Long John Research Paper

Since the beginning of mankind music has been identified as a creative way of expressing one’s self. This, along with other uses such as soothing a mind or singing to gain closure with a situation that has occurred, can be found dating back to biblical times with more than enough examples. Fast-forward a thousand years or so and we find that although music has changed drastically, the uses of music are still universal. This is shown through multiple examples of history, one being the time period in which African slaves struggled during a rough time in America. Africans had developed their own style of music back in their homeland, so to no surprise when taken and brought to America their music followed. The freedom for them here was slim to

One song in particular that alluded to multiple concerns was “Long John” originally performed by a guy named lighting and his group of friends in a chain gang working to break rocks. Long John was a song referring to the struggles of trying to escape, a desire for all slaves at the time, along with religious views of many slaves. One of verses that talks about these things go:

“Well-a two, three minutes,
Let me catch my win’;
In-a two, three minutes,
I’m gone again.” (It’s A Long John)
In this verse, it talks about a person who is on the verge of running away but stops to catch his/her wind. This verse is pretty self explanatory and one of the easier lines to interpret, another song which had also been considered as poetry later in history was “Keep Me From Sinkin Down” by an unknown writer. The lyrics in this piece reflect that of sorrow and peace of mind, a few lyrics being:
“Oh, my Lord!
Oh, my good Lord!
Keep me from sinkin ' down.
I tell you what I mean to do
(Keep me from sinkin ' down)
I mean to go to heaven