Analysis Of It's A Long John

The history of people of African descent within the United States is long with many highs and lows. In the early times of American history, thousands of Africans were bought to work on plantations in southeastern America. While the slaves were taken from their homes in Africa, their culture, especially their music, remained within them and was passed on from generation to generation. These people eventually created a specific type of music that helped many carry on with their work efficiently, helped them relieve the monotony of their job either while out in the cotton fields or working on the railroads, and allowed them to communicate with other slaves and express their emotions. This great form of music eventually would lead to the creation

Marshall, a field holler. “It’s a Long John” is duple meter song with a moderate speed. The song has a call-and-response structure where the group mimics the pitch and lyrics of the leader. The only two instruments used in the song were the tenor voices of the men, and the sound of them chopping logs. Overall, the pitch of the song is low until the song reaches the chorus,” It’s a long John…he’s a long gone…” (Afro-American Spirituals, Work Songs, and Ballads 13B 1). Once they reached this point of the song, the pitch jumps higher and the voices become louder. There is a mix of consonance and dissonance within the song because the men were most likely untrained singers.
The second song, “Arwhoolie” is a short, acapella song that contains a single, powerful tenor voice. A significant part of the song is a series of long moan like vocalizations. There are only a few melancholy lyrics, stating that “I won't be here long…dark gonna catch me here” (Negro Work Songs and Calls 3). The song contains a mix of consonance and dissonance, most likely due to the fact that the singer was untrained, and was only singing to express emotions he may have been feeling. The song is fairly slow, and was sung at a low