“I am here when the cities are gone. I am here before the cities come. I nourished the lonely men on horses. I will keep the laughing men who ride iron. I am dust of men.” — from “Prairie” by … Continue reading →
“Local draft board No. 4 in a district surrounding State and 35th streets, containing 30,000 persons, of whom 90 per cent are colored, registered upward of 9,000 and sent 1,850 colored men to cantonments. Of these 1,850 there were only … Continue reading →
This is the second part of a three part series. See also Part 1 and Part 3. Introduction In my first post this week, I introduced the bad man ballad “Duncan and Brady” and explored the historical origin of the song. We saw, … Continue reading →
This is the first of four posts on Child Ballad 243. The next three installments can be found here, here, and here. Well Met, Well Met What lengths will a singer go to in changing the song’s “facts” to keep … Continue reading →
“As our American culture advances, it may be that classes will take up the Frankie songs as seriously as a play by Molière or a Restoration comedy or the Provençal ballads of France….While the Frankie story deals with … Continue reading →
