Language Through Music

One of the reasons why the songs in the playlist are so iconic is their use of language to capture feelings so emotively and powerfully. Language, as understood by both James Baldwin and Toni Morrison possesses the power to be a measure life and also create order from the disorder of life. Looking through the lens of both Morrison and Baldwin, there is overarching debate found within these songs. Despite spanning across different genres, the language used within these texts point to the struggle between how things are and how they are ought to be seen. This is done through three broad emotions: hope, anger, and pride.

The earlier songs of black protest songs evoking hope such as “Go Down Moses”, “Change Will Come”, “We Shall Overcome” and “Glory” use more general, abstract language. The phrases in them rely on biblical references and invocations of a rough life but the will to dream of a better future. We may not know what happens after overcoming racism, what the world looks like when change comes, or what happens when black people are free. Perhaps Baldwin is right, in that there is so much written on the pain and suffering of the African-American that prevents nuances and chances of possibility are ignored. Similarly, in her Tower of Babel anecdote, Morrison points out that the through the failure to incorporate or to articulate in other languages, the Babylonians could not consider the possibility that heaven lay beneath their feet.

In this way, songs of general hope do not allow for the language of anger. But the songs of anger address a valid problem: the black man is not free even after all the progress of the civil rights movement. In this instance, music is used to express frustration of unfulfilled promises. This is particular to more recent songs such as “This is America”, “Changes” and “Alright”, but even dates as far back as “Mississippi Goddam” and “Strange Fruit”. Unlike first group who used vague language, these songs are more comfortable naming instances of injustice. By naming them, describing them in detail with feelings of anger and disgust, they seek to rise above them just as Baldwin had done (as opposed to simply accepting their lot). The feelings which they expressed are not dissimilar to Morrison’s anecdote about empty hands. As opposed to mocking the older generation, the newer artists may genuinely demand answers from their elders in order to seek a wisdom they need, and they feel are being withheld from them by virtue of their age.

But, just as Morrison and Baldwin’s words say, there is room for language to be broad enough to articulate an array of sentiments and experiences in the creation of a distinct identity. One way to reconcile with how things are and how they should be is to see what is common to both: the shared history and struggle. From “Say it Loud”, “Respect” to “Redemption Song” moving into the present with “We are Here”, “Formation”, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”.  The language used in these are combinations of Ebonics, colloquialisms or even shared references which fuse together to the creation of a black identity. This act, in Morrison’s words, is a radical act because it fully utilizes language as a system, a controllable living being and an avenue for agency. Baldwin takes this further when he explains that through hurt and help, one creates a distinct artistic voice in an indifferent world. For him as an artist, he needed to know the historical context, the traditions of black expression – in short, he needed to unlock the Negro within him to be a good writer. And he can do that through language itself and the accumulation of language as a story.

There can be significant overlap between these three categories and neither a hierarchy of quality; each person would interpret a song differently. Like Morrison’s bird, language is in the hands of the people whether they use it to express the dream of a better future, frustrations with progress or simply their unique identity. Baldwin and Morrison understand the potential and malleability of language in expressing the wide range of emotions regarding the civil rights struggle, and they encourage us to do the same with our experiences. They teach us that through language “the way things are” can be infused with “the way things are supposed to be seen and vice versa.