The Long Black Veil: There's a Man Who Walks Beside Me...

There's just something about sin and guilt. Nathaniel Hawthorne touched upon this American predilection in his short stories, "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Young Goodman Brown." These themes are also often explored in American music.

"Americana" is the name given to a genre of music that is uniquely American. It is equal parts rock and roll, blues, country, soul, rhythm and blues, folk, and jazz. One of the very first groups to be recognized as Americana is The Band.

Yes, that's their name: The Band. They also happen to be my favorite band of all time. Their rise to fame actually began in Somers Point, NJ. During the summer of 1965, the Canadian group (sans singer/drummer and Arkansas native, Levon Helm), then known as Levon and the Hawks, was hired as the house band at Tony Mart's, a music club in Somers Point.

http://www.tonymart.com/memory-lane-1965.htm

As you all probably know, I love--LOVE--Bob Dylan. In 1965, Bob, then a hero of the acoustic folk genre, decided to go electric, and he was looking to find a backing band fluent in high-volume, electric blues. Fate intervened, and members of Levon and the Hawks soon found themselves auditioning in New York City, and the rest is rock and roll history.

Levon and the Hawks eventually became The Band, a joke name of sorts (No artist name is listed on their debut LP, and their first proposed name--"The Crackers"--was shot down by their label).

Their debut album, Music From Big Pink, contained a rendition of a classic country song initially made famous by Lefty Frizzell: "The Long Black Veil.

The song explores guilt, shame, and all of that emotional, Puritan baggage that is just so American.

Ten years ago on a cool dark night
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me

The judge said "Son, what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else then you won't have to die"
I spoke not a word although it meant my life
I had been in the arms of my best friend's wife

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

The scaffold was high and eternity neared
She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones

While we are on the subject of American music, let us also consider a true icon: Johnny Cash. Here is his "theme" song, "The Man in Black."

                                 

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,

Why you never see bright colors on my back,

And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.

Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,

Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,

I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,

But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,

Or listened to the words that Jesus said,

About the road to happiness through love and charity,

Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,

In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,

But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,

Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,

For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,

I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,

Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,

Believen' that the Lord was on their side,

I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,

Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,

And things need changin' everywhere you go,

But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,

You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,

And tell the world that everything's OK,

But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,

'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

Current songwriters continue to write about the disparity between public perception and private personal guilt. Here is a song from 2013 from one of my favorite songwriters of all time (Yes, this is a plug! His album, Southeastern is my favorite record of 2013 by a country mile.): "Live Oak" by Jason Isbell:

There's a man who walks beside me

It is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him 

and confuses him with me

And I wonder who she's pinin' for

on nights I'm not around

Could it be the man who did the things 

I'm living now?

I was rougher than a timber 

shippin' out of Fond du Lac

When I headed south at 17 

ol' sheriff on my back

I never held a lover in my arms or in my gaze

So I found another victim every couple days

But the night I fell in love with her

I made my weakness known

Through the fires and the farmers diggin' dusty fields alone

The jealous innuendos of the lonely hearted men

Let me know what kind of country I was sleeping in

Well you couldn't stay a loner 

on the plains before the war

My neighbors had been slightin' me 

I had to ask what for

Rumors of my wickedness had reached our little town

Soon she'd heard about the boys I used to hang around

We'd robbed a Great Lakes freighter,

killed a couple men or more

And I told her her eyes flickered like the sharp steel of a sword

All the things that she'd suspected 

I'd expected her to fear

Was the truth that drew her to me when I landed here

There's a man who walks beside me 

he is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me

And I wonder who she's pinin' for

on nights I'm not around

Could it be the man who did the things 

I'm living down?

Well I carved a cross from live oak 

and a box from shortleaf pine

Buried her so deep 

she touched the water table line

I picked up what I needed 

and I headed south again

To myself I wondered 

would I find another friend

There's a man who walks beside her, 

it is who I used to be

And I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me.

