Singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves has so many great lines in his song set on New Year’s Day called “One Good Year,” which is from his excellent 2000 album Broke Down. In “One Good Year,” the singer facing hard times makes a simple request asking just for one good year to get his feet back on the ground, noting “I’ve been chasing grace / But grace ain’t so easily found.”
The song is both sad and hopeful at the same time. In the bridge, he notes “It’s a bitter wind / In your face every day;/ It’s the little sins / That wear your soul away.” But even with some sad stories in the news lately, all we can really hope for is that the next year is one good year.
What are your hopes for the new year? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On New Year’s Eve in 1862, people held in slavery in the American South waited to see if President Lincoln would fulfill a promise to issue an order of emancipation the next day.
First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln
On December 31, 1862, people held in slavery in the American South and black churches around the country awaited news whether President Abraham Lincoln would issue the final Emancipation Proclamation. He had issued a “Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation” on September 22 warning of the coming emancipation to the states in rebellion.
Thus, on December 31 as a nation waited for Lincoln to fulfill his promise, was born Watch Night.
The Emancipation Proclamation
The next day, on January 1, 1863, despite speculation to the contrary, Lincoln released the Emancipation Proclamation. The document technically only freed the slaves in the Confederate states fighting against the Union. But it sent a symbolic message to all of the nearly four million slaves. The message was that the war that began out of a battle to preserve the country would eventually bring an end to slavery.
The proclamation also told the public that the Union military could enlist blacks into the Union’s armed forces. In reality, many already had been serving in some capacities. (James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom, p. 563.)
The language of the proclamation is less poetic than many of our nation’s great documents like the Declaration of Independence, probably because the lawyer president knew it was a legal document written to have legal effect. Nevertheless, the meaning of words such as “forever free” in the following opening paragraph are beautiful:
“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.”
In the tradition of Watch Night, often there are scheduled events in the nation’s capital and around the country. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has hosted a midnight display of the Emancipation Proclamation along with other national documents and readings, songs and bell ringing. President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, where Lincoln started writing the proclamation, also has held special midnight events. The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in D.C. holds midnight services. In 2013, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled an Emancipation Proclamation stamp.
“Mary Don’t You Weep”
I have been reading John W. Blassingame’s excellent book about American slavery, The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South (1972). In the book, Blassingame tells how slaves created songs with coded messages. Several of their songs were about Egypt because the American slaves could sing about slavery from another time under the noses of the slaveholders.
The passage made me think of one of my favorite songs on Bruce Springsteen’s CD tribute to Pete Seeger, “Mary Don’t You Weep.” Hearing the reference to Exodus and the parting of the Red Sea — “Pharaoh’s army got drown-ded!” — has a different meaning when you think of slaves in the fields of the South singing the song. It is a song of uprising, hope, and freedom. And they got away with singing it.
The song is not about Jesus’ mother, but about Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead. “Mary Don’t You Weep” can be joyful, defiant, spiritual, comforting or all of those things combined. One of the most popular versions of the song was the version recorded by the Caravans in 1958.
Other Versions of “Mary Don’t You Weep”
The following version features Georgia field workers singing “Mary Don’t You Weep.” It was recorded around the late 1920s or early 1930s.
Thus, this version by the field workers is separated by decades from slavery. But you can still hear the connection of an earlier time. It’s beautiful.
In the video below, a young Aretha Franklin performs a short version of the song on Soul Train. In her more sorrowful version of “Mary Don’t You Weep,” which she had recorded on her 1972 live gospel album Amazing Grace, she plays down the defiance of the song and focuses on the comforting aspect.
“Mary Don’t You Weep” has been recorded through the years. It was popular during the 1950s and 1960s during the Civil Rights movement, when it also provided the music for another Civil Rights anthem, “If You Miss Me From the Back of the Bus.”
One of the most popular versions was by the Swan Silvertones. Lead singer Claude Jeter’s additional line in the song, “I’ll be a bridge over deep water if you trust in my name” inspired Paul Simon in writing his classic “Bridge over Troubled Water.”
So every New Year’s Eve, as you celebrate the incoming year and say goodbye to the last, take a moment to remember Watch Night and a time in midst of misery and war, when a nation found a great reason to celebrate a president’s promise fulfilled. And have a safe and happy new year.
Well, one of these nights around twelve o’clock, This old town’s gonna really rock. Didn’t Pharaoh’s army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don’t you weep.
What’s your favorite version of “Mary Don’t You Weep”? Leave your two cents in the comments. Heading Photo via: First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter (public domain).
