The Bourgeois Blues (1937)

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The Bourgeois Blues is a blues song by American folk and blues musician Lead Belly. It was written in June 1937 in response to the discrimination and segregation that Lead Belly faced during a visit to Washington, DC to record for Alan Lomax. It rails against racism, the Jim Crow laws, and the conditions of contemporary African Americans in the southern United States.[1]

The song was recorded in December 1938 for the Library of Congress and re-recorded in 1939 for commercial release. It has been covered by a number of artists including Pete Seeger, Ry Cooder, Hans Theessink, and Billy Bragg.

Key Lyrics

Me and my wife went all over town

And where we go, the colored people turn us down

Lord, in a bourgeois town

It's a bourgeois town

I got the bourgeois blues, I'm

Gonna spread the news all around


Them white folks in Washington they know how

To call a man a nigger just to see him bow

Lord, it's a bourgeois town

Uhm, the bourgeois town

I got the bourgeois blues I'm

Gonna spread the news all around

Background

Most music historians date the writing of "The Bourgeois Blues" to Lead Belly's June 1937 trip to Washington, DC, when he was invited by the folklorist Alan Lomax to record for the Library of Congress's folk music collection.[2] On the first night Lead Belly and his wife Martha spent in the city, they encountered racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws similar to those found in their native Louisiana: most hotels refused to rent rooms to African Americans and the few that would were either full or refused to serve him because he was with a white man (Lomax). Lomax, in some versions of the story described as an unnamed "white friend", offered to let the couple stay for the night in his apartment near the Supreme Court Building. The next morning, Lead Belly awoke to Lomax arguing with his landlord about the presence of a black man, with the landlord threatening to call the police.[3]

While in Washington, Lead Belly encountered several other incidents of segregation that are believed to have contributed to the impetus of the song. For instance, when Lead Belly, Lomax, and their wives wanted to go out to dinner together, they discovered that it was impossible for the mixed race group to find a restaurant that would serve them. Lead Belly was told that if he returned later without Lomax, he would be served.[4]

Interpretation

Bourgeois Blues" is a blues-style protest song that criticizes the culture of Washington, DC. It protests against both the city's Jim Crow laws and the racism of its white population. Its structure includes several verses and a refrain that declares that the speaker is going to "spread the news all around" about the racial issues plaguing the city. The song, particularly in the refrain, conflates race and economics by referring to Caucasians as "bourgeois".[5]

The first two verses speak of the segregation that Lead Belly encountered in Washington DC: the first recounts the fact that during the trip, Lead Belly was "turned down" wherever he tried to get served due to his race, while the second recounts the argument between Lomax and his landlord over Lead Belly staying in his apartment. The third verse sarcastically cites "the home of the brave, the land of the Free", juxtaposed with the mistreatment he received at the hands of white people in Washington, DC. The fourth verse speaks of the racism of the white population of the city, leading to the song's end, which suggests that African Americans boycott buying homes in the district.[6]

The song's tone implies that the speaker feels powerless against the discrimination and racism that he encounters; despite this, by "spreading the news" of his poor treatment in a song, the speaker uses what power he has to tell both southern African Americans and northern whites that the status quo is deeply flawed and that something needs to change.[7]

Reference

  1. The Bourgeois Blues. Wikipedia. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  2. Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell. The Life and Legend of Ledbelly. 1992. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-306-80896-8. Retrieved from Wikipedia, January 31, 2021.
  3. Nick Scalera. "Impressions of Washington: Lead Belly's "Bourgeois Blues"". 2013. WETA. Public Broadcasting for Greater Washington. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  4. Dick Weissman. Blues. 2015. New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8160-6975-0. Retrieved from Wikipedia, January 31, 2021.
  5. R. A. Lawson. Jim Crow's Counterculture: The Blues and Black Southerners, 1890–1945. 2010. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3810-6. Retrieved from Wikipedia, January 31, 2021.
  6. Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell. The Life and Legend of Ledbelly. 1992. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-306-80896-8. Retrieved from Wikipedia, January 31, 2021.
  7. R. A. Lawson. Jim Crow's Counterculture: The Blues and Black Southerners, 1890–1945. 2010. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3810-6. Retrieved from Wikipedia, January 31, 2021.