Sorrow Songs: The African American Spiritual

“The spiritual is celebrated in American culture and beyond. It is the source from which gospel, jazz, blues, and hip-hop evolved. It was born in the American South, created by slaves, bards whose names history never recorded. The organizing concept of this music is not the melody of Europe, but the rhythm of Africa. And the theology conveyed in these songs is a potent mix of African spirituality, Hebrew narrative, Christian doctrine, and an extreme experience of human suffering.”

My favorite public radio show is “Speaking of Faith,” linked above. Speaking of Faith is a one-hour show about religion, ethics and spiritual well-being. A few weeks ago, Speaking of Faith discussed “sorrow songs,” spirituals sung by slaves while in the fields. (Click link to hear interviews and songs.) The songs are incredibly moving.

I read The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass a few months back. In that book, Douglass noted that white slaveowners loved to listen to sorrow songs, and indeed thought the songs reflected the slaves’ happy spirits. How out of touch could the slavemaster have been?