Tag Archives: african american spirituals

From my private collection: Wailing Wall: Song for Quin by Steve Prince

Posted on July 21, 2015 by

Two weeks ago my husband and I moved 400 miles down the East Coast from just outside Boston to just outside Baltimore. In our last few months as New Englanders whenever people asked us, “Where to?” our reply was oftentimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Western Art | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Ngarra Bura Fera” (Turn Back Pharaoh’s Army)

Posted on July 9, 2015 by

“Ngarra Bura Fera” is a Yorta Yorta adaptation of the African American spiritual “Turn Back Pharaoh’s Army,” which is in turn an adaptation of the two Jewish praise songs—one Moses’s, one Miriam’s—recorded in Exodus 15, following the Jews’ successful escape … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Stop making fun of “Kumbaya”

Posted on May 16, 2014 by

“Kumbaya” began as the sincere plea of a generation of African Americans for God’s intervention, but since entering popular culture in the 1950s it has become a metaphor of naive optimism or corny camaraderie and thus a term of derision, … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments