Slave songs/ spirituals

Why did slaves sing songs? Slaves often sang songs to express their feelings about the harsh world they are living in. They also sing to keep themselves occupied whilst doing their hard labour.They were in the fields from dawn till dusk and couldn't do much other than work so singing kept their minds sane. These songs can tell stories of how they were feeling and what was on their mind.

This song talks about how they are in the fields, working hard , until the sun goes down and they can finally lie down after a days hard work, just to do it again the next day. This song has a depressing vibe and makes us feel for those in slavery. The parts where they all sing together symbolises how they are all in it together.

This song talks about slaves who pick cotton for their masters. It has an upbeat tune but the lyrics are depressing. I think it has an upbeat tune to distract the slaves from the reality of their world. This song is preformed by Bessie Brown.

I feel like many songs today have themes that relate to slavery such as ' I dreamed a dream' from les miserable. This is from a story based in the french revolution.

These songs tell us about the physical toll the work takes on the slaves as well as how the slaves are feeling about their sad world.

Spirituals

Spirituals are songs that bring up the spirit and praise the Gods of those singing. They were commonly used by slaves to distract themselves and make them feel better. They were an expression of spiritual devotion and a yearn for freedom from bondage.

Here is a spiritual example.

This is a song about the journey many slaves face on their way to freedom. The river Jordan is an example of an obstacle they must face to see a free world. This song has an up beat tune which gives us and the slaves of this narrative hope that things will get better.

This song is about signalling the time to escape.this was used as a signal for 'the time has come'. 'angels are coming to bring me home' means that they are finally going to be free.