Discussing Casey Jones and John Henry

To participate in discussion, read these thoughts below, including the instructions “DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT” below— and then click on “Post New Entry” above to begin your participation in this conversation.

[Note: this topic is mostly the same as “By the Banks, in the Pines,” but we are keeping the discussions separate in order to create smaller, more focused, discussions.  In contrast to the “By the banks…” topic, the songs in this topic emphasize popular expressions of working-class culture and values.]

The songs “Casey Jones” and “John Henry” date back to an early stage in the development of American Popular Music. We can imagine the first singers of either of these songs being rural working-class musicians in the Deep South and Eastern U. S., during the late 19th century. At least two “diaspora” are important here: first, the movement of African Americans from slave or sharecropper plantations into the Appalachian mountains; second, the movement of new Irish and European immigrants to the agricultural areas of the Mississippi Delta, a region where black Americans had already lived and worked in large numbers since the end of the Civil War.

But new versions of these songs — produced throughout the late 20th century — give them a life of their own, beyond their specific origins. In the playlist, you’ll find four performances of “Casey Jones” (one of which is really a different song) and three of “John Henry;” another rendition of “John Henry” can be found in the “Country Blues” playlist, and several more can be found on this John Henry blog (though some of these require special plug-ins to be heard in your browser).

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DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT (Due October 15 — or submit by October 10 at noon to get TA guidance toward an essay):

Choose one recording from the “Casey Jones and John Henry” playlist and analyze what you hear. Treat each of the elements of the song separately. How are the lyrics expressed — does the expression change in any way from one part of the song to another? What is the form of the song, and what words would you use to distinguish one part of the form from another? Do the lyrics of the song, or the sounds that the performers make, seem to express any concepts in the readings or our lecture-discussions? Try to answer at least two of those three questions.

Your initial post (submitted through the “Post New Entry” button above) should be about two paragraphs, about 200 words. Once you’ve posted, please read your classmates’ posts and begin commenting on them…your TAs will contribute to the conversation as well. Full participation requires you to comment on your classmates’ posts and try to keep the conversation going!

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT (Due October 15 — if you choose to write an essay in this unit):

After reading Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor’s chapter “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” about Lead Belly, Nirvana, and our thirst for “authenticity,” write your own thoughts on what might motivate the differences between the interpretations of two of the songs on the playlist. What Barker and Taylor say about “In the Pines” might be a good model for what you can say about another song whose history is just as complex.

Begin by picking two versions of your chosen song, and analyze the forms of both versions. Making accurate use of terms that have been introduced in class, discuss the differences between the versions, using your formal analysis, and/or the lyrics, to refer to specific points in time during the performances. Consider questions like these:

How do the musicians and singers interpret the songs differently? Does the singing reflect different emotional qualities, or a different sense of the lyrics’ meanings? Do any the performances seem to strive for an “authentic” connection to our musical past? Do they strive for that through what Barker and Taylor refer to as “savage simplicity” (23)? In other words, do they equate authenticity with a pretense of primitivism, and therefore try to make their own music sound more primitive in order to sound more “real”? Or — alternatively — do the musicians seem to have a different sense of what it means to be “authentic”?

Finally, what do you think the differences between two versions of a the song might reflect about the demands of a particular listening audience? How do the versions of these popular working-class songs present or re-imagine working-class values to different cultures or audiences, in changing times?

(You don’t need to answer all of these questions—and you may choose to focus on just one or two. But consider them carefully as you plan your comparison of the songs.)

To write your essay, carefully follow our instructions on the “How to do the essays” page.

Your finished essay (due before noon on Thursday, October 15) should be between 600-800 words long, about the length of four double-spaced pages. Please keep in mind your peers will want to respond to what you say, so make your thoughts intelligible, organized, and easy to read. When you are finished, post the essay to the Casey Jones and John Henry Essays page, under Unit 1 in the discussion section of the website.

When you are done, please take time read your peers’ posts and essays, compare and contrast your thoughts, and continue discussion.

