“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin does an excellent job of explaining what the role of musicians in society really is. Some people, like Sonny’s brother through most of the story, believe that musicians are just “good-time people”, and some of them are. They get involved in all sorts of trouble, like drugs, for a range of different reasons. But all musicians do have an actual role in society. Unlike policemen, plumbers, and other similar people, who help all parts of society everyday, musicians appeal to certain kinds of people. For the people who actually listen to their music, musicians take care of their minds and souls, much like other artists do. People in society turn to artists when they are troubled, overjoyed, looking for a good time, or in need of a coping mechanism. Musicians take care of people in both their good and bad times. People take whatever the musician is expressing, whether it is sorrow or joy, and apply it to their own lives, and receive comfort in the fact that someone else has felt what they are feeling. We see this in “Sonny’s Blues” throughout the story. Sonny’s music at the end was so expressive that his brother followed Sonny’s entire life story in the music, but he also applied Sonny’s suffering in music to his own life, and took comfort in the fact that he was not the only one who has had bad times. Sonny’s brother knew that this was happening for other people in the audience, when he heard other “real” applause.
Music is important in this story, as well as in real life, because it is an escape from whatever is happening in your life. It accentuates whatever feelings you might have at that moment. Society uses music as a celebratory thing at parties, or for sorrowful occasions, like hymns at a funeral. We all take comfort in the musician’s story expressed in the song, and feel relieved that we aren’t the only ones to be feeling the way we are. As Sonny’s brother calls music “the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” We all take that light provided by the musician and use it to illuminate our own lives and take relief, knowing that we are not alone.
Beautiful meditation on the role of the musician in society as expressed through Baldwin's story. It's interesting that we often think musicians do not hold a socially important role, yet people the world over, in general, all love and enjoy music.
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