As Sonny took control the other musicians gathered around him and they seemed to be encouraging him on, saying amen every now and then, as if he were speaking some words they desperately believed in. In “Sonny's Blues” while the title character is playing, the narrator says that his brother's “fingers filled the air with life, his life” (Baldwin 183). Then he goes on to say something that something that has great significance. He says that within his life there is so many others. Sonny is not only playing for himself.
The songs or hymns lyrics “Tis the old ship of Zion...it has rescued many a thousand” (425) that the narrator hears outside his window as he is about to search sonny’s room, relates to both the narrator and Sonny. This song relates to It relates, also, to the narrator because it saved the narrator from making a mistake that would have cost him the trust of his brother, who is trying to change his life. However, it is not until the narrator goes to see Sonny perform, in which he plays Am I blue, that the narrator understands his brother and his passion for jazz. He writes: “I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would
As he entered the house following the conclusion of the meeting, Sonny tries to explain to his brother, and for once you see the narrator actual listen and understand his brothers struggles. He enlightens him, “ her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes-when its in your veins.” He continues to tell is brother that it makes people feel in control, “It’s not so much to play. It’s to stand it, to be able to make it at all.” We realize deeper that this is the narrators understanding his brothers addiction to the piano, is a way to fight his addiction to
Although it seems to be a cold and dark place Harlem is well known for its music, and that is what filled Sonny’s life. Music is the one positive thing that Sonny did have to look forward to in his life even though his family may not have understood it. It took his brother many years and finally going to listen to him play to understand what he had been through and what his music was about for him. The older brother started out the story really not wanting to know what was going on with Sonny because I think of the guilt and pain it caused him to think about it. You can tell by his story that not being there in the most important times of Sonny’s life has left him with a lot of heartache.
Eugene Cooper English 1020 29 January 2015 Sonny’s Blues Analysis The Harlem Renaissance was a movement in the 1920s through which African-American musicians embraced black heritage and culture in American life. The author was concerned about his older brother being caught in the drug addiction of heroin and crack that had made the front cover of the daily newspaper. After receiving countless letters from his brother in prison, one day he is released from prison and comes to dinner at his house. A memory from their childhood days in Harlem starts to take a toll on this unnamed character. Flashbacks of his mother saying, “Watch over your brother”, and “Protect your brother”.
Hernando also features covers of R.L. Burnside’s songs and other classic Delta Blues material; this shows a genuine respect for the blues genre. Other than “Po Black Mattie,” N.M.A cover other Burnside songs including “Snake Drive” and “Goin’ Down South.” This is a video of the Allstars covering a classic Delta blues song called “Station Blues” at Bonnaroo 2004. Click Here. At the beginning of the video, it features dialogue from Luther Dickinson talking about being apart of a long tradition of blues music and that he’s “very proud to be apart of that tradition.” It is obvious in the video that the band has a genuine love for the music because
These hardships, including his mother’s death and a disastrous marriage, were transformed into the motivation that helped to evolve his musical thought. Generations of musicians are fortunate he continued his musical endeavors as the musical community can appreciate his struggles. His dedication and commitment are character traits I strive for in every aspect of my life. I feel influenced by each of his works whenever I perform them, and understand how difficult it must have been to create pieces of this magnitude. As I relate to his dreams through music, it influences me greatly.
The narrator is a high school algebra teacher making an attempt to be a model citizen living out the “American Dream” with his wife and their children. The narrator bought into the establishment, is veteran of the US Army, and gives out the perception that his life is in order and he has this act together. On the flipside, the narrator’s brother Sonny is a veteran of the Navy, but being veterans is all they seem to have in common. Sonny has lived his life numbing his the pain that causes him anguishes by wrapping himself in soothing blanket of heroin, using sweet China White to aid his music performances, evading the demons that continually haunted him. By comparison the narrator and Sonny’s initially appear to be very different in their ways.
Sonny’s Blues has a good moral about family and how it is the most important thing we have got. Being able to learn from mistakes is a very valuable lesson but it is easier to learn and move on with family by your side. Sonny is described in a common stereotype of the time, a stereotype that his own brother holds until the end of the story: the heroin-addicted jazz musician.
This is seen in the short story Sonny’s Blues, the main characters takes several attempts to understand one another and forget about their past. Sonny’s music, on the other hand, had a significant purpose in this story. The true meaning of Sonny’s music is that it redeems both Sonny and the brother. To Sonny the blues was a way to release his inner demons. It was something that