Casey Jones

The song “Casey Jones” by John Hurt alludes to the plantation life of the slaves. Referring to Casey Jones as a engineer suggest the singer’s sympathizes for the slave’s strenuous job and pertaining to the slave’s work as intricate as an engineer’s job connotes that slaves aren’t treated equality even though they work harder than professional engineers. The comparison of the engineer and Casey is sympathetic to the slaves and the singer presents the life struggles that slaves go through and the environment’s influence in their behavior. Casey’s wife wanting pension after Casey’s death suggest that people in this time of who are struggling, have little money to go on and Casey’s death becomes a positive event for Casey’s wife and kids. But the song suggests that the slaves aren’t naturally obsessed with money but their attitudes are the products of the environment that enslaves them. Also the multiple fathers of the wife’s children suggest that people die everyday in the plantation or factories and the widow must move on to the next man that will help her support her children.

            The dominant instrument of the song is the guitar. The chorus of the song is instrumental and although there’s a lyrical chorus, the musical chorus dominates the song. The musical chorus is appropriate for the song so that listeners are able to grasp the atmosphere and lifestyle of the plantations. I feel that at the end of hard work’s day, slaves just play instruments to release stress and not adding excessive words to the rhythm is more efficient to relieve the slaves’ minds and hearts. The melody is consistent and it’s the same rhythm through out the song. The singer’s voice hits a high pitch at the beginning of the sentence then hits another high pitch the end of a sentence. The high pitches create a different tune to the song; it’s melodious and the song has an upbeat sound to the ear that encourages slaves to dance to the song. 

Maria Mebana

[Tiffany Sun's Post]

In the lyrics of the Grateful Dead’s version of “Casey Jones”, there is a notable change in expression of the singer right before he sings the line about “the lady in red”.  He drawls out the word “the” right before singing “lady in red” to draw more attention to his advice: “you’re better off dead.”  There is another notable change when he sings “train one hundred and two/ is on the wrong track and / headed for you”.  The first and last line is sung the same way, both with a drawl and stress on the last word, and in the second line the stress is in the middle of line on the word “wrong”. There are two distinct changes in the singer’s expression when the idea of death appears in his lyrics.  The Grateful Dead’s version of this song dabbles into folk music characteristics, in the sense that it also has tension between music and idea.

Throughout the song, the tone of the singer and the tempo doesn’t dramatically change until the last verse of the song.  In the last verse of the song, the drums and the singing gradually picks up tempo and then it slows down on the second-to-last line “and you know that notion just crossed my mind”.  The line is then repeated again for the last time, but is only accompanied with the guitar.  The absence of drums in the last line stresses the last few words of the song.  

1912- Casey Jones

          I listened to the 1912 version of Casey Jones by Billy Murray.  This song does not have the types of instruments that a song heard in today’s music world contains, such as guitars and drums.  The music in this song is composed of instruments like trumpets and tubas.  The instruments chosen to accompany Billy Murray show the age of this song.  You can tell this by comparing it to Mississippi John Hurt’s version of Casey Jones recorded just sixteen years later.  Mississippi John Hurt is accompanied with a guitar in his rendition, as guitars began to be used more.

          When Billy Murray sings Casey Jones his voice does not change much in terms of the range of his voice.  During the stanzas of the song Murray goes back and forth with an A followed by an A’.  He repeats that two more times before going to the chorus.  Arriving at the chorus the form changes to a B, B, B, C.  When the accompanying band members sing, they keep the same form of the chorus.  The melody stays fairly similar throughout the song as well.  Murray sings the second half of the song as if he is telling the audience a story, changing his voice slightly when saying certain words to try and act out the scene while singing.  Murray’s rhythm while singing is quite interesting.  During the normal verses he says all of the lyrics at about an equal pace, but at the chorus he says “Casey Jones” at a normal speed and goes on to say the rest of the verse faster than his normal speed in the song.

