Songs of My Soul: Healing and the Black Music Tradition

In my senior thesis I utilize Black existential theory and ethnomusicological frameworks to explore ways in which Black people make meaning of their existence beyond an oppressive reality (an anti-black world) via music. I... [ view full abstract ]

In my senior thesis I utilize Black existential theory and ethnomusicological frameworks to explore ways in which Black people make meaning of their existence beyond an oppressive reality (an anti-black world) via music. I argue that Black music is a tangible manifestation of soul, a metaphysical abode and racialized spiritual essence specific to the Black experience. It serves as an outlet through which Black people acknowledge pain and oppression, cultivate hope and courage, and seek the “more than” (what Black being and existence mean beyond oppression). Thus, ultimately, Black music (and soul music, which is my genre of focus) creates space for healing because even if temporarily, it allows black people to transcend reality and achieve spiritual liberation. I focus on 60s and 70s soul music in particular (ex: Marvin Gaye’s 1971 classic “What’s Going On?” and Nina Simone’s 1971 cover of “Here Comes the Sun,” among others) to better understand soul at a period when the word soul and label soul music were officially etched in Black cultural lexicon and came into common usage.