Allen Feldman wrote:
> the singing of
> Oh Death, a black gospel song.
How do you come to this conclusion? The only source I know of for this
song is Dock Boggs, and his source is given by Mike Seeger in the notes
to the Smithsonian recording as having been Boggs' relative Lee
Hunsucker. Hunsucker learned it about 1930, but from whom is not given.
There is a photo of Hunsucker among the notes, and he seems as white as
they come. Similarly, it seems a bit of a stretch to call it gospel, as
there's no mention of any god, and the only supernatural figure is
Death. There is no attempt to make the invoked figure "the angel of
death", or the christianize the spooky message in any way.
Simon Ladell
--
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in
and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And
I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very
country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
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