 

"Casey Jones" - The Grateful Dead

  The song “Casey Jones” by the Grateful Dead is a contemporary rendition of a blues song from the early 19th century. This 1970’s version is a prime example of how a piece of music can evolve over time. The artist molds the song into something the current audience or culture can understand and adopt. With the help of Jerry Garcia, “Casey Jones” evolved into the anthem of the 1970’s drug culture. The rhythm rolls along like the steady chugging of a train. It sets the tone of the song and indicates urgency as it speeds up. This beat speeds up towards the end of the song. And it sounds as if danger is near as the artist’s voice reaches a desperate wail, warning and lamenting about the future ahead. “Trouble ahead, lady in red… Come round the bend, you know its the end…” The artist tells the tale of  a character swept up in the drug culture, who’s life is going at a dangerous speed. There is a noticeable change in the artist’s voice between the chorus and the remaining lyrics. During the chorus, the artist and his instruments create a carefree and calm melody. But when the chorus ends, and the other lyrics begin, his voice raises and he extends his notes, wailing. He sounds as though he is talking directly to Casey Jones. Warning him, and trying to grab his attention with intensified volume and instrumentals.

Mississippi John Hurt's "Casey Jones"

In Mississippi John Hurt’s “Casey Jones,” the melody stayed fairly consistent throughout the song. There were a few changes in rhythm such as when the dialog begins. Mississippi John Hurt clearly changed his voice to make it clear that there were two people having a conversation in the song. Although, the lyrics began to talk about the death of Casey Jones, a father, the music did not change to express these emotions. One reason the music did not change was that the woman, Casey’s wife, did not seem troubled or hurt by the death of her husband but was instead excited at the thought of her children getting a pension.

 Many blues songs give listeners a glimpse into what life was life during the times sung about in the songs. The lyrics are expressive of the times during the early 1900s. Because Casey’s wife is so concerned with receiving the pension it is clear that the Jones family and many others during that time were struggling financially. 

[Ryan Atchley's Post]

In “Casey Jones” by Mississippi John Hurt the life and death of Casey Jones is told through Hurt’s interpretation of the events that lead to the death of Jones. The rhythm of the song doesn’t dramatically change at all, although towards the middle after Jones died the song speeds up a little bit. This noticeable difference could be attributed to Jone’s Death bringing a feeling of emptiness and despair to the singer as well as towards the people (that loved Jones).

The end of the song imitates the beginning as it repeats the first set of lyrics that was telling everyone how Casey Jones was brave for doing what he did, essentially what made him a hero. In this sense the song ends as it begins, showing that even dead Casey Jones is remembered as if he’s still alive and showing that his dead was significant in that it made him remembered even more. Throughout the whole song John Hurt only changes the rhythm a little by speeding it up to portray the death of Jones as something that would affect the family but in the end, as the song repeats its beginning, shows that Jones will be missed but never forgotten. 

"Casey Jones" Grateful Death

The version of “Casey Jones” by The Grateful Dead is a song where the expression of the lyrics is easily heard. His expression of tone is constantly changing while singing about train driving, being high on cocaine, and avoiding trouble. His expression suddenly changes in the fourth verse, first line “trouble ahead, lady in red.” His tone goes from calm/excited to surprise/excited. It was as if the lead singer was also in the train and truly got surprise with the trouble that lay ahead. And as if that is not enough his voice than switches back to calm and excited, just when the lyrics avoided the trouble ahead.

The time era the song was published was the era of Diaspora, migration, and new immigrants such as African Americans and Euro and Irish. So no wonder when I heard the song and read the lyrics my brain painted the picture of an immigrant on the go to somewhere new. Someone on the go to a better place with obstacles ahead and left trouble behind, even though they are leaving the bad they are still entering something uncertain. It’s a song written with lyrics of excitement of leaving on the train and the troubles that come with the ride to somewhere.

Casey Jones

Analyzing the Grateful dead version of Casey Jones to the 1912 version of Casey Jones there is a stark contrast between the two. In the 1912 version the casey johns is expressed in the lyrics a hero. By the constant repititiion of his name with more than one voice . The melody is extremely upbeat and reminds me of a song that may have been sung at a fair. In the lyrics where there talking about his kids getting a new papa the melody does not change creating a morbid difference between the lyrics and the melody.Maybe to express the fact that life was short in that era and the need for a new papa was custamary if your husband died and you had kids.So it was not a question of grieving but a matter of practacality.

