Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night, Cold Was ...

[coolanddark]

I like it!

[jakin3490]

see what you people don't understand is that this is just about every emotion in one package. sorrow, relief, frustration, content, hell even lust and love. you just have to LISTEN

[jimmybgreat]

There are no strings on that guitar.

[migueloico]

I dont feel represented by this song...

[lhrmeonom]

@migueloico that's not the ONLY song.

[Charles2337]

I would think a song about love would have been better. It's a human emotion that shaped our entire planet.

[tjrams73]

@Charles2337 Maybe you should take a look at the list yourself. Go to contents of the Voyager Golden Record on Wikipedia.

[tjrams73]

@Charles2337 there were many songs on there. This one was put on there to represent the feeling of loneliness.

[Charles2337]

@tjrams73

Oh I see.

[Charles2337]

In my opinion I dont think this song really is a good representation of humanity. Why not some beautiful orchestral masterpiece, or some beethoven. Or a song incorporating the genres of the planet. This is a pretty depressing and shitty song.

[gjb707]

@Charles2337 as stated below me it wasn't the only song, but it is a good representation of humanity because it shows that we were not perfect by any means and that we could be so cruel to one another. It is necessary to show an objective and true reflection of our history and nature. You must lack any sort of empathy if you cant hear the pain in that mans voice.

[Alk6239]

Vsauce did not bring you here. It's not you mother, it does not drag you down to listen. You brought yourself here because you had an interest in the music that he portrayed. Do not give credit to Vsauce for your own curiosity.

[AntarcticAnt]

@Alk6239 It's true.

[kronicdeath420]

love for blues and the universal eternal music brought me here

[MATTHEWTHEINGRAM]

Walk the line brought me here

[changspaman]

what an awesome song to send in space !! very moving and powerful ...!

[PaulKevin14]

VSAUCE!!!!

[UnlistedFusion]

vsauce brought me here

[jgskate13]

vsauce brought me here



[JVKProduction]

Legend has it that he wore the tin can around his neck, other than that an exceptional representation. Good job!

[TheOneday9]

Thats Chris Thomas King. He was also in Oh Brother where art thou.

[dakotamanomgwtf]

Ohhh this is the guy from O Brother!

[Iamthewalrusgoogoo]

Great video. However, to be acurate, BWJ played slide with a knife, not with a slide on his finger.What a great song!

[Iamthewalrusgoogoo]

Great video. However, to be acurate, BWJ played slide with a knife, not with a slide on his finger.What a great song!

[staypuftlova]

by the way if anyone wants this movie its called "the soul of a man" a great movie i might add

[staypuftlova]

I dont know hoe 2 people could dislike this let alone 1 person I bet they have the bieber Fever, I have a cure for that listen to SOME REAL MUSIC!

by the way thumbs up if you agree

[JosephMalicke]

Thank the fucking Lord for this music.

[mateopumba747]

whas that S.L jackson? (in the end)

[calmaccer]

0:56 he looks straight at that pot!! blind willy eyyy? :P

[DrGolfJam]

Good job sputnik was sent out in the 70s, imagine if it was today... the aliens would destroy us all if they heard justin beiber

[RiverBlue77]

Hauntingly beautiful <3

[bethloveandpeace]

@TheCockNazi Well no actually, it's not something a beginner could play. The video isn't quite right, he's actually playing his guitar with a bottleneck knife. That's how he gets the fast vibrato and the twang that you have to listen very carefully to hear. And this song is much more than just "humming." Johnson perceived this song about the crucifixion of Jesus. It is spectacular. Very spectacular, but you have to have more than an inch deep of soul to understand it, I guess.

[bethloveandpeace]

@bethloveandpeace I correct myself, the video is accurate. The knife is in his left hand, I believe.

[bogeyat3]

@TheCockNazi fuck off cunt. choke on the shit you say.

[KingOfWhiteTrash1]

@TheCockNazi More's the shame, a man who doesn't get the blues. You must be young. Do yourself a favor, save your comment here and come back to it years from now, so that you may reflect on the stuff you used to believe, and even say in public.

[bethloveandpeace]

@KingOfWhiteTrash1 See, and I'm young, I'm 17. And I understand this song completely. I think the problem isn't his age, it's his mindset. He obviously can't see anything outside of the box of music that he listens to.

[skaterboizooyork]

this song is in public enimies. matches the movie well.

[Iceyguy101]

@skaterboizooyork

Where?

[qixxxz]

No man can prove to another man that there is, or is not a god. Blind Willy Johnson proves to all humanity, irrefutable evidence of a soul.

