Lesson Overview:
Students will analyze and interpret blues lyrics, exploring how historical events and social issues shaped songs by W.C. Handy, Skip James, and J.B. Lenoir. Students will identify poetic elements in blues songs, and will draw connections between blues songs and two poems based on blues elements: Langston Hughes's "The Weary Blues" and Kevin Young's "Player Piano." Finally, they will reflect on current social issues and write original poetry based on research.
Length of Lesson:
Three to four 45-minute class periods
Notes:
This lesson is suitable with adaptation for grades 11-12.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
- identify poetic terms, including rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, imagery, and lyricism, in blues lyrics
- compare blues lyrics written by musicians from different historical contexts
- identify references to the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws and racial tensions in post-bellum United States
- identify blues elements in Harlem Renaissance and contemporary poetry
- write their own poems, incorporating new poetry terminology
- research a current issue that reflects social injustice
Supplies:
For the Student:
- Computers with Internet access or books relevant to individual inquiry for research purposes
- Pen and journal
For the Teacher:
- Blank paper
- Copies of Langston Hughes's "The Weary Blues" (available on ARTSEDGE's Drop Me Off in Harlem Web site and Kevin Young's "Player Piano" in Jelly Roll: A Blues (see Sources).
- Copies of the lyrics to W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" (a version available at the University of California, Davis Web site).
- Copies of the lyrics to Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor," a version available on the HarpAmps.com Web site.
- Copies of the lyrics to J.B. Lenoir's "Alabama Blues" (a version available on the Online Blues Web site.
- Audio clips of selected songs above (a version of Bessie Smith singing "St. Louis Blues is available on the ARTSEDGE's Drop Me Off in Harlem (See Sources for recommended CDs.).
- CD player or computer with Internet access
Instructional Plan:
Warm Up
Ask students to consider what music they listen to when they are feeling sad or upset. Ask them to share some examples of these songs. Discuss why they are drawn to these songs. The emotional intensity of the music? Lyrics that speak to a similar experience? Foster a discussion on why and how music can be so powerful. Ask students to share quotes from some of their favorite songs and write them on the board. Ask students to point out elements of poetry found in these examples. Do the lyricists use figurative language, rhyme, imagery, alliteration? Are lyrics a form of poetry?
Tell students that they will be examining and discussing blues lyrics. Analysis of blues music can reveal issues prevalent in the social climate of the day. Some common themes present in blues music are: escape from unjust conditions, importance of the church, oppression, economic difficulties, and alienation. In addition, just like most popular songs, blues songs often tackle the theme of love. Sometimes, however, a song about a relationship between a man and a woman in early blues music acted as a metaphor for tense relations between Whites and Blacks during a period of extreme racial tensions. As do many types of music, the blues often acts as a vehicle for musicians to speak about injustices—both personal injustices of the heart and social injustices.
A Blues Trio
Pass out the lyrics of Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor" (a version available on HarpAmps.com Web site), J.B. Lenoir's "Alabama Blues" (a version available on the Online Blues Web site), and W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" (a version available at the University of California, Davis Web site. (You may wish to pass out the lyrics in a previous class so students could come to class prepared to discuss the works.)
Discuss what themes and characteristics these pieces have in common (i.e., raw lyricism or display of emotion, use of African American vernacular speech, addresses African American suffering and displacement or migration from the South, use of internal and end rhyme, alliteration, anaphora, and repetition). Play selections of these pieces for students to give them a feel for the music.
Point out the similarity in form between "St. Louis Blues" and "Alabama Blues." Ask students to identify the pattern. Explain that many blues songs are written in a "12-bar" pattern, referring to the number of bars or measures typically used to convey a theme (see PBS: The Blues Web site for a good explanation). In 12-bar blues, the lyrics usually follow an AAB pattern: the first two lines of a stanza are similar (if not the same), and are each termed "A" while the third line, "B", responds to or resolves the idea presented in the first two lines. Play a clip of "St. Louis Blues" for students (a video of Bessie Smith singing "St. Louis Blues" is available on ARTSEDGE's Drop Me Off in Harlem)
Discuss how "St. Louis Blues," "Alabama Blues," and "Hard Time Killing Floor" are different. Mention that "St. Louis Blues" was first published in 1914 by W.C. Handy, who is often referred to as the father of the blues; "Hard Time Killing Floor" was written in the 1930s; and "Alabama Blues" was written in 1966. How could differences in the time the piece was written account for changes in subject matter?
Provide some more background information on the blues songs. Mention that Skip James is considered a "Delta blues" musician, meaning he is associated with a particular region of the South-southern Mississippi. Delta blues music is typically characterized by solo performances and guitar playing with finger picking, slide work (using a tube placed over the finger, such as a bottleneck or a flat-edged object, such as a knife blade) to depress the guitar strings, and boogie rhythms (effect that sounds like two guitars playing at once due to the playing of a bass line on the bottom guitar strings while accompanying the rhythm on the other strings). Tell students that during the 1920s and 1930s, the Jim Crow laws segregated all aspects of society in the South. The Great Depression wreaked havoc on the already economically disadvantaged African Americans—particularly after a farming crisis in the 1920s. (For more information, see The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Web site.
