When I come across a song reference not once, not twice, but three times, I take notice. This song is from 1929 and is the title of this blog entry: (What Did I Do to be so) Black and Blue?
Being a fan of Louis Armstrong, I was familiar with the song, but I did not expect to see it so often within the last few weeks.
My first recent reference came as I read Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Here are a couple of quotes:
I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those whohaunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I ama man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even besaid to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because peoplerefuse to see me.
I'dlike to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing "WhatDid I Do to Be so Black and Blue"-all at the same time. Sometimes now Ilisten to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloegin. I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and thevapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyricalsound.Currently I am reading The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia. There it was again. The tune writer was Fats Waller who wrote it for a show called Hot Chocolates in 1929. The song was sung by a woman who lamented that her skin was too black. Hence, she lost her lover.
Finally, I saw the song in the documentary Satchmo. See the blog entry for February 21, 2012.
When Louis Armstrong sang the song, it took on a much deeper meaning. It is certainly a statement on the conditions of African Americans at the time. Through Satchmo it became a Civil Rights song.
I could not let this coincidence go by without some kind of action on my part, so I have made a video of this song. In this Black History Month I hope it serves as a reminder that we must be ever vigilant and insistent that racism has no place in our society.
I hope you enjoy it.
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