Poetry by Langston Hughes - The Weary Blues

[boriqua8993]

Anyone know the name of the jazz composition in the background as the poem is being read? It's beautiful.

[PoetryETrain]

Thanks this has been added to our playlists here, and on facebook...

[vparlant]

Callahan has the best recitation I've ever heard of this poem, and the video translation itself is superb.

[TrishaDowney]

I saw Ryan Cole's video on youtube "My Suicide" and loved it so much that I bought his album on amazon. I'm just in love with it now. Great poetry.

[MultiMrsmiley]

I Love it..... Love it......

[oakensmoke]

this is so good. i was translating Hughes into Hindi for a reading in Delhi. i was surprised by how his work retains its rhythm in a different language

[STUHP]

The music in this is so damn delicious. Lovin' the piano :D

[donhonki1]

"Donhonki" "First ever crown court banned uk rap-poet" (2009-2014) #SuperInjunction

[Chooify]

Does anyone know that this is Nasir's dad?

[msieurnicolas]

What an amazing orality ! Congrats to Dr. Allen Dwight Callahan for keeping this wonderful poem alive. "I got the weary blues and can't be satisfied"

[jimmymacnj]

really terrific video. thank you

[smokeydadj]

wish i could take a few bong rips with crazy cab.

[continuetodream]

I love this.

[jamaicangoodguy]

i'm so ignorant i never heard of this Langston  until today.

[julesthemadman]

Cool sweet jazz, cool sweet jazz

[2blakandbold]

Thank you for this video dear one, you know who u are!

[aFlipEdward]

Just gotta love Langston Hughes.

Anybody know the name of the song?

[Rodriguezx123]

nice poem

[IzzySpiffyx3]

THIS POEM IS BOMB. . IF I WROTE LIKE THIS I WOULD PASS MY ENGLISH CLASS WITH FLYING COLORS

[Jedermann101]

How unjust; oppressed in life, forgotten in death!

In the 60s in Argentina he was a hero, in the USA a Negro.

Recognition came late, but it did come.

Miguel

[oh4peetsake]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANGSTON HUGHES!!! What a great gift this video is....he would be so proud. Thank you.

[miztem]

Years ago, when I was a novice member of my HS Speech Team, Langston Hughes' poetry helped me advance to State Finals!

His words even more evocative today

Beautifully done. Thank you!

[vudu8ball]

beautiful and beautifully done.

[dreamkasts]

What fools would dislike this?

[quietstorm9421]

This is BEAUTIFUL! I love seeing Langstons words come to life!

[pdnamightyriver1]

Hi, Great video! thanks for sharing

[nikkiblu2010]

H li im nikki blu this is a call out to all my poets and poetry critics I would like you to join me and my new web series brought to you by poetic fetish network we will be journeying into the minds of our poets and community through mine and othered featured poems and discussion please check it out cant wait to hear from all my poets :-)

At nikkiblu2010 or poetic fetish

[afmarkin]

You know, and if you have been reading some of the writings of the beats from the 1950s you should know, that clearly they are (Keroauc, Ginsberg, Corso, et. al), as I am not, the only ones in the universe who has gone out searching for that be-bop, blue-pink great American night, or the high white note either. Thanks, Brother Hughes.

[LadeeMelody]

Incredible!! THANK YOU!

[LamboKid5ve]

Love the Blues :)

[argonsilvereye]

My favorite poet! Langston Hughes!!!

[iDenisexO]

What is the music in this short film, may I ask?...it's incredible.

[hlasseter]

Does anyone know who the narrrator is for this video? Great voice!

[mrzewilder32]

does anyone know the name of the song thats playing behind this? i need it for a project.by the way...love this!

[swtdrmr908]

@mrzewilder32 The beginning is "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" I believe...but I'm not sure after 1:15

[artswebshow]

This is so smooth.

Awesome video

[pokadots19]

a fellow student gave a presentation on langston hughes in my 20th century american lit class and used this clip but it froze, i was really getting into it when it happened. i have no rythem and this poetic song really helped me understand. I love jazz and had to take a listen what soul cab had while reading. it was really cool.

[desariec]

this is gorgeous, dark and deep.

[NorthGeorgiaPipe]

Very nice! I enjoyed this very much! Thanks~ 

[momediaphile]

Very nice! Has anyone been able to identify the song playing during the 2nd half of the video (up through the end)?

[painzlife]

waaaaaaaaaaaw

[JohnEWordSlinger]

Thanks for Posting this is awesome, WS

[HoustAtlantaVegasEn1]

That's Inspiring

[Jovita8989]

absolutely fantastic :) I'm not a big fan of poetry, I prefer prose, but this really made me shiver....

