Songs of Eros: The Blues of Bessie Smith

Abstract

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how Bessie Smith's Classic Blues exemplifies the potential for change through the aesthetic dimension. We will reference the works Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry into Freud, An Essay on Liberation, and The Aesthetic Dimension: Toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics by Herbert Marcuse to illustrate how music possesses a persuasive power over the minds, souls, and bodies of listeners. Additionally, we will utilize Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Davis, which presents the Blues as a means for expressing and transmitting the ideas and thoughts of Black women, capable of provoking changes in African American consciousness. Bessie Smith, one of the best-known singers of Classic Blues, is featured in this article. The singer preserved an African heritage in her songs that was presented to African Americans, serving as an incentive for alternative models of behavior and attitudes towards the established norms.