En bluespreken Om Son House og «Preachin’ the Blues» Arnfinn Åslund A Blues Sermon: Son House and “Preachin’ the Blues” Eddie “Son” House Junior (1902–1988) was a blues musician from Mississippi, especially known for his recordings from 1930, among which we find “Preachin’ the Blues”, one of his greatest achievements. It deals with the tension between Christian belief on the one side and the blues on the other. In his youth Son House was a committed member of the Baptist church. He held his first sermon at age fifteen. But as he developed a taste for drinking and partying, he found it hard to keep up the lifestyle that was expected from a preacher. He left the church, and in his mid-twenties he was attracted to the blues, known as the devil’s music. He started playing the guitar, and after a few years he had the opportunity to record. “Preachin’ the Blues” addresses the conflict between the church and the blues as it is experienced in the personal life of a blues singer and it is evident from the performance that this is a very serious matter to House. The song consists of eleven stanzas of a partly enigmatic nature. This essay investigates the lyrics in an effort to come up with a convincing interpretation. The song seems to express an attempt at reconciliation while at the same time maintaining the contradictory nature of the opposite tendencies. The lyrics are relevant for the understanding of modern art itself, as the church and the blues offer different views of the role of music and song. Keywords: Delta Blues, Song Lyrics, Son House, Hermeneutics. His blues songs were always serious and oſten deeply philosophical. (David Evans om Son House) I Dette skal handle om Eddie House Junior, bedre kjent som Son House, og en av de sangene han spilte inn i 1930: «Preachin’ the Blues» del I og II. De to delene ble spilt inn hver for seg og utgitt på to platesider. På innspillingene opptrer Son House alene med sin gitar. Fremføringen gjør et mektig inntrykk med kraſtfull vokal over et rytmisk drivende gitarakkompagnement. Det er fortvilelse, for ikke å si desperasjon, over uttrykket. Samtidig slås man av det estetiske overskuddet som gjør dette til et genuint kunstverk. Det er som å være vitne til et indre drama for åpen mikrofon. Den estetiske fascinasjonen som denne PULS Vol 6 57 Arnfinn Åslund: En bluespreken