Fontella Bass, who is best known for her 1965 hit “Rescue Me,” passed away at the age of 72 on December 26, 2012 in St. Louis. Bass, who had other hits, is best known for the song she co-wrote during a jam session with Carl Smith, Raynard Miner, and Phil Wright. Her recording of the song for Chess Records went to Number 4 on the Billboard pop chart and to Number 1 on the R&B charts.
Although one might think that having a great hit song would only be a source of joy, Bass had to fight over royalty rights to “Rescue Me” for decades. Initially, she did not have a manager and did not get much royalties from her hit song, instead making a living from her voice in commercials. Later, she had to fight to get some money for her record and among the settlements, she reached an agreement with American Express in 1993 after they used her song in a commercial.
There was an upside to the litigation around “Rescue Me,” as Bass explained in a November 1995 interview with The Tuscaloosa News. The American Express battle inspired her and earned her some money to come out of a low point in her life.
Aside from the litigation, Bass did not always get the recognition she deserved for her most famous song. Many mistakenly think Aretha Franklin is the original singer of “Rescue Me,” which I suppose is a complement for most singers. Franklin eventually recorded a version of “Rescue Me” for a 1992 Pizza Hut commercial where the chorus was instead “Deliver Me.”
Bass lived in Europe for awhile, leaving the American recording industry in 1969, but she recorded periodically. She had other more modest hits like “Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing” with Bobby McClure and other recordings like the very different funk and jazz-inspired “Theme de Yoyo.” She earned a Grammy nomination for a 1995 gospel album.
But it is “Rescue Me” that is mentioned in the first line of her obituaries. It is a great gift she gave to the world even it it was not always a gift to her. In the video below, she sings the song on Shindig! in 1965, before the years of litigation, not yet realizing she would never have such a song again.
As the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and the President are going down to the wire trying to avoid the dreaded “fiscal cliff,” here is a reminder how some folks can work together to overcome cliffs. In this video, Mandy Patinkin (who played Inigo Montoya) gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Cliffs of Insanity scene from Director Rob Reiner’s classic The Princess Bride (1987). In the video, Patinkin describes how the wonderful André the Giant helped Wallace Shawn overcome his fears.
If these guys can overcome the Cliffs of Insanity, I hope our politicians can handle a little Cliffs of Fiscal. What is your favorite scene from The Princess Bride? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I was sad to hear that Jack Klugman passed away this week on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, we also lost the excellent actor Charles Durning, whose many accomplishments include a memorable role in O Brother Where Art Thou? (2000), on the same day too. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Klugman is his great work in The Odd Couple (1970-1975). Apparently the show was on the minds of other people too, as after news spread about Klugman’s death, fans began going to 1049 Park Avenue in New York, the location of the apartment of Felix and Oscar. I remember watching the show regularly as a kid, and although the impetus for the storyline was the adult problem of divorce for the two men at the center of the story, a kid could easily relate to the humor the show found in the challenges of friendship.
Of course, Klugman did a lot of other great work in shows like Quincy, M.E. But when I think of Klugman my next thought after The Odd Couple is his great work in The Twilight Zone episode “A Game of Pool” (1961), also starring Jonathan Winters. In the episode that originally aired October 13, 1961,both Klugman and Winters, largely known for their comedic skills, show they can pull off drama just as well. Klugman’s character aptly illustrates the dream of being the best, as his character dreams of playing the greatest pool player of all time. But in the end, we also learn that with accomplishment comes its own kind of responsibilities.
Klugman also appeared in three other episodes of The Twilight Zone, including another memorable starring role in an episode touching on the afterlife, “A Passage for Trumpet” (1960). His other two episodes were “Death Ship” (1963), and “In Praise of Pip” (1963). According to Wikipedia, Klugman’s four appearances in the original series tie him with Burgess Meredith for most appearances. In this video clip, Klugman discusses series creator Rod Serling and his work in the series. Here is hoping that Klugman and Durning both find more peace in the afterlife than Klugman’s character did in “A Game of Pool.” What is your favorite work featuring Jack Klugman or Charles Durning? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves has so many great lines in his song set on New Year’s Day called “One Good Year,” which is from his excellent 2000 album Broke Down
, p. 563.)
(1972). In the book, Blassingame tells how slaves created songs with coded messages. Several of their songs were about Egypt because the American slaves could sing about slavery from another time under the noses of the slaveholders.
, she plays down the defiance of the song and focuses on the comforting aspect.
