One of the first things Lydia Parrish notes in her book, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands, is how much traditional African slave music has preserved itself. She also points out from the beginning that slaves referred to their own song-singing as “spirituals” rather than “slave songs”(xxvii). Music was routinely intertwined into every part of life for the African slaves, but before we go into further detail on musical content and form, we must answer the most important question: where did the music come from, exactly?

According to Parrish, the origin of traditional slave songs comes from the “Old South,” or the Bahamas (5). Since most of the slaves that were in the Bahamas during the seventeenth century came from Africa, the music revolved around spiritual African themes, and resembled similar folk melodies. Thus, the themes remained generally focused on voicing the superiority of the white man as well as the pre-determined fate of negroes. A popular custom that was carried over from Africa to the Bahamas then to colonial South Carolina, was a type of ritual called ring shouts. This was a form of worship that was carried out through dancing in a counter-clockwise circle, and the songs sung in this ritual often represented moral stories or phrases taken from biblical context. An example of ring-shout music is shown below and is titled, “Go Roun’ the Border Susie.” Yet, there is a continuous history of emotional songs and hymn tunes written by African Americans.

The first hymn book published in the American colonies was The Bay Psalm Book in 1640 (Dargan 32). More books written for gospel music did not appear until about forty years later when Isaac Watts composed his Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. Most white southerners lined out hymns parallel to those derived from African gospel, but some African music simply had more dramatic effect (Dargan 34). For instance, certain vocal techniques such as slurs, blues notes, shouting, and spiritual possession have become enduring qualities that separate traditional black gospel music from orthodox white church music (Dargan 35). The structure of worship in correspondence to music generally appeared in this order: first there would be a singing of a spiritual or lining-out hymn, followed by scripture, then another hymn or spiritual, and finally a prayer; the average time of this typical worship was ten-fifteen minutes (Dargan 36). Bodily gestures were another significant part of African worship. Dargan points out that religious Africans were interested in attaining “spiritual possession” during their worship, and says that phenomenon was a “statement about the extent to which the style of singing lends itself to bodily worship” (44).

The context of the music overall was fairly static, but this sometimes changed within various regions. Harmonies of all congregational music displayed modal pentatonic melodies, and the tempo of the songs does not mediate enough to be noticeable. There was usually a syncopated rhythm accompanied with choral clapping, and at random, whomever was in charge of leading the music would ask the audience to “raise” the singing. This was a term used to command the audience to heighten the pitch of their voices for the emphasis of certain vocal textures. (Dargan 46).

* * * * *

Moonlight-Starlight

“I know, I know Lord
Believer I know
I know, I know Lord
Believer I know
I know the road so thorny
Believer I know
I know the road is thorny
Believer I know”

Believer I Know

O-o-h Moonlight
Believer what’s the matter?
John lay the body down!
(repeat)
John lay the body to the tome
O-o-h let me go!
John lay the body to the tomb
John lay the body down!”
(repeat)

“Moonlight-Straylight” is derived from an original slave slong that was often sung at funerals during the night. The song is written in G major and resembles a hum-like quality. Some parts can be sung with the lips closed. Parrish claims that “of all the primitive songs, this is the most plaintive and impressive”

“Go Roun’ the Border Susie”
This song is an example of one that would have been sung in “ring-play” action.
When the first verse is played, the players join hands in a circle and dance to the music (Parrish 97).
The chorus may play several times while the “hornet” attempts to catch the “turtle dove,” who tries to avoid getting captured.

Go Roun’ the Border Susie

The refrain looks like this:
“Go roun’ the border Susie
Go roun’ the border Susie
Go roun’ the border Susie
That long summer day.”

Following the first verse:
“Out goes the hornet, shoo down my little one
Shoo down my little one, shoo that day
Out goes the hornet, shoo down my little one
Shoo down my little one, long summer day.”

And the second verse:
“That turtle dove started, shoo down my little one
Shoo down my little one, shoo that day
That turtle dove started, shoo down my little oneShoo down my little one, that long summer day.”

Bibliography

Dargan, William. “Congregational Singing Traditions in South Carolina.” Black Music Research Journal. 1.15 (1995): 29-73. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Parrish, Lydia. Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands. 1. 1. Athens,Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1992. 1-252. Print.