“I am going away to the Great House Farm!
O, yea! O, yea! O!”
This they would sing, as a chorus, to words which to many would seem unmeaning jargon, but which, nevertheless, were full of meaning to themselves. I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than the reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do” ( Douglass 13-14).
The slaves from the time in which Douglass was a slave were often caught singing throughout different areas of their life. To an ignorant ear the slaves singing seemed like cries for joy and happiness. In fact, even as a slave Douglass could not truly understand the singing himself. In the later years of his life Douglass grew an understanding of the songs and lyrics and uses his new understanding to help the reader understand themselves. Many of the slaves sung as a cry for help from God. The singing was an outlet from the horrible reality of the slaves. What was most important about the lyrics was how they told the truth about slavery and to any listener the understanding that what was going on (slavery) was cause for question of character.
Douglass speaks of tone when describing the signing of the slaves. How important is tone in understanding the mood and overall feelings in voice?
