The Enchanted Dagger

I liked the idea of Blind Willie speaking in the language and cadence of the blues…his words derived from those of the greats of the delta blues era.  This dialogue here is borrowed, almost verbatim, from a Smithsonian Folkways recording of Lead Belly from a song called “Relax Your Mind Blues.”  I thought it was a good fit for the story we’re trying to tell here and Lead Belly seems like he rolled pretty deep so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind my re-purposing it.

I’m happy to use the occasion of this page coming up to take note again of black music.  I mentioned the surprising cultural significance of the blackface minstrel on 19th century America on the last page.  Today we reject it out of hand because of its obvious racist overtones, but it’s worth remembering that those guys were really just ripping off black culture.  The history of American music, one of Americas greatest cultural successes equaled only by the moving picture – a global trend setter and leader for the last 150 years, through Ragtime, Blues, the Jazz era, Rock & Roll, Dj, and Hip Hop – has all been accomplished through the great creative catharsis of the African American.