An Introduction to America’s Music

334 PART 3 | FROM WORLD WAR I THROUGH WORLD WAR II

date: 1937

performer: Robert Johnson, vocal and

guitar

genre: country blues

meter: duple

form: strophic 12-bar blues

timing section text comments

0:00 intro A bar of high triplets (three notes

per beat), a bar of chromatic

descending notes, and a bar of

dominant harmony, creating a sense

of expectation.

0:06 stanza 1 I woke up this morning feeling round for my

shoes

Know by that I got these old walking blues, well

Opening couplet sung against even

beats in the bass strings of the

guitar.

0:17 Woke this morning feeling round for my shoes Slide used to give the subdominant

note vibrato in bars 1–2; bars 3–4

feature quiet yodeling fi ll on upper

strings.

0:26 But you know by that I got these old walking

blues

Subdominant and dominant notes

in the bass with strong vibrato, and

the yodeling fi ll reappears.

0:36 stanza 2 Lord I feel like blowing my old lonesome home

Got up this morning, my little Bernice was gone

Lord I feel like blowing my lonesome home

Well I got up this morning whoa all I had was

gone

Guitar accompaniment from stanza

1; in phrase 2, the vocal yodel on

“blowing” makes the following fi ll

sound like an echo of the voice.

1:05 stanza 3 Well leave this morning if I have to whoa ride

the blind

I feel mistreated and I don’t mind dying

Leave this morning I have to ride the blind

Babe I been mistreated baby and I don’t mind

dying

Raspier vocal timbre; phrases 2 and

3 have a new melodic fi gure on the

upper strings, emphasizing the blue

third.

1:32 stanza 4 Well some people tell me that the worried

blues ain’t bad

Worst old feeling I most ever had

Some people tell me that these old worried old

blues ain’t bad

It’s the worst old feeling I most ever had

Accompaniment reverts to the

pattern of the fi rst two stanzas.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• unusual distribution of lyrics over the three
  phrases of each chorus


• variety of vocal timbres and effects


• slide guitar

CD 2.17 Listening Guide 14.1 “Walking Blues”^ ROBERT JOHNSON

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