Whereas in the grateful dead version John casey is characterized as a druggy and therefore a antithesis of the john casey in the 1912 version. This represents a change in diaspora where once the song meant the worshipping of a good engineer now it is remodled to express the primary ideas and concepts of the seventies. For example the song starts with a very mellow melody and the lyrics are expressed as though he has only a passing interest in what is going on do the his drug induced haze. Which was a very popular subject in the songs that became a commodity in that era.

"John Henry" by Woody Guthrie

      After listening to “John Henry” performed by Woody Guthrie in 1947, the first thing that strikes me is the simplicity of the melody as well as the rhythm. While the lyrics progress in telling the story of John Henry, from his birth, to his competition with the steam drill to his death, the rhythm remains steady through it all and there is little if any emotion expressed by Guthrie in his singing (his pitch varies very little). I think this way of singing a song allows the lyrics to speak for themselves. Even without Guthrie expressing a great deal of emotion, you can feel the emotion behind the lyrics. For example, the verse in which John Henry tells the captain that he can bring the steam drill ‘round and that he’ll beat it down, you can feel John Henry’s immediate competitiveness with the steam drill. Also, in the last verse that talks about John Henry dying, the lyrics “Every locomotive comes a rollin’ by, hollorin’…Yonder lays a steal-drivin’ man, man, man…Yonder lays a steal-drivin’ man,” the listener cannot help but feel sad and at the same time proud to be associated with this man.  

      Additionally, I see a direct connection between this song, as American folk music, and Irish folk music that we have heard in class. American folk songs and Irish folk songs both appear to have a simple melody and rhythm and both seem to be always telling a story. I think this relates to our discussions in lecture about diaspora and the fact that Irish immigrants were migrating westward into the Appalachian Mountains at the same time that African-American and white settlers were and I think their music merged in many ways. Another similarity I see between Irish folk music and this form of American folk music is the fact that they both seem to express nostalgia and a sense of pride in one’s culture and heritage. Everyone seems to be looking for something to relate to and connect to and these folk songs seem to be a link between the past and the present for everyone, including us listening to them today.

John Carson- John Henry

In Fiddlin’ John Carson’s recording of John Henry, there is a short filddle intro at the opening of the song. Each stanza is five lines, the first two being part A, while the last three are A¹. The difference between the two parts is that in A¹, the last line is a repetition of the previous line sung. This is the form for every stanza, and the melody repeats itself for each one. In terms of form and melody, the song does not change, while the tempo, however, does. At the start of the song, the tempo is slow to moderately paced. Throughout the tune, the speed picks up, until the end is played at a tempo much quicker than what it was at the beginning. This change in speed could be symbolic of a train, like one in the song, which gets faster once it gains momentum.

The recording is old and raw. The only instrument accompanying John Carson’s voice is that of a violin or ‘fiddle.’ Carson’s voice is rugged, rough, and sometimes off-count with the fiddle playing. This, along with the simple instrumentation, contributes to the authentic tone of the song.

casey jones

the Greatful Dead rendition of early 19th century blues song “Casey Jones” takes the music of a classic american psychedelic rock band and uses the traditional lyrics as a metaphor to some of their own inside drug problems. the diffenence between the origional and the rendition of “casey Jones” shows the evolution of human culture over time and how our modern society interprets traditional ideas. the idea of “authenticity” is practiced through a completely different version of the original song, different playing style, and different meaning. we are able to see a strong insight into the 60’s and 70’s drug counterculture and get a good feel of a period of time in which we werent around for. 

The song itself has a rather upbeat and funk sound to it, however, it does cover a more serious and deep issue of particular band members addicition to cocaine and uses metaphors such as,  “lady in red” signifying an idea of stopping or a red light, and “watch your speed” hinting to make sure one is not overdosing on cocaine. Certain words are stressed more than others revealing more personal messages and intentions conveyed through the song. while the tempo of the song stays consistent for awhile, the end of the song speeds up signalling trouble is in fact coming if a change does not come soon.  

