Sociology of Music: Buffalo Soldier and 8th Light
Sociology of Music: Buffalo Soldier and 8th Light Music is a worldwide language. Different genres come from different parts of the world, crossing over time zones and seas to reach out to another group of people to shed light on things happening where it originated from. You can listen to songs to learn about other cultures and things that are going on in the world from the perspective of those who wrote the song. Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley which touches on the influence of blacks and how they shaped a land which was not their home and Astronomy (8th Light) by Black Star which is a song trying to figure out just what a “Black Star” or the collective strength of the black community can do, do just that.
The song Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley was from Marley’s final recording session in the year 1980. The song genre is Reggae which was first developed in Jamaica and has origins tied to many other genres such as R&B, Jazz, and Calypso. The song was released in after Marley’s passing in the year 1983. The lyrics describe a “buffalo soldier” which is defined as An African-American cavalry soldier in the heart of America which is the Midwest. The song says that this soldier (along with many others) was stolen from Africa which lets us know that Buffalo Soldiers were the product of the pattern of contact: involuntary immigration or slavery. The song goes on to say that the soldier was “fighting on arrival, fighting for survival”, this describes the soldier going through a survival of the fittest type of situation which Spencer defined as Social Darwinism. The soldiers were slaves taken from Africa brought over to America to do what “civilized” Caucasian Americans did not want to be involved in. The whole reasoning behind there being buffalo soldiers in the “heart of America” was that the African-American soldiers were sent out to rid the uncharted territory of the United States of the Native Americans who resided there. Songfacts.com stated that,” Marley gives a
The song Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley was from Marley’s final recording session in the year 1980. The song genre is Reggae which was first developed in Jamaica and has origins tied to many other genres such as R&B, Jazz, and Calypso. The song was released in after Marley’s passing in the year 1983. The lyrics describe a “buffalo soldier” which is defined as An African-American cavalry soldier in the heart of America which is the Midwest. The song says that this soldier (along with many others) was stolen from Africa which lets us know that Buffalo Soldiers were the product of the pattern of contact: involuntary immigration or slavery. The song goes on to say that the soldier was “fighting on arrival, fighting for survival”, this describes the soldier going through a survival of the fittest type of situation which Spencer defined as Social Darwinism. The soldiers were slaves taken from Africa brought over to America to do what “civilized” Caucasian Americans did not want to be involved in. The whole reasoning behind there being buffalo soldiers in the “heart of America” was that the African-American soldiers were sent out to rid the uncharted territory of the United States of the Native Americans who resided there. Songfacts.com stated that,” Marley gives a