Track 5: Delta Bound

Posted by Benson

Delta Bound is easily Doug's favorite track on the CD.  I absolutely love it as well.  I think the song resonates with any Louisianian, but it has a particular resonance for me because I spent all of my college years in the Midwest.

I got my undergrad at The Ohio State University, which is a capital school by the way.  The great thing about OSU is that it's in Columbus, Ohio.  The unfortunate thing about OSU is that it's in Columbus, Ohio.  Ohio is certainly an interesting state, but for a Neworleanian it is a bit cold, and bleak, and grey, and bland.  But if you have to be in Ohio, Columbus is the best place to be.  It's a big city with lots of things going on, plenty of great restaurants, and a vibrant night life.  It isn't New Orleans by any stretch of the imagination, but the transition from New Orleans to Columbus was not as jarring as I had imagined.

After I graduated from OSU, however, I went to grad school at Ball State University in the...lovely...Muncie, Indiana.  Yea, that's the city that was the test case for the Middletown Studies, "middletown" being the "classic," "average," or "typical" American city.  In other words, Muncie was small and bland enough to be the poster child for late 1920s Middle-American identity anxieties.  This is ironic because Delta Bound was being recorded by Rosetta Howard around the struggling New York Blues scene in 1937, the same year Middletown in Transition: A study in Cultural Conflicts was published.  

Delta Bound resonates with me because it reminds me of the feeling of driving home to Louisiana for the holidays.  I used to do the whole 14 hour drive in one day, leaving around 4 or 5 a.m. and getting in after dark.  Every time I'd hit the Louisiana border I'd pull over at the rest stop and bask in the sensations of being home.  I'd feel the weight of the air, run my hands through the grass, and take in the sounds of south Louisiana.  Even though I was just across the border from Mississippi, I always imagined that I could detect a difference as soon as I crossed the state line.  It was a visceral experience that had as much to do with the physical environment as it did with the culture or even with my family.  Simply being in the environment was a deeply fulfilling experience.  When my wife started making the yearly trip with me, I even used to tell her that the clouds in Louisiana were different from clouds anywhere else. 

But as fulfilling as those experiences were, they were rare and special.  Now that I'm back in Louisiana for good, I always feel a contentment with my environment.  But that feeling has become part of everyday life, and so it's hardly remarked until it's missed.  I love Delta Bound because it reminds me what it is like to be away from Louisiana.  It reminds me of the yearning that grows the longer you're away from home.  Hearing it allows me to recapture, if only for an instant, the fulfillment of running my fingers through the grass off I-59.  Although the moment is fleeting, the best part about hearing Delta Bound is that it reminds me I am already home.  

Delta Bound was recorded by Rosetta Howard in 1937-38 while she was playing with the Harlem Hamfats.  Rosetta is a bit of an enigmatic figure, because unlike many of the previous artists we've discussed, Rosetta did not enjoy wide-ranging popularity in her time.  Nevertheless, she has left her mark on the Jazz and Blues tradition, and her music has touched many souls.  

Down on the delta,

Where there is shelter

No helter skelter,

No blues around.

I’m on my way now,

Most any day now,

I’m delta bound.

When night is falling,

My heart is calling

It keeps on calling,

I’m going down.

I’m on my way now,

Most any day now,

I’m delta bound.

Every time I close my eyes,

I seem to see Louisiana.

All the folks there are singing,

In their free and easy manner.

I been a rover,

But, now that over,

Knee deep in clover,

I’ll soon be found.

I’m on my way now ,

Most any day now,

I’m delta bound.