Other Work of Art !

Song
Black and Blue
By Louis Armstrong

Lyrics
Cold empty bed...springs hurt my head
Feels like ole ned...wished i was dead
What did i do...to be so black and blue
Even the mouse...ran from my house
They laugh at you...and all that you doWhat did i do...
to be so black and blue
I'm white...inside...but, that don't help my case
That's life...can't hide...what is in my face
How would it end...ain't got a friend
My only sin...is in my skin
What did i do...to be so black and blue
How would it end...i ain't got a friend
My only sin...is in my skin
What did i do...to be so black and blue


This song by Louis Armstrong truly embodies the full elements of what the Harlem Renaissance is. The lyrics show the struggle of a person who does not understand why he deserves to be treated differently. He doesn’t understand why it is that because of the color of his skin he is treated different. “Even the mouse ran from my house” I think that Armstrong is using a bit of humor here saying that even a mouse doesn’t want to be in the same place as him because he is black. When he says “What did I do to be so black and blue…” he doesn’t understand what he did to deserve such treatment. He suggests that he is just like everyone else except for the color of his skin and that he cannot hide the color of his skin: “that’s life…can’t hide….what is in my face.” Armstrong then goes back to the idea that he did not do anything to deserve poor treatment with this line “my only sin… is in my skin.” He is saying that they only thing he did wrong was to be black. The only reason why he is treated differently and the only reason why the “mouse ran from his house” is because of the color of his skin. The line “what did I do to be so black and blue” is again repeated as he contemplates once more what it is he did to deserve to be bruised with the color of his skin.
This song is related to the time period of the Harlem Renaissance. It was written and sang during the Harlem Renaissance and reflects the general feeling at the time. The song is a way to show the struggles African Americans went through just because of the color of their skin. This jazz song fits into the time period when African Americans turned away from European and white American traditions and made their own. They embraced their roots from Africa and traditions that were built during the times of slavery.