Like a Bird: The Art of the American Slave Song

Like a Bird: The Art of the American Slave Song — page 5
hat does a bird have to do with American slave songs Harriet Tubman born into slaverv around 1820 used to dream that she was flying over the landscape like a bird Tubman successfully escaped in 1849 and later helped many others escape to the North Her dreams echo a phrase that appears in the Bible in Psalm 124 7 We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare The lives of enslaved Africans were extraordinarily difficult but they were not without song Africans brought their musical and religious traditions with them to the American colonies Whether working on ships or docks in forests or fields slaves sang The music helped them pace their movements lift their spirits and communicate with one another Music was important at other times too they sang together in their cabins and during private times of worship Slave owners had never heard such harmonies and syncopated rhythms Over the centuries thousands of enslaved people improvised songs to work by and songs to dance to As slaves slowly adopted the Christian faith of their masters their songs combined stories from the Bible with African rhythms These songs of worship are called