Joey Student
Walsh
American Lit Period 9
15, January 2015
Title
(Author)
“Follow the Drinking Gourd”
Anonymous
Quote from
the
literature
(339).
“The old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom If you follow the drinking gourd”
The structure, tone and purpose of the spirituals from the mid nineteenth century together
Commentary
on the quote create a powerful effect. It is ingenious the way the songs are written to accomplish the purpose
of showing slaves the way to freedom, or, at least, to help to keep their hopes alive, while giving
them a way to vent some of their sorrow from generations of slavery.
In this song, “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” one can picture the Big Dipper as we still see it
today: a clear image in the nighttime northern sky. In that time it symbolically showed the way to
freedom, and it must have been a sign that evoked great emotion in all who looked at it. The
songs that grew out of that sorrow and pain eventually became American Blues and later
combined with other forms of White music to create Rock and Roll. So thus it is we have not only
an enduring natural sign from that time period, but a legacy of music that continues to evolve and
reflect the society of today, the way it reflected an important part of the American culture a
hundred and fifty years ago.
Illustrations