...Jon Michael Spencer Copyright © 1994 by Duke University Press 1994 If I Make My Bed in Hell [on Michael Spencer Whither shall I go from the spiriU or whither shall I fl_ee from thy presence~ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. -Psalm...

... verse summarized, God made Adam sick but then made him well; "you know by that," sang Arnold, "the big boy's coughing in hell." Tommie Bradley, in his "Adam and Eve," also parodied the perceived sexual theme in the socalled "temptation" narrative. He sang, "Adam said to Eve, 'you been so cute, you...

...! Say, "Whatcha say there J.C Say, "How much is it to go to heaven?" My Lord told him, say, "One dollar." He say, "Well, can I pay you Saturday?" He say, "Naw, go on back down yonder to hell." So he messed up; he had to go to hell! (IIo-11) What explains the obvious stereotyping in favor of the white...

... singers reflect both on the cause of evil (e.g., "reaping what you sow11 and "the work of the Black Sacred Music 3:2, Fall 1989. Copyright © 1989 by Duke University Press. CCC ro43-9455/89/$1.50. JS BlodcSIIINIIMusk devil") and on the nature of suffering (e.g., ''evil" and "hell and that as a response...

... world and you shall know, How you was save' from in dis sword. I strove indeed but I could not tell, How to shun de gates of Hell. What to do I did not know, I thought to Hell I would surely go; I look' dis way and <lat to fly, I try salvation fo' to buy it; I pray in de Eas' and I pray' in de Wes...

... Anderson, who sojourned from Ohio, there existed a kind of vicarious dialogue between the two. That is to say, the people Anderson described in his writings as demented by having lived in the city (Chicago brought out the Al Capone in everyone) are the very ones who consequently gave black folks hell...

..., on the Solid Rock, Is the Church of the Living God, The gates of hell can never prevail, For 'tis built on the Solid Rock. 3 Built on the Rock, Rock revealed to Peter, It will stand every raging storm; Jesus the head, we the living body, We are safe from all earthly harm. 4 Built on the Rock, and 'Twill stand...

... of strong, black coffee. At the witnessing of these strange events, John Henry's father said his son was II gwine cause trouble fer wimmins and hell fer mens." It was John Henry who settled the matter by saying that he wanted to be a 11 steel drivin' man." Having "growed lak de risin' sun it must have...

...; Behold, 0 Lord, my deep distress, And haste to succour me. 3 Unworthy, yea I know it, Lord; Yet in thy strength I trust To help me stay this army come To slay me in the dust. 4 Yes, Lord, I was their captain once,1 raised this host of hell; On me, their leader, now they've turned With intent dire...

...; entertainment tradition, 75 racial theory, 44-45 Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 51 Raising Hell, 14 rap : beginnings of, 29, 52; and black issues, 16-1 7, 39; commercialization of, 17-1 8, 34-35 , 37-38 ; concerts, 15, 36-37; "dis 21; functioning of, 15 , 19, 23-24, 2829, 40; historicism in, 22-24; and literacy, 22...

..., stop and listen, Listen to the story about Jezebel, Her sins were wicked, Jehovah got angry, Her soul went a leaping and jumping down in hell , Way back yonder in olden days John told Jezebel about her ways. Your evil deeds have ruined the land, Repent, cause the Kingdom of God is at hand. She got mad...

... video channel MTV, and the first rap album (r987's Raising Hell) to go triple platinum (3 million copies sold). On Raising Hell, Run-DMC showcased the sophisticated technical virtuosity of its DJ Jam Master Jay-the raw shrieks, scratches, glitches, and language of the street, plus the innovative...

... straying from the Blood; Toward death and hell their feet are pressing, Fighting with a pardoning God . %The Apostolic Faith , Vol. I, No. 5 (Jan. 1907), p. 2. 21 22 The Journal of Black Sacred Music Oh! how dreadful is their station! Oh! how low in sin they lie! Come, my brother, have compassion, Look...

... for the men who work under him. As they say, "He don't never think nothing but hell!" Indeed, the figures about "de cap'm" are some of the most striking, for the cap'm is the Negro's nemesis. Another text about "de cap'm" goes: "Gonna do lak dynamite fuse/ Ef de cap'm don' mind!' The dynamite fuse is of long...

... helped Daniel in the lion's den, Jonah in the belly of a whale. You heard me when I cried from hell's door. I been crying here in this waste howling wilderness for many a year, climbin' up the rough side-a the mountain. I came unto my own Lord, an' my own received me not. I know there ain't no bears here...

... sockets in glory? Where were you when I spoke the word and the worlds were created? Where were you when I said, Let there be light, and light came forth? Where were you when I framed the human being in my own image? Do you know where I keep the treasuries of hell? Do you know where I store the wind...

... the black community to propel itself toward existential salvation, that can overcome disempowering, genocidal, hell-bent existence. 1. Manning Marable, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problem s in Race, Political Econom y, and Society (Boston: South End, 1983), 253. Black Sacred Music 5:1...

... the blues would surely put them." Certainly Lomax, as a modern, educated human being, does not believe that playing the blues would actually send Robert Johnson or any other blues singer to hell. Lomax is just playing along with the blues mythology because it is fun and part of the tradition of the old...

... was, reflects the ancient view that death is about a dreary life in the underworld, what we call Hades or Hell. Death designated something unknown for the Greeks. The dead were thought to protect the living from curses, but they also could put a curse on people for violating certain rituals and taboos. Life...

... is often tied to the fortunes of the rap group Run-D.M.C. Their short but important history has produced the first rap album to be certified gold (500,000 copies sold), the first rap song to be featured on the 24-hour music video channel MTV, and just recently, the first rap album-Raising Hell-to go triple...