Your Task:

• Select one of the aforementioned songs. 
• Explain how the song is similar to the short story "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Young Goodman Brown." 
• Discuss the themes of "The Minister's Black Veil" and "Young Goodman Brown" and the theme of the song you select. 
• Support your response with references to both the song and the story. 
• Be original! Your response should consist of your thoughts and your feelings. 
• Your response should be approximately 250 words in length (500 max). 

Young Goodman Brown

"Young Goodman Brown"

The Story: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rebeccal/lit/238f11/pdfs/YoungGoodmanBrown.pdf

The Questions: https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/study/301_Hawthorne_Goodman.html

• Respond to the "Reading Questions" and the "Food for Thought" items.
• Your responses must be typed and a copy must be turned in on Monday, Nov. 3.
• Yes, I stole this from a college professor's page. 

Once we finish with our buddy, Nate, we will read a Stephen King short story inspired by "Young Goodman Brown": "The Man in the Black Suit."

Here's some Dylan for good measure!

So, a question has already risen: Why does Goodman have this mysterious appointment in the woods?

Hawthorne's contemporary, Herman Melville, felt that Hawthorne was as deep as Dante.

Yo, that's deep as hell.

Is it fair to assume that "Young Goodman Brown" is an allegory in the same vein as The Inferno? You decide.

14:57

Duality, America, and the Second Week of October

"What is your solution?" Affleck asked of Maher and Harris. "Just condemn Islam? We've killed more Muslims than they've killed us by an awful lot."

On Friday night, actor, political activist, and future Batman, Ben Affleck, appeared on the HBO program, Real Time with Bill Maher. The host and the actor got into a heated debate regarding Islam, and the United States' role in addressing the issue posed by the terrorist group, ISIS.

You can all decide whose viewpoint you agree with more, but the Affleck comment listed above, got me thinking about The Crucible and our on-going discussion of duality.

Affleck's comment reflects the duality of America's role as a foreign policy interventionist. Put simply, our actions overseas have two sides.

• To some, our nation acts in defense of democratic principles and freedoms.

• To others, our acts of war kill innocent civilians and further destabilize nations.

In The Crucible, duality--moreover the rejection of the concept--fuels the hysteria and violence of the witch trials. Miller was onto something: when Americans are not willing to accept, discuss, and debate human duality, things seem to deteriorate rather quickly.

Ah, progress.

This week, we will continue our ongoing discussion of Puritanism and duality.

• As a class, we will read aloud and discuss Act IV of the play. I'm hoping to finish by Friday.
• Independently, you will be responsible for reading the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, "The Minister's Black Veil." The short story must be read and the accompanying questions must be completed by Friday, October 10th.
• Copies of both the story and the questions will be distributed tomorrow (10/7)

Momentarily, let us leave behind our discussion of the Puritans and the Massachusetts Bay Colony and discuss another region of the United States: the American South.

I am a longtime fan of Athens, Georgia's own Drive-By Truckers, an independent, smart, and raucous rock and roll band fronted by the one and only Patterson Hood.

Patterson is the second guy from the left.

For nearly 20 years, Patterson and crew have been writing songs about the complexities, intricacies, and contradictions of the south. Patterson has spent a good portion of his career attempting to rectify his own progressive politics with his love of a land that ofttimes stands directly opposed to his views.

Recently, Patterson wrote an essay about this complex relationship for the website, The Bitter Southener, entitled, "The New(er) South."

Patterson even coined a term for this relationship: "the duality of the Southern thing."

In a song written from the perspective of the devil, Patterson fully explores this "duality" by examining the lives of three great Alabama Icons: Ronnie Van Zandt, Bear Bryant, and George Wallace.

"The Three Great Alabama Icons"

Puritans, Batman, and rock and roll in one post? Yes! We did it! Ah, America.

Batman is pensive.

Your Task:

• Explain what you think Patterson means by "the duality of the Southern thing."
• Reference both the song and the essay in your response.
• If you're really stuck, explain why you feel that Patterson believes George Wallace is deserving of hellfire.
• Discuss your own views regarding America and duality.
• Explain why duality plays such an extensive role in defining the idea of America.

Your response must be posted to the blog before class on Thursday (10/9).