Un orage braille sur Los Angeles : racisme et invention musicale dans la Californie des années quarante
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: In 1947, the blues singer and guitarist Aaron “T Bone” Walker recorded “Call It Stormy Monday.” That song became a great success and was subsequently taken up by many other performers. Its simple lyrics describe the humdrum week of an ordinary Black person, with the music creatively combining the main Afro-American rhythms of the 1930s and 1940s. The work is innovative because of this synthesis. It (indirectly) denounces the living conditions of Afro-Americans in California and depicts the disillusionment of those who dreamed of an affluent society free of racism. In this sense, it expresses, although through a different medium, the same feelings found in Chester Himes’ early novels. “Call It Stormy Monday” convincingly exemplifies the use of the love metaphor in the rendering of social relations —a frequent occurrence in the popular songs of many countries.
Author: Denis-Constant Martin
Language: French
Topic: Music History and Culture
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2152608808