Music Review // Oh Pray Tell "Poor Black Woman Blues"

 

If you're going to call your song "Poor Black Woman Blues" you better have a sound which is a good representation of the blues and Oh Pray Tell does just that.  To me, other than the feelings of it, the blues is about something that can be universally felt so it should be universally experienced.  In that sense, the way this song comes out is with some lighter strings, which sound like a ukulele or banjo perhaps but could even just be an acoustic guitar.  The percussion is the type that if you were to want to sing this song you could recreate by banging a trash can or stomping your feet.

It's just that idea where the most important aspect of this song is the vocals, filled with ooooooh's, that you could sing this song even without your instruments, so if you should happen to befall the blues.  This sound just has that type of rhythm where at times the music starts and stops in those beats and the vocals go right along with it.  This is the type of coordinated, powerful sound we need more of in music in present day.

Without getting too political, if you've been paying attention to the United States since its inception you'd likely note that the two types of people who have been most discriminated against are those who are Black and those who are women.   I simply cannot imagine the suffering and fear a Black woman must have at times, as you could face prejudice that's either racist, sexist or both.  Should you be able to understand what a Black woman might go through in their life simply for being a Black woman, you will begin to understand what the lyrics in this song are about.

My favorite part of this song is definitely the lyric which says: "What are we going to do?"  This is the real question.  It's not just about being the blues, but also it's about action.  It's about being treated and being seen as "less than" simply because you're Black, a woman or both.  During this music video, the women singing seem to be conjuring up some magic, but whatever needs to be done, it needs to happen sooner than later because I'm so tired of this patriarchy.