Growing up as a child, music was a foreign thing to me. The only music I knew of were the classical pieces my piano teacher forced my brother and I to play. It wasn't until the 6th grade that I was introduced to the music we know now. Since then, I've been hooked. 6 years has passed since my introduction to music, and through those 6 years, music has become one of the biggest parts of my life. While my musical tastes has drastically changed, the feelings I get when listening to music has not. When I'm having a bad day, sometimes I will lay in the dark on my bedroom floor and listen to music for hours. Listening to music takes me away to my "happy place" where I can just relax and forget about society, my problems, school, everything. When I'm sad/happy/mad/frustrated, I can always find a song that perfectly fits my mood. When I listen to music, I feel things which cannot be explained, and this is why music will always be a part of my life.
Louis Armstrong's "What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue" is about the oppression that blacks faced from the White society. This song is extremely significant to the narrator and his situation because it deals with what the narrator struggles with: his identity and racism he faces. When he listens to this song, the narrator can empathize with the lyrics, which is why he is so moved by the song. The lines "'Cause you're black, Folks think you lack. They laugh at you, And scorn you too. When you are near, they laugh and sneer. Set you aside and you're denied" shows the racism that blacks faced and the white belief that they reign supreme over the Blacks. In addition, the line "My only sin is in my skin" is more proof of the racism Blacks faced.
No comments:
Post a Comment