ESSAY for UNIT 1

A comparison to Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” to Kurt Cobain’s rerecorded version in 1993 MTV Unplugged.

The song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” was originally sang by Leadbelly back in the 1870’s and was later rerecorded by Kurt Cobain in the 1990’s, the same lyrics but a different melody. The song is described to have “great harmonies, very emotional, and the perfect song for simple people” (7). Leadbelly, a murderer and ex-prisoner, didn’t have very much success with the African audience but was liked by the white people. The white audience found that his lyrics were primitive, to keep it real and “rebel against commercial expectations” (2). His experience in prison provides a legitimate idea that all his songs came from his heart and soul thus eliminating the image that he’s fake. The song “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” has become popular within the white community and described to be folklore that has been passed down from generation to generation because it’ something people believed was a song that open doors to artists to have a authentic image in the media. The song doesn’t make people want to swing but the storyline, its simplicity and authenticity, attracts the audience.

The song is about a girl who hides in the pines because it is dark and isolated. Her husband was just killed by train but his body was never found. The girl wants seclusion from the world because of her husband passing away, the pines alludes to her feeling inside. The pines, where the sun doesn’t shine, reveals her sadness and fear of what the world out there has for her, now that her husband is gone. The pines are not very comforting to her because the cold wind blows and she shivers. Audiences perceive this to be authentic because it was native to Leadbelly’s life. This is my perception of the song; the girl’s behavior is Leadbelly’s experience in prison. After Leadbelly murders the man, he goes to prison that parallels to the characteristics of the pines. Prisons are dark, secluded, the sun doesn’t shine, the cold walls/floor with a very think blanket, and Leadbelly shiver through the night. Leadbelly’s storyline captures the audience attention because at this time, there’s the need to hear an artist that represents authenticity. And John Lomax thought, what is more authentic than a person that has experienced the tragedies of life, a prisoner who sings about freedom with the advantage that Leadbelly’s mind has not been tainted by the expectations of recording industries to popularize music.

Leadbelly sang the song with a calm melody; it is enticing to an audience that wants to be comforted by the tragedies of life. Leadbelly asks the girl, “Tell me what happened down there?” The tone of the song is friendly and Leadbelly reaches out to girl without frightening her. But the lyrics of the song sounds impersonal because he says “black girl” instead of “my girl.” Leadbelly uses black girl because racism was very much prevalent in the 1800’s and the use of black girl might be a reference to the need of freedom for all black people enslaved by the white ruling class. Although the use of black girl perceives to be impersonal because it’s a broader idea of any girl, not “my girl,” in Leadbelly’s opinion, it sounds personal because of the race situation at the time. I feel that the calm melody doesn’t dramatize the storyline because there’s a balance in the song. The storyline stands by itself intense and exaggerating the melody to the same level of intensity as the storyline takes away the essence of the whole the story, a sad girl who is scared.

Very much influenced by Leadbelly’s authenticity, Kurt Cobain also felt the need to project a genuine image for his audience. Although he didn’t murder anyone or spend decades in a prison, he experienced an unpleasant childhood, suffered from drug use and health problems. Kurt Cobain felt the need to please his fans that believed he was the “real thing in the fake business” (5) and audiences are attracted to artists that portray the real conditions of their life. He wanted project a real image before he received all the fame, his authentic behavior and characteristic. Cobain reused Leadbelly’s “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” because of its primitiveness. But Cobain changed all the chords from major to minor, slowed down the tempo, and changed very few words. The idea was to exaggerate the sadness of the girl and in a sense to make it more powerful. By forcing on the high notes to the song, Leadbelly’s original version becomes more obsess with the girl’s sadness towards the husband’s death and in a sense, when he screams the words at the end, it sounds scarier than it should be. And Cobain was consumed with the ideas about “death and grisly subjects” (7).

