Enough has been said to give a definite idea concerning the actual and possible origin of some of the negro folk-songs. Further examples will be given when the discussion of the negro’s secular song has been reached. The psychology of negro music and song is not difficult to explain in the light of the facts already suggested. His plaintive appeals in prayer, his emotional and religious nature, his primitive expression, his love of rhythm and melody, his feelings and misguided imagination, his interpretation of life and Scripture, his faith in dreams and visions quickly exaggerated into fabrications, his whole nature but reveals within him what we call the musical nature of the race. With the negro, motion and song instinctively go together. Systematic movement is more conducive to singing than a careless, haphazard motion. Movement and song give rhythm that is not to be found under other circumstances. Regularity and rhythm in movement, emphasis and rhythm in music, these give the negro songs essential pleasure-giving qualities that appeal strongly to the negro’s entire being. If his music is primitive and if it has much of the sensuous in it; if his songs and verse are full of primitive art having many qualities of possible worth, nevertheless they are not thereby rendered less distinct.
In no way can a better insight into the negro’s religion be obtained than by a careful study of his songs. An analysis of those songs that have been preserved will give us at once a better conception of his folk-songs and his religion. The references are reproduced in their exact forms in order that they may serve as an aid in the study of the verse contained in the common songs of the negroes from the time of slavery to the present day. Only the chief conceptions which have been portrayed in negro song are here given; further analysis may be made in connection with the songs themselves. The devil is prominent in the religious songs of the negroes. He is the constant terror and proverbial enemy of the race. He is alive, alert, and concrete. He represents the demon trickster incarnate in the form of a man. He is the opposite of God but always less powerful. He is the enemy against whom the battle is always on; it is a personal battle, but he is usually outwitted or disappointed. Here are some pictures of “Old Satan” as found in the songs of the slave and the negro of to-day:[3]
Ef you want to see ole satan run,
Jes’ fire off dat gospel gun.
Ole satan is a liar an’ conjurer, too,
An’ if you don’t mind he’ll conjure you.
Other forms are
An’ if you don’t mind he’ll cut you in two,
An’ if you don’t mind he’ll cut you through.
Ole satan lak a snake in the grass,
Always in some Christian’s path,
or
If you don’t mind he’ll git you at las’.
Ole satan weahs a mighty loose ole shoe,
If you don’t min’ gwine a slip it on you.
Ole satan like dat hunting dog,
He hunt dem Christians home to God.
O shout, shout, de debbil is about,
O shut yo’ do’ an’ keep him out.
All de debbils in hell can’t pluck me out,
An’ I wonder what satan’s a grumblin’ erbout,
He’s boun’ in hell an’ can’t get out,
But he shall be loose an’ hab his way,
Yonder at de great reserection day.
I went down de hillside to make a one prayer,
An’ when I get dere ole satan wus dere,
O what you think he said to me?
Said, “Off frum here you better be.”
Old satan tole me to my face,
“I’ll git you when a you leave this place;”
O brother dat scere me to my heart,
I was ’feared to walk a when it wus dark.
I started home but I did pray,
An’ I met ole satan on de way;
Ole satan made a one grab at me,
But he missed my soul an’ I went free.
I tell you brother you better not laugh,
Ole satan’ll run you down his path,
If he runs you lak he run me,
You’ll be glad to fall upon yo’ knee.
We shout so fas’ de debbil look,
An’ he gits away wid his cluven foot.
Ole satan is mad an’ I am glad,
He missed the soul he thought he had.
What make ole satan hate me so?
’Cause he got me once an’ let me go.
Ole satan tole me not to pray;
He want my soul at jedgement day.
I wrestle wid satan and wrestle wid sin,
Stepped over hell an’ come back agin.
Ole satan tremble when he sees,
The weakest saint upon his knees.
Go ’way satan I doan min’ you;
You wonder, too, you can’t come through?
Oh brother, breth’ren, you better be engaged,
For de debbil he’s out on a big rampage.
I plucked one block out o’ satan’s wall,
I heard him stumble an’ saw him fall.
Ole satan thought he had me fas’,
Broke his chain an I’m free at las’.
I met ole satan in my way;
He say, young man, you too young to pray.
The devil tries to throw down everything that’s good,
He’d fix a way to confuse the righteous if he could,
Thanks be to God-er-mighty he can’t be beguiled,
Ole satan will be done fighting after awhile.
The negroes have many other phrases which they apply to satan and picture him in other relations. “Ole satan is a mighty busy ole man, an’ throw rocks in my way.” “What makes ole satan follow me so? Satan ain’t got nothin’ fer to do with me.” As a busy man he also has his “shield and sword”, not only gives trouble but gets into trouble. Says the negro: “I heard de debbil howlin’ when I come out’n de wilderness an’ I gib de debbil battle.” “Now stan’ back, satan, an’ let me go by ... why doan de debbil let a me be?” “Ole satan mighty busy, he follow me night an’ day. Ole satan toss ball at me, he think the ball hit my soul, the ball for hell an’ me for heaven.” “Ole satan gettin’ in mighty rage”, for “satan’s camp’s afier.” “Satan mount de iron gray hoss an’ ride half way to pilot bar.” But “We’ll shout ole satan’s kingdom down, gwine a pull down satan’s kingdom, gwine a win ag’in de debbil.” Victory is the negro’s for he exclaims: “I saw dem bindin’ satan”, and “I saw ole satan’s kingdom fallin’.” But while satan is a great schemer and is very busy and “wash his face in ashes”, “put on leather apron”, his greatest attribute is the liar. The negro cannot give too insistent warning:
When I got dere Cap’n satan wus dere.
Sayin’ “Young man, dere’s no use to pray,
For Jesus is daid an’ God gone away.”
An’ I made ’im out a liar an’ went on my way.
With these pictures and warnings the negro song gives a final bit of advice. “If you ain’t got de grace ob God in yo’ heart, den de debbil will git you sho’”, then the singer rests securely in the knowledge that he is filled with the grace that holds against the devil.