Last week we covered the eighth track
on the 6th annual DGA crawfish boil CD, titled “Money.” This week we’re
going to change it up a little bit and cover the last two tracks, “Irene” and “Somebody
Told Me.”
As
we near the end of the CD, it’s worth reminding ourselves about the importance
of the blues. The blues might be the most important of all the musical styles
that originated in America. The blues fused spirituals, call and response
chants, and traditional ballads. This distinctly American musical style emerged
from African-American communities in the Deep South following the legal
abolition of slavery in 1865. The post-emancipation period allowed
African-Americans to form communities, churches, and other voluntary
associations free from white inference. These separate institutions allowed
African-Americans to cultivate and expand upon their previous musical
traditions. The blues arose from these newly independent African-American
communities. Over the years, blues musicians have passed down their songs and
traditions to each successive generation. Each have modified and molded the
songs to suit their times, but the themes remain the same. Blues singer Alberta
Hunter once tried to explain the blues this way, “Blues means what milk does to
a baby. Blues is what the spirit is to the minister. We sing the blues because
our hearts have been hurt, our souls have been disturbed.”
“Irene”
and “Somebody Told Me” exemplify this understanding of the blues. Both explore
the idea of love and its potential to warm and darken the heart. “Irene” discusses
love as part of a dream, reminding the listener that emotions that emerge from
the subconscious come in their purest form. The singer notes that “You are the
sweetest of my dreams Irene, Oh Irene.” He further claims that “In the middle
of a dream, I heard somebody call my name.” The song Irene leaves the listener feeling
wistful—remembering and mindful of love at its most poetic and lyrical. “Somebody
Told Me” approaches love in a more desperate way, with a man pleading with his
woman not to leave. He mournfully complains that “Somebody told me that you’re
gonna leave this town /Somebody told me that you’re leaving me behind, Oh no!”
The singer also laments that “Somebody told me where you was last night /Somebody
told me you was doing me wrong.” Here love is sour, not sweet. It hurts and
troubles the soul. “Somebody Told Me” is the story of a man wronged by his
woman.
Irene
In the middle of a dream, I
heard somebody call my name
The sweetest thing that you’ve
ever seen
Was that girl they call Irene
But when I opened up my eyes
Honey I stood there to my
surprise
The sweetest thing that you’ve
ever seen
Was that girl they call Irene
Irene, Irene
You are the sweetest of my
dreams
Irene, Oh Irene
Give me a big ole hunk of mine
But when I opened up my eyes
Honey I stood there to my
surprise
Sweetest thing that you’ve ever
seen
Was that girl they call Irene
Irene, Irene
You are the sweetest of my
dreams
Irene, Oh Irene
Give me a big ole hunk of mine
Somebody Told Me
Somebody told me where you was
last night
Somebody told me you was doing
me wrong
I put my trust in your hands
Darling, baby, can’t you
understand?
Somebody told me that you’re
gonna leave this town
Somebody told me that you’re
leaving me behind, Oh no!
Don’t you leave me baby
Don’t you leave me baby
Don’t you leave me baby
Somebody told me where you was
last night
Somebody told me you was doing
me wrong
I put my trust in your hands
Darling, baby, can’t you
understand?
Somebody told me that you’re
gonna leave this town
Somebody told me that you’re
leaving me behind, Oh no!
Don’t you leave me baby
Don’t you leave me baby
Don’t you leave me baby
As one final note, here’s Sesame
Street explaining Zydeco.
And with that we’ve completed our
journey through all the tracks of Douglas Green Associations 6th
Annual Family and Friends Crawfish Boil. Mark your calendars because the next
boil is coming up on March 14, 2015. We hope to see you there.
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