marginalized him. According to Parker (1999), For todays Black youth, rap music is this medium. It is a musical voice and expression of the unjust and violent society in which they live. Is rap music a trend that has never been witnessed in America before? No, rap music is a continuing line of Negro expressions including Spirituals, Blues, and Soul, all of which were inspired in trying times in our society, regular(a) more so than that of today(3).While blues music can never be separated from and will always be integral to African-American history and struggles, the themes the blues sang about has a universal apostrophize which speaks directly to all of those who has had to endure a life of struggle against social inequality, personal trials, and injustices. The challenge of an individual to rise above his social conditions and the limitations that society has imposed upon him is a situation that anyone can understand, empathize and relate to.psychologically the blues is an outlet for the frustrations that a Black man has to face in American society. A blues musician Tampa Red sang a song called Depression Blues. The song lyrics tell of how if only he could tell all his troubles then his heart would be at ease. This shows that for blues musicians the blues is a cathartic activity which helps them deal with the troubles they are fac ing. Singing and music has been shown to influence the mood of people. An organization called the American Music Therapy Association so far claims music helps individuals with mental health conditions to address depression by making them conscious about their feelings and be more in touch with their emotions and moods (4.). It is thusly clear that singing the blues does help us deal with personal issues by bringing out this issues out in the open in the form of song and music. It gives find us a safe form of expression wherein we could channel emotions and emotional release.