moorings.

No labor is ever so onerous that it can bar music from the soul of black
folk. This race sings at work, at play and in every mood. Visitors to
any army camp found the Negro doing musical "stunts" of some kind from
reveille to taps--every hour, every minute of the day. All the time the
trumpeters were not blowing out actual routine bugle calls, they were
somewhere practicing them. Mouth-organs were going, concertinas were
being drawn back and forth, and guitars, banjos, mandolins and whatnot
were in use--playing all varieties of music, from the classic, like
"Lucia," "Poet and Peasant," and "Il Trovatore" to the folksongs and the
rollicking "Jazz." Music is indeed the chiefest outlet of the Negro's
emotions, and the state of his soul can best be determined by the type
of melody he pours forth.

Some writer has said that a handful of pipers at the head of a Scotch
regiment could lead that regiment down the mouth of a cannon. It is not
doubted that a Negro regiment could be made to duplicate the "Charge of
the Light Brigade" at Balaklava--"into the mouth of hell," as Tennyson
puts it--if one of their regimental bands should play--as none but a
colored band can play--the vivacious strains of "There'll Be a Hot Time
in the Old Town Tonight."

The Negro's love of home is an integral part of his nature, and is
exemplified in the themes he plaintively crooned in camp on both sides
of the ocean. Such melodies as "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," "My Old
Kentucky Home," "In the Evening by de Moonlight," and "Swanee River"
recalled memories of the "old folks at home," and kept his patriotism
alive, for he hoped to return to them some day and swell their hearts
with pride by reason of the glorious record he made at the front.

The Negro is essentially religious, and his deep spiritual temperament
is vividly illustrated by the joy he finds in "harmonizing" such ballads
of ancient days as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Steal Away to Jesus,"
"Standin' in the Need of Prayer," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," "I
Wan' to be Ready," and "Roll, Jordan, Roll." The Negro is also an
optimist, whether he styles himself by that high-sounding title or not,
and the sincerity of his "make the best of it" disposition is noted in
the fervor he puts into those uplifting gems, "Pack Up Your Troubles in
Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile," "There's a Long, Long Trail,"
"Keep the Home Fires Burning," and "Good-bye Broadway, Hello France.