Discuss how this historical context may be reflected in Skip James's work, and that it may account for the song's personal perspective more than "Alabama Blues," which is written from the viewpoint of someone who no longer lives in the South. Mention that J.B. Lenoir more specifically used music as a form of protest and discuss whether his song is more successful as a vehicle for protest than James's song. Discuss the attitudes of the speakers towards his/her predicaments and compare the overall tones of the poems. Are the speakers resigned, angry, or attempting change? Is the poem hopeful or pessimistic? What are some reasons that would account for any differences?
Point out that W.C. Handy was inspired to write "St. Louis Blues" when he met, while walking around St. Louis, a woman distraught by her husband's absence. Look more closely at "St. Louis Blues." While the subject matter of the song centers on a woman who is upset because she was abandoned, Handy is also speaking to a larger social issue prevalent in society—materialism as a result of urbanization, the Great Migration, and the desire for a better life (perceived by some to be associated with luxurious possessions). Tell students that thousands of African Americans left the rural South looking for better economic opportunities in cities in the North. Up North, many African Americans experienced the modernity and materialism of city life for the first time. Ask students to point out instances in "St. Louis Blues" that refer to this issue (i.e., the fact that the speaker's lover left the speaker for "diamond rings" and "store-bought hair").
Tell students that segregation and discrimination were also present in the North, a fact that greatly disappointed many African Americans who migrated there. Now look at the last three lines of "Alabama Blues." Ask students if a better grasp on the historical context gives readers a deeper understanding of the meaning of the lyrics. Ask students what else was going on the sixties that Lenoir may be referring to in his lyrics (i.e., the Vietnam War).
Poets Singing the Blues
Pass out copies of Langston Hughes's "Weary Blues" (available on ARTSEDGE's Drop Me Off in Harlem, Kevin Young's "Player Piano" (available in Jelly Roll: A Blues). (You may wish to pass out these copies in advance so students are prepared to discuss them in class.)
Ask students to point out specific examples of characteristics of blues lyrics found in these two poems, including common themes, repetition, diction, and rhyme. Discuss the differences. Are they more "poetic" than the blues lyrics discussed previously? How do the poems alter and complicate the blues form? Are there references to African-American suffering in both poems?
Tell students that "The Weary Blues" was written in the 1920s and "Player Piano" appeared in a book published in 2003. Inform students that Langston Hughes wrote in a blues style partly as a reaction to the work of his African-American contemporaries, who were writing in traditional poetic forms, such as the European sonnet. By incorporating jazz and blues elements in his poetry, Hughes embraced his African-American heritage rather than Western European influences. Ask students why they think Kevin Young, an African-American writer of the 21st century, chose to write an entire book of poems, Jelly Roll: A Blues, based on blues elements. Does the poem reflect any social issues prevalent in today's society? Why or why not?
Discuss the title of "Player Piano." Why did Young choose to name his poem after a self-playing piano, particularly since there is no mention of a player piano-or any piano for that manner-in his poem. Note the double entendre of the word "player" and its current slang connotation. Compare the speaker in "Player Piano" to "St. Louis Blues." Does Kevin Young complicate stereotyped gender roles in his poem since the male speaker is the one who has been abandoned by a female?
Tell students that they will be writing their own poems or blues lyrics (or an innovative combination of the two genres if they so choose). The poem should reflect a social injustice occurring today. Students must conduct research for this poem and should include a bibliography that contains at least two sources, which must be authoritative sources if using the Internet. You may wish to give a short lesson on how to tell whether a web site is reliable. The poem should also contain at least three of the following blues characteristics discussed in class:
- raw lyricism
- repetition
- alliteration
- internal or end rhyme
- AAB blues form
- vernacular reflective of one's individual upbringing/community
Students should complete their poems for homework.
Assessment:
Assess the students based on the following criteria:
- identified examples of blues characteristics in works by Hughes and Young
- demonstrated understanding through insightful and frequent participation in class discussions
- wrote a poem that incorporated three aspects of blues music
- use of adequate research in poem about a current social issue
You may also use the Assessment Rubric.
Extensions:
Spend the next class period workshopping and discussing the students' work (see the ARTSEDGE How-To: The Better the Poem, the Better the Performance).
Students could read their completed poems aloud in a poetry reading or compete in a slam contest (see the ARTSEDGE How-To: From Flyer to Slammaster).
Sources:
Print:
- Komunyakaa, Yusef. Blue Notes: Essays, Interviews, and Commentaries. Edited by Radiclani Clytus. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003.
- Young, Kevin. Jelly Roll: A Blues. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Media:
- James, Skip. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues. Sony. CD.
- Lenoir, J.B. Vietnam Blues: The Complete L&R Recording. Evidence 26068. CD.
Web:
Authors:
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Theresa Sotto
Santa Monica, CA