[gageman70]

You know whats great about this song is that anyone can understand it

[aweemannie]

chris thomas king doin his blind willie from o brother where art thou

[edmundsampo]

Been searching for this song for years, first heard it in a horror film, bought the soundtrack but it wasn't included. WOW, Im now an official Blind Willie fan. Up there with Leadbelly, Skip James and Woody Guthrie in Blues heaven.

[waynestuntface]

Love it. I was made aware from the Devil's Rejects.....

[ZeMetalFREAK]

@waynestuntface WOAH! is itin there?

[HellbillyMetalRebel]

Man this just hits the soul. I've always loved this song and the power it has. I play guitar in a metal band and am proud but my other half is the blues and old "real" country because it represents a big part of musical history. I started playing bottleneck guitar after my Grampy died and the feeling is amazing. A lot of people hate old TRUE REAL music. But it's real raw from the heart, honest, and full of emotion. And in my eyes there is nothing better then that!

KEEP IT REAL!!!!

[hapzap13]

Loneliness.

[chefnaj]

what a beautiful human being

[je136]

the song was also in the opening part of The Devil's Rejects and it was also in Public Enemies

[wildsang]

The actor is Chris Thomas King a great, living blues artist.

[cyberyanmar]

the most desolating piece of music ever made

i love it

[neverunseen]

Right before the video cut off, was Marc Ribot playing this. Everyone look it up [its on youtube] cause its amazing.

[soundindulgence]

I feel like this sometime. How Blind Willie sounds, ya know?

[bigwillhenk]

Greate

[Vulle123]

Simon Campos, where the hell did you find a first-press 78, hey?

[xxThePeasantKingxx]

Thats Chris Thomas King

[Tobious3000]

he's playing slide here.. got it on his pinky. This is an absolute classic video. priceless.

[islandguitar]

This is the guy from the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" He's good....

[joewright333]

re the random part at the end:

Voyager was the first man-made object to leave the solar system (aprx. 8 billion miles). In case it was encountered by extraterrestrials, it carried photos of life on earth, greetings in 55 languages, and a collection of music, including "Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground." Blind Willy died of pneumonia, penniless, bundled in wet newspapers in the ruins of his house, which had burned down. But his music left the solar system.

[Renbidoni]

@joewright333 WEST WING!!!

[sinprelic]

@joewright333 what a comment! so true, so true.

[Harvesterofmetal]

Where can I get these videos of Blind Willie Johnson on DVD or something? They all seem to come from the same footage...

[rdconrad1]

This came from Martin Scorcese presents The Blues. The particular film is By Wim Wenders it is called The Soul Of A Man. It is very good. Unfortunately, Blind Willie is portrayed by actors. Not sure if there is anything else out there. The film did blow me away,

[piratesong]

isn't the actor chris thomas king

[jperez9805]

@piratesong You are correct, this is Chris Thomas King. Helluva guitar player and singer in his own right.

[TheRabidfan]

a song that for some reason didn't make it onto the official Walk The Line Soundtrack...

[MsKeepinItReal]

that part at the end was very random lolz!

[MsKeepinItReal]

ohhh!! thanks for clearing that up

[comeoninmykitchen82]

Blues transcends race, gender, age, all that stuff. It's the real human condition. Like it was once said...the blues have been around since time began, when the first cheating woman met the first cheating man. Cause blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad about the woman he once was with.

[hudieman]

How can you beat a man until you go through his skin ,his bones,his heart, unto his soul uugh uugh that's where it stops. If it was you would it be poetic?.alabama mike

[sharonanony]

THERE WILL BE NO HIDING PLACE FROM THE KINGDOM'S THRONE.

SO sing, play and steal the Black music, like u stole your American Dream. But REMEMBER SLAVERY AND ITS BENEFIT IS A CRIME AGAINST THE BODY OF GOD. AND A MIDDLE FINGER UP TO UNALIENABLE RIGHTS FOR 500 YEARS.

SO HYPOCRITS, CAN SING AS BLACK AS THEY WANT, THE SUN WILL BURN MANY. and there will be no HIDING PLACE FROM THE KINGDOMS THRONE.

[BoyMixer]

Well, just a thought, aliens find that records and hear BWJ you know there going to come by to hear some more. But when they show up we've got Kanye West, Lil' Jon, Britnay Spears and Rihanna. I think they'll figure they got the wrong planet. Just my 2 Cents

[acdcfantic]

thats what im talkin about.

[MITCHWILD]

"Your two Cents were priceless" Ha ha..

[neverunseen]

@BoyMixer lol.. :P woops.. turn around. But really... This is timeless. He was prolly dead before I was born. Thats why I'm liking blues more and more. Nostalgia.

