Spirituals
Black American spirituals provide one source for
much of the textual content of todays gospel music. For more than
a century, these Afro-American religious songs served as a dominant medium
through which the black American expressed his dissatisfaction with his
station in life, vented his longing desire to live as a free man, and humbly
sought peace and salvation from God:
The songs of the slave represent the sorrows,
rather than the joys, of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as
an aching is relieved by its tears. Sorrow and desolation have their
songs, as well as joy and peace. Slaves sing more to make themselves
happy, than to express their happiness.(1)
As another observer wrote:
They sang so that it was a pleasure to hear;
with all their souls and with all their bodies in unison, for their bodies
wagged, their heads nodded, their feet stomped, their knees shook, their
feet stomped, their knees shook, their elbows and their hands beat time
to the tune and the words which they sang with evident delight. One
must see these people singing if one is rightly to understand their life.
I have seen their imitators
.who travel about
the country painted up as negroes, and singing negro songs in the negro
manner, and with gestures, as it is said; but nothing can be more radically
unlike, for the most essential part of the resemblance failsnamely, the
life. (2)
The method of compsosition, style of performance,
and sociological significance of black spirituals are vital parts of black
life and are easily recognizable through the texts of spirituals.
Strong evidence of dissatisfaction with this life can be observed in the
spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I See. Additional examples of
this discontent are expressed in such spirituals as Didnt My Lord Deliver
Daniel in which blacks communicated directly with a God whom they believed
would deliver them from the evils of slavery, and Im Going to Live with
Jesus where they tried to assuage their hardships and grasp some hope
for a better future.
Concentrated on texts that gave attention to such
important concerns of Black Christians as worldly sorrows, blessings,
and woes, as well as the joys of the after-life
He also allowed space for
the inevitable improvisation of text, melody, harmony, and rhythm so characteristic
of Black American Folk and popular music.(3)
Thomas A. Dorsey (1899- ) was
greatly influenced by C. A. Tindley. In defense of his bluesy songs,
composed in a style similar to that of Tindley, he stated:
The message is not in the music but in the words
of the song. It matters not what kind of music or what kind of movement
it has, if the words are Jesus, Heaven, Faith and Life then you have a
song with which God is pleased regardless of what critics and some church
folk say.(4)
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