Earlier in the semester, our class discussed the collection of folk music by Alan Lomax during the Great Depression. However, how folk music was created was a question that was neither answered nor explored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While browsing the Library of Congress’ database, I encountered a song entitled, “Wake Up, Jacob,”<\/a> composed by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston explains that work camps were awoken to the singing of the camp’s crier<\/span>. These compositions were original; however, it is likely that they incorporated music sung by one’s family or community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional elements of the song were inspired by these songs’ purposes. “Wake Up, Jacob” incorporates the knocking<\/span> of one’s hand against a hard surface. This knocking is meant to mirror the rapping of one’s hand against the lodgings where members of the work camp were sleeping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In “Ballad for Americans,” an article produced by the website Radio Diaries<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, the origins of this popular song are discussed. It was composed by a gay man and popularized by a black man but adopted by all Americans as an anthem of national unity. When considered alongside “Wake Up, Jacob,” a song that incorporated musical elements from slave communities, the origins of most folk music becomes irrelevant. Instead, the music’s use in uniting people under a common banner becomes that of central importance, as we can see by the songs sung in work camps across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, we should consider folk music to be a part of a region’s history. In Digital Exhibit’s article, “The American Guide Series,” there is no mention of music sung by a state’s inhabitants.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This is discouraging, as the songs a people sings speak volumes of their beliefs and values. Although one may visit a state and its monuments, one cannot fully understand a people without knowing of their music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Folk music is not a narrow category of music. It is the incorporation of culture and new surroundings and unites all of those who listen it – folk music is the music of the people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier in the semester, our class discussed the collection of folk music by Alan Lomax during the Great Depression. However, how folk music was created was a question that was neither answered nor explored. While browsing the Library of Congress’ database, I encountered a song entitled, “Wake Up, Jacob,” composed by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston … Continue reading “Zora Neale Hurston and Creating Folk Music”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sound"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2481"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2492,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2481\/revisions\/2492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jessicadoeshistory.com\/courseblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}