The Secret Behind Mary J. Blige's Haitian Earthquake Telethon Hit: "Hard Times Come Again No More"

On the recent Hope For Haiti Now telethon, popular musicians stepped up with decency, sometimes unexpected elegance, and great songs to raise money for those who suffered in the Haitian earthquake. There were new songs, old songs, and then there was the song performed by Mary J. Blige, whose performance you can enjoy here.

The Secret of "Hard Times..."

According to Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, Blige's performance was "best of all" (source ). She sang a song that has been recorded many times since its first recording in 1905, over a half century after it was written. You can, by the way, listen to that original recording here.

So, the truth is out. The very cool, up-to-date hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige turned to a song from 1854 by a song-writer who wrote lyrics now so out-of-date, to put it mildly, that they have been changed by law in at least one state, Steven C. Foster.

Nonetheless, Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More" is one of the great songs of the United States, and one mark of its greatness is that it attracts so many different singers and sustains so many different performances.

Steven Foster (1826-1864) is considered one of the first professional songwriters in the United States, at a time when copyright laws offered even less protection for creative artists than they do today, in the age of the Internet. Among his still popular songs are "Beautiful Dreamer," "Camptown Races," "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair," and "Oh! Susanna."

Foster is often thought of as a Southerner, although he never visited the South but one time, and he supported the Union during the War Between the States. He never saw Florida's Suwannee River, which he wrote about in "Old Folks at Home" ("Way down upon the Swanee River..."), currently Florida's state song, but possibly to be replaced because of its now controversial lyrics.

"Hard Times Come Again No More" is a song that speaks of human suffering (lyrics at the end of this article) with a simple, moving melody. As with most of Foster's songs, he wrote both words and music. Foster, who died impoverished, at age thirty-eight, knew of what he wrote. The universality of the appeal of the song is shown by its popularity in both the North and the South during the War.

Other performances of "Hard Times..."

When popular musicians perform someone else's song, it is said that they "cover" the song, but in the case of a masterpiece like "Hard Times," the song itself can cover the performers. I first remember hearing "Hard Times Come Again No More" in the 1991 compilation, Songs of the Civil War, performed by sisters Kate and Anna McGarrigle, with Kate's children Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright. You can listen to a performance here, and as you do, bid a fond adieu to Kate, who died this month.

Bob Dylan has performed "Hard Times Come Again No More" (here) as has Bruce Springsteen (here). The late Johnny Cash (whom I have written about here) performed the song, one would think inevitably, with his voice full of hard times, a performance that I can no longer find on the Internet. Unfortunately, if Odetta ever performed it (surely, she must have), she did not leave a recording. James Taylor and Yo-Yo Ma, an unlikely enough combination, came together with this song (here).

Soprano Renée Fleming contributed an amazing take on the song. Unlike many classically trained singers, she knows enough to respect the song and does not try to "operatize" it (another performance that has disappeared from the Internet since I first posted this article). In fact, it is fascinating that Mary J. Blige and Renée Fleming both manage to go beyond acting a part in this song to reach its deep emotional center. It is no stretch, listening to them sing, to believe - because each makes us believe - that these two divas might have lingered around a cabin door.

"There's a song that will linger forever in our ears," according to Steven Foster's song, which Mary J. Blige brought into such noble service at the recent Hope For Haiti Now telethon. More than that, it will linger forever in our hearts.

Note about links to performances: Thanks to Allene Newberg Bilodeau for pointing out that some links were dead. I have updated/revised the links, which means that - unfortunately - I no longer have links to some of the performances.

Sources

Sources are indicted throughout this article. You may also enjoy the article on "Hard Times Come Again No More" on the "Cover Lay Down" blog (here) with links to recordings by Eastmountainsouth; Laura Love; Bob Dylan; Emmylou Harris; Dry Branch Fire Squad; Front Porch String Band; Cherish the Ladies;
Flip & Joe Breskin; David Bazan, Rosie Thomas, J.Tillman, Laura Gibson, John & Chris Totten; Darol Anger w/ Willie Nelson & Dave Grisman; David Massengill; Mavis Staples; and James Taylor, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor.

Lyrics: "Hard Times Come Again No More"

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears
While we all sup sorrow with the poor:
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh! Hard Times, come again no more.

Chorus:
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary;
Hard Times, Hard Times, come again no more:
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh! Hard Times, come again no more.

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay
There are frail forms fainting at the door:
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looking will say
Oh! Hard Times come again no more.

There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day
Oh! Hard Times, come again no more.

'Tis a sign that is wafted across the troubled wave,
'Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore,
'Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh! Hard Times, come again no more.

Online source for this and many other Foster lyrics