Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
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"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" (or simply "Sometimes I Feel") is a traditional Negro spiritual. The song dates back to the era of slavery in the United States when it was common practice to sell children of slaves away from their parents. An early performance of the song dates back into the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[1] Like many traditional songs, it has many variations and has been recorded widely (see partial lists of choral arrangements and covers below).
Superficially, the song is clearly an expression of pain and despair as it conveys the hopelessness of a child who has lost her mother. A subtlety in the lyrics, however, offers a measure of hope. The repetitive singing of the word "sometimes" in the song's melody line suggests that at least "sometimes" I do not feel like a motherless child.[2]
Although the plaintive words can be interpreted literally, they were much more likely metaphoric. The “motherless child” could be a slave separated from and yearning for his African homeland, a slave suffering “a long ways from home”—home being heaven—or most likely both.
Some of the musical structure of "Sometimes I Feel" was also employed by George Gershwin for "Summertime" the opening piece of the musical Porgy and Bess.[3]
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[edit] Choral arrangements
- A widely acclaimed arrangement was written by Harry T. Burleigh in 1918. [1]
- One recent arrangement was written by Gwyneth Walker for GALA Choruses. [4]
- Dimitri Tiomkin used the tune in a choral arrangement in Home of the Brave (film)
[edit] Covers
- Richie Havens used lyrical elements of this piece in an improvised song at Woodstock Festival in 1969 when he ran out of songs to play after being called back for multiple encores.
- Boney M. on their second album Love for sale (1977)
- Van Morrison on Poetic Champions Compose (1987), also on The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two (1993)
- Martin L. Gore, on Counterfeit e.p. (1989)
- Hootie & the Blowfish, on Cracked Rear View (1994)
- Tom Jones (accompanied by Portishead) on Reload (1999)
- Under the name Lucky Pierre, Aidan Moffat used an operatic sample of the phrase "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child" on the track of the same name from his 2002 solo album Hypnogogia.
- John Legend on Solo Sessions Vol. 1: Live at the Knitting Factory (2005)
- Wishbone Ash on Clan Destiny (2006)
[edit] External links
- Lyrics at negrosprituals.com
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Blue Gene" Tyranny, "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" article, All Music Guide
- ^ *Sweet Chariot: the story of the spirituals by Arthur C. Jones
- ^ Samuel Floyd, The Power of Black Music, Oxford University Press, 1995
- ^ Gwyneth Walker, (description of her arrangement)
