Sassy LeRoi Jones + Oh Mary Don't You Weep

LeRoi Jones is hilariously sassy. I found myself highlighting a bunch of lines from the text which may, or may not have, been particularly important.  Sassiness aside, Jones put blues and American folk songs into perspective for me. Work songs and spirituals were a source of inspiration and strength for African Americans during the slave era. There were no music scores for these songs like for Beethoven's 5th. Rather, African American folk songs was a malleable and organic product of the rough African assimilation into American culture. 

Many work songs disclosed specific clues about the paths slaves should take to escape to freedom. Mary Don't You Weep, however, does not offer such clues. Still, embedded within it is a coded message of resistance and liberation. This song has resonated with African American, both before and after their emancipation because the Israelites struggles, which are sang about in the song, paralleled their struggles. 

The Mississippi John Hurt version of Oh Mary Don't You Weep resonated with me the most because it was bare and true. I loved the twang on the guitar. He sings it with an air of hope and inspiration --a feeling that cannot be detected upon just reading the lyrics of the song. 

I was especially intrigued by the rawness of the song -- his tone evoking hope and yearning for freedom.