Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society
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`<br />
DR Y L O N G SO<br />
<br />
food straight out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> can, uncooked and unseasoned. It also means to be without<br />
<br />
n out by poverty to <strong>the</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
Songs:<br />
Hear me tell you people, just before I go<br />
These hard times will kill you just dry long so<br />
Come on in M - Robert Johnson<br />
<br />
- Skip James (Nehemiah Curtis James)<br />
DUST M Y BR O O M<br />
Sweeping <strong>the</strong> house after dark is still considered impolite in some African American<br />
families. This tradition comes from <strong>the</strong> West African belief that one should be careful not<br />
to accidentally sweep out <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> house any benevolent gods or ancestral spirits who have<br />
come in for <strong>the</strong> night to watch over a sleeping family and protect it from evil spirits. 169<br />
On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, when you do have evil spirits in <strong>the</strong> house, sweeping <strong>the</strong>m out can be<br />
<br />
magic powder will sweep a house free <strong>of</strong> unwanted supernatural<br />
(and embodied!) houseguests.<br />
Perhaps this was what Robert Johns<br />
<br />
<br />
The black man you been loving, girlfriend, can get my room<br />
Was Johnson threatening to leave while actually preparing a hoodoo ritual to get rid <strong>of</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
no broom/I might get put<br />
<br />
In Yoruba culture, <strong>the</strong> god <strong>of</strong> terror and moral retribution, Obaluaiye, walks <strong>the</strong> earth<br />
ready to strike <strong>the</strong> arrogant and <strong>the</strong> immoral with disease. He carries a broom that he can<br />
use to conjure up smallpox (shoponnon). When his morals are <strong>of</strong>fended, he takes a<br />
whiskbroom with long fibers sprinkled with camwood paste and spreads sesame seeds<br />
(yamoti<br />
87