odetta waterboy song meaning

She would fight for it using her best weapon.

a cappella and very softly, and the verses themselves ..."Harold Courlander - Negro Folk Music U.S.A. 1963 - Page 86 "In the cotton fields and the cornfields of the present time, as on the old plantations, the water carrier is in constant demand.

Water is needed, boy go get it.

Her classroom was wherever she decided to perform.The time it took to master each song wasn’t only for self pleasure, but also to ensure the message of the music was clear for the listeners, too.

She sang “I’m On My Way” from her debut album, Odetta once said, “School taught me how to count and taught me how to put a sentence together but as far as the human spirit goes, I learned through folk music.” Odetta kept up the tradition of schooling people through folk music on because she knew what was at stake. She grew up during the Great Depression and in the South, the combination would eventually fuel her affinity for work and prison songs. Oral history affirms prison and work songs are part of a traditional and spiritual practice that can be traced back to Africa. Water is as valuable as saffron on the field of a plantation, but I assume it's absence was as normalized as the sun rising and setting everyday.

Her performances throughout New York and California would eventually award her the opportunity to successfully produce her own albums and tour across the world.Odetta was drawn to the art of music when she was just a little girl. I … "Waterboy" (a.k.a. Some water calls such as "Water Boy, Where Are You Hidin'?" Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".

Lessons learned on the human spirit were too valuable to keep to herself. Her vocals cause her throat to expand and vibrate, the way railroad tracks do on hot days. Said as an order. After college she became part of the chorus of a travelling show called Finian’s Rainbow.One night after working the Finian show, she experienced a folk music session in a small coffee shop in San Francisco.

An important liberation song in the history of slavery and the civil rights movement is Water, Boy.

have come to be regarded as true songs, and may be heard on phonograph recordings. Odetta allowed this song to use her as a vessel to bring forth a message that change was needed.

Her love of folk music and quest for equality would get the attention of Martin Luther King, Jr. Odetta made her move to New York and became a headliner at Blue Angel, a famous nightclub in Manhattan. Numerous artists have written and/or recorded their own versions of this African-American traditional song, including The opening call to the "water boy" has been said to bear a resemblance to melodies found in classical works by Cui, Tchaikovsky, and Liszt, as well as a Jewish marriage song and a Native American tune.Sheila Tully Boyle, Andrew Buni Paul Robeson: The Years of Promise And Achievement - 2005 Page 147 "The work song, "Water Boy," is built around the cry for water of a gang of condemned and laboring men. Slaves sang this song ok the plantation, inmates past sang this some when they were put to work. While in California, a teacher witnessed Odetta’s talents and convinced Odetta and her mother to sign her up for classical training, the voice lessons landed her a spot in the singing group, Madrigal Singers. It’s somewhat extreme, but not farfetched, to call Odetta a perfectionist. She found a folk club in the city and sung folk and blues there until her departure in 1953. This moment fueled Odetta’s musical genius, she was so affected by that folk session that she eventually quit her job with the travelling show to stay in San Francisco. He referred to her as the queen of American Folk music. It is a slave work song, a somber reminder of the conditions black people were forced to live through.

The Songs you Forgot to Remember (New York: Halcyon House, 1926, p. 40.Spaeth, ibid.

And he can watch you getting wise And you go watch him growing old After high school, Odetta moved on to Los Angeles City College to study music.

The lyrics would pour out of her the way water spills out of cups. Odetta, don't you know That you saved this young man's soul?

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The music's exact history and timeline is murky given the facts we An important liberation song in the history of slavery and the civil rights movement is Today when this song is performed it is titled “Waterboy” instead of “Water, Boy” and I equate this to trying to soften up the history, but let’s not forget what’s true. Odetta accompanied him and 250,000 people on the March on Washington.

Robeson sang the refrain ( the water cry itself, "Water boy, where are you hidin'?")

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