{"id":6877,"date":"2022-10-24T20:46:48","date_gmt":"2022-10-25T01:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=6877"},"modified":"2022-10-24T20:47:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T01:47:56","slug":"poor-old-slave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2022\/10\/24\/poor-old-slave\/","title":{"rendered":"“Poor Old Slave”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The work I\u2019ve found is an interesting one from 1851. This manuscript is a short song arranged by a pianist by the name of George W. H. Griffin. I think this makes a particularly interesting piece to look at due to its place in history, being a work for voice modeled after slave songs, but arranged for chorus and piano. From the cover, it looks to be a work dedicated to a tenor by the name of \u201cS. B. Ball Esq.\u201d from the \u201cOrdway Aeolian Vocalists.\u201d Not much is kept on this ensemble, but as far as can be found in drawings of the composer, G. W. H. Griffin, it appears as if he is a white man.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are certain implications to the usage of these lyrics, then, given this context. The song goes as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Tis just one year ago today, that I remember well,<\/span><\/p>\n

I sat down by poor Nelly\u2019s side, and a story did she tell<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018twas \u2018bout a poor unhappy slave, that lived for many a year<\/span><\/p>\n

but now he\u2019s dead and in his grave, no master does he fear<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

She took my arm, we walked along, into an open field,<\/span><\/p>\n

and there she paused to breathe a while, then to his grave did steal<\/span><\/p>\n

she sat down by that little mound, and softly whisper\u2019d there,<\/span><\/p>\n

come to me father, \u2018tis thy child, then gently dropp\u2019d a tear<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

(chorus) <\/span><\/p>\n

The poor old slave has gone to rest,<\/span><\/p>\n

we know that he is free<\/span><\/p>\n

disturb him not, but let him rest<\/span><\/p>\n

way down in Tennessee\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

First off, being released in 1851, this song was released many years before the abolition of slavery, meaning that the lyrics are not about the past, but are a commentary on the present. Additionally, from context, the story seems to take place in the north, as it, first off, references Tennessee as being \u201cway down,\u201d but also brings up the idea that \u201cNelly,\u201d is a black woman, and the child of a slave, who is not currently enslaved herself. With this, the song, I believe, is about empathy for those who have been and were being greatly harmed by slavery, and the intent of its singing and performance is to strengthen the idea that slavery is an immoral practice. Given the context of a presumably predominantly white choir, the context of the lyrics suggest that this is a bittersweet, but ultimately pleasant song about the white person\u2019s perspective, knowing someone who has had a close loved one taken away from her, but is now free herself to tell her story.<\/span><\/p>\n

-mika natal
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

Griffin, George W. H. \u201cPoor Old Slave.\u201d <\/span>Duke University Libraries<\/span><\/i>, https:\/\/idn.duke.edu\/ark:\/87924\/r4fx7867f.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The work I\u2019ve found is an interesting one from 1851. This manuscript is a short song arranged by a pianist by the name of George W. H. Griffin. I think this makes a particularly interesting piece to look at due … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3347,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jEhR-1MV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6877"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6880,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6877\/revisions\/6880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}