[countrybabybrookie]

wow.. just wow :O so much soul

[dogagilityrocks]

He is fantastic! The music makes it sound even better! It sounds so good, the words in the tune of the music!

[SuperXavier30]

Transported!!

Thanks!

[2300skiddo]

Beautifully read. Not all great poets read well. And very nicely put together. thanks for posting this.

[chasario]

this is phenomenal.

[virgofemme5]

I wish someone would make a biopic of Langston Hughes and the whole Harlem Renaissance era.

What a fascinating time...

[bluegrooves]

you are so lucky to have this guy! black men-women! great !!!

[genrmzjr260]

I'm trying to find this song but this EXACT version! Just listening that piano play so softly, and closing my eyes, got me so relaxed. I love this poem and all of Langston Hughes work!

[leavitttrumpet]

I think that song is "St. James Infirmary not Weary Blues.

[tr230023]

it's "weary blues", i read it in my Interpreting Literature class.

[kaedenceSpeaks]

@leavitttrumpet The song in the background at the beginning is St James' Infirmary Blues and the Poem being read is "Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes

[2blakandbold]

One of the greats from the Harlem Renaissance !

Thank You sweetie!

You know who you are!

[lornstar6]

oh, wow. this is absolutely fantastic. can't say enough. perfect combo of music, voice, words, and images.

i've always known langston hughes only a little and liked his work, but suddenly jack kerouac seems far less original. i mean, the influence (which i suppose he openly acknowledged) is huge.

[dkadagian]

I wasn't familiar with Carl Sandburg until putting together this series of shorts and felt convinced he also must have been a strong influence on Kerouac. One of the short poems posted called "Skyscrapers" sounds like it could have been written by him. They also had some similar experiences and interests. All great jazz musicians learn the licks of the greats before them and then make them their own. Seems very similar with poetry - especially Kerouac who was also heavily influenced by jazz.

[lornstar6]

Yeah, good point.

I read a quote yesterday by Ezra Pound where he said that in the Guild days, the master painters taught the young painters by having them copy masterworks until they were ready to move on.

Also, I like the use of Cab Calloway-- even though he's flashier than the character of Weary Blues, he had that certain sadness underneath it all.

Anyway, congrats on this fabulous work. I'm going to check the website.

[AliasEMO]

@lornstar6 Jack Kerouac was a hack - Horrible work. Maybe it was that I made the fatal mistake of reading him after I completed my own cross-country trek & simply find him contrived and boring but even with that said, I'm not the only one who's read & done beyond Kerouac to notice the only reason why his "work" sold was nothing more than timing. Just Sayin'

[funnycarrot]

Why waste time educating yourself? It looks like you dont waste much time doing that. "this country needs to chagne"

[chocolytesprynkles]

who are you? ... the typo police??

[funnycarrot]

No, I'm the motherfuckin hypocrisy police. That dude was complaining about the way culture is going, and that people dont bother "educating" theirselves. And then he goes and mispells change.

[chocolytesprynkles]

...um well you misspelled 'themselves', you wrote 'theirselves'. common mistake ;D

[lotuswight]

@chocolytesprynkles YES YES TOUCHE

[LuCaRiOfan94]

my all time favorite poet!!

[heymama1]

I have a dog-eared copy of his poetry. I'll crack open any page and just love it. It's can be funny or thought-provoking.

BORDER LINE

by L. Huges

I used to wonder

About living and dying --

Between tears and crying.

I used to wonder

About here and there--

I think the distance

Is nowhere

[dmabelli]

Excellent

[8DAB8]

nice and mellow love it!

[mwhtw]

perfect fit between music and text

[geek183]

v. good

[zensualgreen]

a jewel

[greenbuddhaha]

Thanks for posting.

Langston Hughes is another underappreciated American writer.

But who reads anymore?

Oops -- time for American Idol. . .

[hungerartist7]

Quite right! If only more people would pass by tawdry pleasures to savor the higher pleasure of poetry and thinking.

[cursed1you]

why read when you've got Madonna, Bill o Reilly, and House of Payne? Why waste time educating yourself?

Boy this country needs to chagne

[AvaLaveer]

Amazing video , he was a great poet

[democracymontano]

Thanks for posting...I will share with some of Pomona's youth! The poem sets an AWESOME tone to the video!!!

