In “Hard Times Killin’ Floor Blues, Skip James uses words such as “hard times” and “hard killin”, I notice that life back then in the early 20th century for people of different races especially African Americans during that time period. I also notice that Skip James uses words such as “Lord” and “heaven” which relates to religion. Blues was a popular music genre and which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s by African-Americans which got its influence from cultural roots in African musical traditions. Skip James talks about the African American experience to be simpler and ‘easier’ compared to this era of life and music. In the song, when Skip James said that “Lord, I’ll never get down this low no more.”, I visualise him to be a slave, being treated poorly and being on the “old hard killin’ floor”.