The change of chords gives the song more life to it instead of the mundane melody of Leadbelly’s version. Recreating the sound to make it a rock song modernizes the song to the current era. There is still a trace of Leadbelly’s idea of a calm atmosphere to the song and after singing all the verses, he repeats the “first sotto voce and raises his voice an octave” (8). To some people this might have been a major change that made the song much better than its original version. It becomes more emotional and heart felt and the use of my girl also says that the girl is someone close to him. Cobain accomplishes the authentic image through this and his other songs, but he died for the cause. I personally think both versions are great and reveals two different emotions, one being a very comforting and friendly idea and the other, overwhelmed with emotions (which is a good thing in Cobain’s version). But as far as being authentic to please the fans, I think people stop being real when they feel the need to please the fans. To some extent, artists stay true to themselves but once an artist experiences the fame and luxury of the media hype, that realness is altered, for popular musicians it’s inevitable not to change.

Contrast Between Mississippi John Hurt and The Grateful Dead

  After listening to the four renditions of “Casey Jones” then two that I found to have the most interesting contrast were that of Mississippi John Hurt and The Grateful Dead. In “Casey Jones” by Mississippi John Hurt the lyrics expression the desperation of poverty. There is no way to freedom and no hope of success in the future for many impoverished people. There are feelings of being eternally stuck and of desperation that are expressed by Mississippi John Hurt. This is especially clear in the line “you’re gonna draw a pension after daddy’s dad”. Casey Jones’ wife is so desperate for money to support her family that she sees a positive light to her husband’s death in the fact that there will be a pension. 

The version of “Casey Jones” by The Grateful Dead expresses a completely different source of desperation through the change of its lyrics. In this version Casey Jones is used to portray the troubling affects of drug addiction. This is expressed in the line “got two good eyes but you still don’t see”, which shows the drastic altering of the mind through drug abuse. Not only is there a variation in lyrics between the two songs, there is also a variation in rhythm. While Mississippi John Hurt creates a more bluesy folk sound, The Grateful Dead create a more rock and roll folk sound. 

Mississippi John Hurt's Casey Jones

Mississippi John Hurt’s version of “Casey Jones”, recorded in 1928, is an acoustic folk version of this early 19^th century song, in which Hurt uses repetition in melody, and the style of strumming of the guitar to define the song as folk.  As the lyrics of the song progress into a much more dramatic and depressing story, the melody of the song remains the same as does the tempo and rhythm.  When it is discovered that Casey Jones has died, the tone in Hurt’s voice seems to only speed up slightly but otherwise shows no change in emotion, and gives off a somewhat apathetic feel. His wife tells her children “Hush, your mouth I said, and hold your breath, you’re gonna draw a pension after your daddy’s death”. This statement provides the children with no condolences for their father’s death, instead she is completely overridden by the materialistic gain rather than the emotional loss.

Casey’s story gives light on the time period in which it is written, since it was recorded in the midst of the great depression. The pension left by Casey would provide their family with finances to make their lives easier. I think that Hurt’s was purposely writing such a depressing but realistic song to force people to look at themselves, and how money was affecting their lives and their relationships. The end of the song repeats the beginning, which I think is meant to reiterate that he was a simple and brave man.

 

Bill Murray's Casey Jones

The form of Billy Murray’s 1912 version of Casey Jones is instrumental intro, A, B, instrumental, A, B, instrumental, A, B, instrumental, A, C. I’m not sure if that’s correct, but it’s a combination of instrumental segments with repeating forms of A and B. The melody of the song stays consistent, with the instruments accompanying the vocals through out the song. Murray sings the song in a way that makes it clear he is telling a story, which he emphasizes by changing his voice when singing certain words. Also, the chorus seems to be at a bit of a slower pace than the verses. The tempo of this version of Casey Jones seemed to speed up and slow down during different parts, and the emotion conveyed by the singer was neutral throughout the song in that it didn’t really change much, even when singing about Casey Jones’ death.

