The Musical Culture of the South

The artifact that that offers a representation of the South is the song, “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohen. Marc Cohen grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and wrote this song after his first visit to Memphis. He was amazed by the way that the southern culture was expressed through music. This song was released in 1991 when Beal Street was full of restaurants and bars that were based on the Blues culture which was created by African-American community. He refers to Sun Records where many famous rock and blues songs were recorded.

Marc Cohen introduces a representation of the South through his own travel experiences. Since I have never lived in the South before, all of my opinions about how the South is like are based solely on movies, songs, and places that I have traveled to. Through my experiences, I think that this song’s representation is accurate. Beal Street is still a popular street where the culture of the Blues is preserved. I first heard this song two years ago when I was traveling through several southern states on a school trip. I visited Beal Street and Elvis’s house, and this song describes the emotion, history and culture in these places exactly as I felt when I was there. Marc Cohen mentions W.C Handy and Elvis Presley who are both famous and important figures in the musical part of the southern culture. The Blues represent the struggles many African American’s faced in the early history of the South. Through my studies at school I have learned that African Americans greatly influenced the way that the South is today and it is important to look at the history to understand what the South is about. Furthermore, the part of the song where someone asks Marc Cohen, "‘Tell me are you a Christian child?’ And I said ‘Ma'am I am tonight’” is significant because it represents the South as a religious place. I think that this is accurate in many places in the South. I lived in Massachusetts before I came to college and I noticed that the Church is a bigger part of families’ everyday life in the South than it is in many places in the North. This song represents the South as a spiritual, calm, and religious place full of inspiration.