John Henry was born to die with a hammer in his hand. The appeal of the legend, therefore, must be in the lean, muscular characterization of John Henry and the event that immortalized him. Similarly, they vary the wording of its verses. Hardly any two singers sing the song to the same melody. It would be tempting to say that the ballad’s popularity owes itself to the brilliance of its tune and the power of its words. The song seems to get newer and fresher, or at least more popular, all the time. Even a modern jazz band, the SauterFinegan Orchestra, has recorded it as a rhythmic recitation. Aaron Copland has composed an orchestral suite based on it. In supper clubs, urbane folk singers perform it for urbane diners, in the recital hall, Richard Dyer-Bennet clips it out in British accents. Like many other folk characters, John Henry assumes the image of those who sing about him.Īmong professional musicians too, the ballad-without benefit of payola and promotion-has enjoyed a curious popularity. He has been geographically claimed by Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, and probably lots more. Some of them have been known to resent the suggestion that John Henry was a Negro. Among white people, too, the song has spread widely, particularly among railroad workers in the Southeast and coal miners in West Virginia and Kentucky, each group claiming John Henry as one of its own. Nine tenths of all American Negroes, it has been said, are familiar with the “Ballad of John Henry” in some form those who don’t know the song can tell its story. We often describe our neglected heroes as “unsung,” but surely the most “sung” hero in American history-taking the adjective literally-is a legendary Negro laborer from West Virginia named John Henry.
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