Amazon.com info for 'Slave Songs of the United States'

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Back to reviews and details of Slave Songs of the United States

Amazon.com reviews:

Rating: 5 Summary: A trove
Comment There are 136 songs in this book, most of which are no longer sung. They are simply amazing, musically and theologically. An example: "Come and Go With Me", collected in Augusta, GA, presents a major scale with a flat 6th and 7th, and the tune ends on the 4th. Unfortunately, the collectors, as went on for generations as standard procedure, did not acknowledge the names of any of their sources. The original "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" is in here; it is a rowing song from the sea islands, addressed to the archangel Michael as a prayer for safe passage; these lyrics are more striking than the familiar ones. Here are the complete lyrics to "Come and Go With Me", which is singular both in its scale and its notion that heaven is in the present, to be accepted rather than earned:

Ole Satan is a busy ole man
He roll stones in my way
Master Jesus is my bosom friend
He roll 'em out my way

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

I did not come here myself my Lord
It was my Lord who brought me here
And I really do believe I'm a child of God
A-walking in the heaven I roam

Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
Oh, come and go with me
A-walking in the heaven I roam

It was reported that the freed slaves did not want to remember their old songs. And we all have reasons for forgetting a painful past. But look at these songs; they are the heart and soul's truth of life. It is not too late to learn from these people. Put this music in your heart.

Water spring that never dry, Hallelu, Hallelu
The more we dig, the more it spring, Hallelujah!

Rating: 5 Summary: An Exceptional Tool
Comment Those who love spirituals often find the origins of spirituals in general to be elusive, if not impossible to track with any degree of reliability. Though this collection of spirituals is quite limited in terms of being highly localized (versus attempting to comprehend all of the spirituals of all of the South), it covers many of the best-loved Negro spirituals. Published first in 1867, it provides perhaps the strongest link for the largest grouping of spirituals, contemporaneous (or nearly so) with the music it attempts to capture.

For those who love the Negro spiritual, this is a 'must have' for your collection.

Rating: 4 Summary: A great historical account of forgotten American History
Comment This book gives great insight in to the true meaning of African American slaves songs. This book also discusses the origin and uses of the songs and provides footnotes for most of the colloquials and variations in dialect for each song.