[eviltokage]

awesome. i just saw danny glover sing this haha

[radtankguy]

Hughes' enticing voice goes well with his poetry

[MichaelDominici]

The reading is interesting, but, very different from the different feeling Langston himself imported and certainly Cab Calloway...at least in the video performance nowhere near recalls the type of performer evoked in the poem...perhaps someone much more low profile, like Cousin Joe, but not someone flashy like Calloway.

[MichaelDominici]

imparted, not 'imported' sorry about the typo

[kwsherwood]

This is an interesting compilation. But to the English teacher and others out here ... please note that there's another voice, not Langston Hughes, doing the reading. And the Cab Calloway is interesting as atmpospheric video ... but it's also not 'quite' what's going on the in poem.

[wojtek0000]

my favorite LH poem. ahhh

[aggal9274]

This is amazing. I will play it for my students in my English class. Hughes is a fantastic poet who used his voice to speak about the sorrows of the African Americans. Thanks for posting this!

[PoetJC]

The thing is if you attach a negative connotation to any word in the English language, then that word is gonna be negative LOL - Saying the "N-word" as opposed to saying Negro or Nigga is hypocritical IMO, especially considering the definition is still the same: "black person" - Now if you give the word a more positive meaning then you take the negative stigma from the word, effectively making the word worthy of being used. That is what Langston Hughes did with his poem. Quite genius I think.

[PoetJC]

I (in fact) use the word Negro all the time. I'm 32 years old and for me the word has a certain character and strength that the often used "Nigga" has never had. Um - If you're interested in learning more about Langston Hughes though - you might consider googling JPiC Forum For Writers aka Poetry in Color Forum - I'm the Administrator and I've posted quite a few posts about Hughes, as he's one of my all-time favorite Writers.

Jacquii.

[Rena721]

Why do you use the word Negro as a black man? I'm black myself and I want to disassociate from anything tied to the past. In an effort to "free myself".

[Spratmann]

Cab was awesome and so was this poem apart from bringing his race to the surface. Why mention he's a negro instead of just a man?

[PoetJC]

Most likely because we live in a society where it's possible for many to never forget that one is a Negro.

Jacquii.

ps - AWESOME piece - Langston is one of my poetic Heroes - this production is just fabulous! Thanx for sharing!

[Spratmann]

It never even entered my mind until hearing this poem. I grew up listening to just Cab Calloway...

[PoetJC]

Can you believe this poem is actually written in 1928 (I believe...) Of course we've made incredible strides towards bettering society and making equality a reality for all races. Wonderfully incredible strides... Of course Langston Hughes though, was speaking on the racially charged climate of his era.

Jacquii.

[Spratmann]

Yes it was that era when the climate was extremely harsh and I understand that. My point was the very fact he mentioned it brought it to the surface of what should've been just poetic entertainment. When something is brought to one's attention like that, it just gives the haters something to cling to and try to use as ammunition by saying you (Langston) brought it up. I don't know if that makes any sense to you? Then again, everyone should be able to say what they wish I suppose. Tricky one...

[PoetJC]

Not tricky at all. And of course it makes sense. You have to understand like this. If it weren't for artists like Cullen, Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and others who did bring up the issue of oppresion in their collective art - Who would bring it up? If it weren't for that constant reminder that the Negro was being treated as 2nd class - There would likely be slavery today. Their art is a testimony. And that very testimony is the call to an equal freedom as guarenteed by the US Constitution.

[Spratmann]

I agree someone has to bring up these issues to inform the world what is going on. But it is a fine balance and using the word negro to get that message across is not enough. Perhaps (if he hasn't already) it would've been better to go deeper into the subject and written poetry specific to that message.

[Spratmann]

Negroes are still being treated as 2nd class citizens to this day and as an Englishman living in South Africa, I see it often. Also, slavery still exists but is kept more underground. That also includes white slaves that are usually women forced into prostitution etc. I've witnessed that myself... The majority of white people were against slavery in the US and it was a big part of the cause of the civil war. Abolition was also used for political capital...

[PoetJC]

You must not be familiar with Langston Hughes' body of work - Here is one of the most outstanding Poets I've ever perchance to read. He did indeed go much deeper in to the subject with his stories about Semple. If you know about him - you'd realize he was one of the most prolific of the Harlem Renassaince Poets that ever hit the scene. The use of the word Negro in this poem is actually a positive appellation - no negative connotation.

[Spratmann]

I wasn't aware of Langston Hughes or his works until it was pointed out to me recently by a friend. I guessed that maybe he'd delved deeper into the subject but wasn't sure. I don't have a problem with the word negro, it was just it highlighted race during a poem that's all. I'm sure it was only mean't in a positive way. I never use the 'N' word as I believe it is such a derogatory term and is overused. I'll check out the forum for writers, thanks...

