Extensions on a Black Musical Tropology: From Trains to the Mothership (and Beyond)

Abstract

This essay uses as its foundation the work of Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. in his article, “Troping the Blues: From Spirituals to the Concert Hall.” Whereas Floyd drew connections between the chariot of the Negro spiritual and the blues train, I extend this line of musical tropology into gospel trains, soul trains, and the mothership (as evoked by funk musician George Clinton). Through surveys and analyses of selected songs by artists from differing generations such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Gladys Knight, and Erykah Badu, I demonstrate how the verbal trope of the train has expanded over time and genres while also exploring various manifestations of freedom and liberation motifs as they surface in secular and sacred forms.

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