[pang5]

@BoyMixer Either that or they'll take revenge on us for false advertising.

[guderian1964]

The most soulfull and powerfull I have ever heard

[ehustee]

if we took away the undesirable things like racism, heartbreak and suffering... would the blues even exist?

[pdasaro]

As long as babies are born and people die there will be Blues.

[meini00iniem]

@pdasaro what a beautiful comment!

[olderbluesfan]

Just listen to him! a gift to us all

[razaoculta1]

Yes, Many, but I am talking about the current american culture, I mean, Blues , jazz, R&B, Rock, Pop, Funk, Soul, Hip Hop and yes Country music too, Blues being the first true American music. They took people from Africa, killed their geritage, language, a whole culture, and from the fields of cotton and with their lamenting songs they gave birth to what we call Blues music.

That is what I meant.

[razaoculta1]

There, right there you see, the reality of this country, even today we live in a racist society. African americans are the heart and soul of this country, and it was them who gave you what today you call american culture.

[MrNymoron]

actually yes, but there are many cultures in america, hidden. Not only africans who lost there culture

[mrstratomaster]

love this song and vid

[psalmblues]

This was Blind Willie's way of meditating on the cross. What a fantastic slide player.

[NewFriiiikan]

Its CTK excellent blues player/actor

[blueskynirvana1]

willie i love you

[sternumagnum]

It's the actor who also played the blues singer in the Coens' "O Brother", the one nearly lynched by the KKK.

[arsajo96]

The voyager´s song... to one millon light years of home

[bonelee]

That is Chris Thomas King... He is one of the best Blues singer/songwriters alive today...

[pekoe67]

0:55 CTK looks to see he hits the 12th fret...BUSTED ! Take 2...

(Then looks at the can when he picks it up).

[swaneelane]

A human soul in agony. If Jesus was to have sung a song on the cross this would have been it.

[poppalarge68]

To be shot in 1927, the clarity and sound is absolutely remarkable...!!!

[maloforlife]

thats chris thomas king

[Beabrasa]

BEAUTY

[zuriku]

Serious soul into that music o-o..

[123randomb]

Hey! That's the guy from O Brother Where Art Thou!

[crazycuntryboy2]

Hot damn! I finally found this song! I first heard it on Walk the line! Thanks for postin!

[Lizardking877]

Yes, thats where i heard it first too ^^

[DeVermeuln]

@Lizardking877

Me too! :p

[leicestergux]

hi people has anyone got the version of this guy pretending to be a caveman? before he gets blasted into orbit in a saturn 5 rocket?

[arjhendrix]

the seer(WJ) onwards to eternity(Voyager Golden Record)in the two Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977. May THEY hear this song for/in the next 40,000years. peace n power, mostly from Mr. Johnson. ...

"Jaat Kahan Ho"...Raga Bhairavi is the indian contribution to the golden record on the voyager.

[Lizardking877]

The next 50 million years! I read that on Wikipedia...

[arjhendrix]

yes, forever.

i was talking about the time it would take to the next nearest star.

[yhcranaalex]

What all this about?

[varsityredheads]

I was thinking about that. Here's a guy who died unheralded, impoverished, sleeping on wet newspapers in his burnt out house; virtually forgotten and certainly ignored. When he met his Maker, he must've said, "I've failed." And the Lord of the Universe would've said, "Sit down, son, and let me tell you about the future . . . "

[cariko]

wow that kinda made me tear up a bit...

[Fingersoap]

Blind Willie Johnson looks Blind Willie McTell in this.

[hobbsy00]

Chris Thomas King is a good blues-man in his own right. He did the version of Killing Floor blues for Oh, brother. Miming to BWJ here, rather than trying his own thankfully. Cant beat the original.

[manmankhel]

Yes he is in oH brother movie,He looks really real!

[williestratton]

man, this song makes me cringe. But in a good way, in the way blues should. rip blind willie, poor soul.

[KeniLeeBurgess]

This is such an emotional haunting song. It is really nice to hear it, while watching the video performance. Thanks for sharing.

[OrenoiR]

bravissimo!there is an integral version?cool

[st1ffyberg]

Wasn't he in "Oh Brother"???

[Lizardking877]

Yes.

[mateopumba747]

@Lizardking877 hes also looks like the black guitar player in the movie...could the character been inspired in him?

[telgtube]

awesome - thanks.

[skeetabix36]

blind willie johnson played by the excellent chris thomas king

[Lizardking877]

hey, thanks for the info ;)

[DJTOMES]

Very nice actor, thanks for hoosting!

[DJTOMES]

Very nice actor, thanks for hoosting!