[Rena721]

Oh wow Spratty I didn't know this was new to you. I'm glad I brought something new to your table. And this is just speaking of the generation that was hit hard with racism. So his use of the word Negro is appropriate for the time frame.

[Spratmann]

I agree Rena, it was a time frame where it was normal to use the word negro. As you rightly say to Jacquii below, nowadays black person seems to be the norm. Would you agree Jacquii?

We weren't taught about Langston Hughes in my UK school. I'm not saying he is not taught in British schools but not at mine at the time. We did Shakespeare...

[Rena721]

In American schools we weren't taught Langston either. Alot of prejudices still going on.

[Spratmann]

Then I guess it was your interest in poetry that took you there like my interest in music took me to BB King and the like...?

[Rena721]

I am not really into poetry. But I am into the Harlem Renaissance and music. And that led me into Langston Hughes.

[Iamjustherek]

Just because he wasn't taught in school doesn't mean it's prejudice. You can't just go back to racism.

[Rena721]

Explain to me why we aren't taught alot of significant black leaders or people of of color if it's not prejudices going on in the system. Educate me oh wise one......

[Rena721]

And let me guess you were the one who put a thumbs down on all of our comments on here.

[Iamjustherek]

Actually no. I put a thumbs up to all of your comments actually. I guess thats the thanks

I get.

[Rena721]

Opps! You must've pushed the wrong one.... it says negative one....

[Iamjustherek]

Nope, I didn't push anything but positive.

[Rena721]

Oh? Strange how YT does things.... Alright :)

[Iamjustherek]

But like I was saying before... you can't just assume that someone higher up is racist. That could be dangerous. Though I love his poems, Langston Hughes just isn't as popular or as easily recognizable as Shakespeare.

[Rena721]

It's not assumptions its observations. Why is it we hardly hear about important people from other races as much as we do whites? Clearly I am not making it up. It's obvious.... there isn't an equal balance.... I am not one of the ones who blames everything on racism so to tell me something is not racism you would have to literally floor me with evidence that its not.

[Iamjustherek]

Okay, I do admit theres an imbalanced in the system. But you gotta look back on America's history. Obviously they kept a lot of other races out of schools so I think intergration came too fast for them to change it. But I think in the future there will be more cultures being taught.

[Rena721]

So you think because integration came to fast in schools the curriculum didn't catch up to speed? So over time things may change? That logical thinking. But some would say it's been too long already. I mean it's been what 40 years?

[Iamjustherek]

Yes, it should be caught up by now but remember it took integration a while too. I'm guessing that it'll slowly pop in one at a time. But right now I really wanna stop this conversation. If we really liked Langston Hughes we shouldn't be cluttering up his poem's comment box.

[Sshelly34213]

Excuse me have you been to a school in the city??

Sorry but it hasn't that's just a fact...there simply aren't enough resources to properly educated everyone, especially in the city where most black people still live. Its only been 40 years, that's not even a lifetime.

[DROBE100]

Rena, there is something that very often precedes racism.

The acme of HUBRIS was during British colonialism. Of course that was closely followed by the apex of racism. Both are still with us today.

[VTimesTwo]

I'm reciting this one for English! Hopefully I could do it justice :O

[sharafaskowitz]

Just beautiful! I'm curious about the music because I know that Mingus (and Leonard Feather, I think) wrote original music for Weary Blues; there's a recording of Hughes reading to it. Is this some of the same music? This was a joy to watch.

[dkadagian]

This is not the same music - it's actually a fusion of several different tracks and artists from a recording library. My favorite part of these short films is making the music come together. Glad you liked it.

[sahnie82]

wow..that was tight..i felt it for real for real

[kathyfelts]

Web link to poem:

cai(dot)ucdavis(dot)edu(slash)­uccp(slash)workingweary(dot)ht­ml

[bafr1]

that was excellent i loved that will do more research into this poet , incredible

[daisy5001]

Langston hughes is one of the best poet/author ever

[vaevae12]

he's my favorite poet

[YoutMyIdol123]

im doing a project on him

[Inusgrl411]

me too, its due next week...i've known about it for a month, just started lol

dude this guy is ... AMAZING

[Drag2hand]

same here

[valambiguous]

Outstanding, deeply felt!

[SoulBrotha7]

A Great poem with an incredible delivery...

[pminner]

This is me..you caught my soul!

[parishawn]

Amazing...

[dnHooligan]

I like to watch it with my eyes closed. You said it man...beautiful.

[TobyTyler06]

Beautiful

[quinnsmyth]

Awesome! Can't wait to see the rest.