Elley Colledge Music Blog

 I chose to listen to "Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson this week. The reason I chose this song was because I thought the history behind it is really interesting. The lyrics portray the story of him meeting the devil at the cross roads to sell his should to the devil for music talent. I really like how Robert Johnson is known for his guitar playing, and that it is the only instrument in  the song. It emphases his legend of selling his soul to the devil.  Growing up, my dad would always play the song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I was curious to learn the origins of selling your soul to the devil. I found out that making a deal with the devil started as more for fame and power rather than talent. It is interesting to think about how the music industry took this legend and made it a very common saying/rumor. Now when I hear that saying, I immediately associate it with music industry and country music specifically. 

 This week,  I listened to "How Deep Is the Ocean?" written by Irving Berlin and performed by Bing Crosby. Listening to the song, it felt very personal as if he was singing to listener. Knowing that Irving Berlin wrote the song, I wonder about what he was going through to get the inspiration for this song since it is a sad song. It makes you wonder about other songs that your favorite artists have performed if they wrote the song and relate to the lyrics or if they are just singing it. Another reason I chose to listen to this song was because I was curious to see the beginning of crooning. I think that it is interesting how microphones are what made crooning possible. Before microphones, performers needed their voice to project across a room. Once microphones were introduced, crooning became possible. It makes you also wonder about how much technology has affected the music industry. 

 I listened to "Stackolee" by Mississippi John Hurt. I think that this song holds a lot of importance. One example is that it tells the story/represents the trials of oppression that African Americans experienced everyday. Toward the end of the song, there is a lyric about the judge saying to kill Stack O' Lee before he has a chance to kill "some of us." This lyric is especially important because during that time, the judge would have been a white man. The judge sentenced Stack O' Lee to death and everyone was glad to see that as punishment. It highlights the unjust white authority in government systems during that time. Another lyric that I think is important is someone asking a police officer, in a mocking tone, how they can arrest everyone but Stack O' Lee. Stack O' Lee was known as a cruel, bad man but he was never arrested for his crimes. It comes across as Stack O' Lee defying the white man's laws; that the police officers were reluctan...