Casey Jones Murray 1912

The 1912 recording of Casey Jones, by Billy Murray brings the listener back to a time before guitars and loud amplifiers, and before people went to watch stories in movie theaters. This is clear from the opening seconds when you hear horns followed up by a high pitched voice. From there the structure of the song’s stanzas goes into an AA’B structure. The chorus repeats the words that are in the previous stanza two times, once through the singer’s voice and the other time through an actual chorus’s voice. What’s strange is that through the song the format of the chorus changes. The first time it is Murray singing, followed by the chorus singing what he sang, the second time it’s the chorus singing followed by the chorus singing the beginning of the sentence with Murray finishing it. Then it goes back to the original format for the chorus and the very last chorus is the opposite of the second with Murray starting the sentence but the chorus finishing it.

            The meaning of the song is confusing to me, the opening line says it’s about an honorable man yet the closing says the family will have a new ‘papa’. So does this mean that the family didn’t care about Mr. Jones or is it something deeper about how train engineers died frequently from accidents and Mrs. Jones had fallen victim to this before? I also don’t understand why the structure of the chorus constantly changes throughout the song.

 

Mississippi John Hurt's Casey Jones

Mississpi John Hurt’s 1928 rendition of the song “Casey Jones” tells the story of engineer Casey Jones who dies in a train accident. The song maintains a fairly consitstant form such that each verse follows the same melody. The speed is slow but manages to pick up as Casey Jones’ death is announced to his family. This possibly reflects the racing hearts as his family heads to town to see if indeed Casey is dead. This subtle, yet effective, way of adjusting the tempo of the song influences the feeling listeners get. In this case, as the horrible news is broken to Jones’ family, and hearts begin to quicken in a distraught panic, the song reflects this.

However, while the tempo is being used to try and affect the listener’s emotion, when dialogue appears between Casey’s wife and kids, John Hurt doesn’t let the emotion of the lyrics show in his singing. It seems somewhat counterproductive to speed up the song to build tension and emotion yet balance it off by showing no change in emotion as the mother breaks the news of her husband to their child. Nonethless, the song ends with a  repeat of the first verse and in essence presents Casey Jones as a hero. Casey Jones lived in the world as a brave man and left the world the same way.

 

Casey Jones

The song “Casey Jones” by John Hurt hints at the life of the slaves. The author for this song tries to describe that the slave’s job is a tough position. This song describes slave’s lives and its described as tougher than a normal occupation. The song shows a lot of emotions and sympathy towards the slaves. Later on Casey’s death becomes of an advantage to the family since they have very little money to survive off of. In the song the author describes that the woman normally have to have many children with different husbands because the men usually die throughout the strenuous workload in the plantations. 

Throughout the song, one can mostly hear the guitar. The chorus gives us a feel of what is it like to be on a plantation or a factory during those times. Music is always a way to let out emotions and the slaves would often do this. The melody is pretty simple and is consistent throughout the song. The rhythm is the same as well. There are some instances when the music tempo speeds up at certain events. One can hear the high pitches of the singer throughout the song. The singer tried to demonstrate that there were two people who were conversing in this song, so he changed his pitches. This appears to be a song that one can dance and sing along too as well. 

"John Henry" by Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie’s version of the song “John Henry” is not very complex. The rhythm, instruments, and melody are steady and consistent. The verses seem to follow an A or A’ form. This allows the listener to focus more directly on the story’s lyrics. There was also foreshadowing at the beginning of the song, the lyrics, “picked up a hammer in his little right hand said, ‘hammer be the death of me’”. These lyrics set up the ending of the story/song, the death of John Henry. The song describes a man’s competitiveness and fear of being replaced with the technology of the steam drill. This reflects the competition between the working classes, such as the competition between Irish-Americans and African-Americans.

John Henry sounds like a mixture of folk and blues styles, because the song is simple and there is a story it. The guitar is an accompaniment to the singing, the strumming not multi-layered. The simplicity  There is also a lot of repetition in the song, of both lyrics and sounds. The tone is somewhat melancholy  although upbeat. The song has a bit of tragedy in it, like some of the folk music we listened to in class. This makes it seem more “authentic” or relatable.