Song Analysis: Run Joe By Louis Jordan

In this example, Louis Jordan eloquently showcased his ability to switch in and out of songful tones by utilizing his band members. The song initiated with Jordan telling a piece of a narrative, until he was interrupted by the line “Run Joe!” The line was frequently used throughout his narrative. Around the end of the verse, the whole band—including Jordan himself—repeated lines of the word “Loey.” The song’s layout evidently depicts the strategy of switching in and out of recitations; in this piece, Louis Jordan interestingly does it by lightly singing within the first verses until the band promoted the collaborated follow-up. The strategy is important, as it established to be a vital component of Jordan’s repertoire. It is also interesting to note that Jordan had a specific choice of verse organization—more specifically, Jordan opened the song with four short couplets, that consisted of 8 syllables per line. The second verse had eight couplets that consisted of 8 syllables per line with as well, but with a more shortened and punchy format. …show more content…
Jordan was known to be a very energetic artist—he had a charismatic attitude towards the audience by delivering “different, [more] scathing lyrics” than the rest of the artists at the time, thereby meaning that he was considered to be a major influence to the audience that attended his shows (Koch, 2014, 41). Additionally, Jordan used fast-paced rhyming recitations with occasional subtle twists in the way certain lines were said. As a result, some lines of the spoken recitation ended sounding as if singing made its way into the spoken verse, or in other words, the lines between songs and speech were blurred, but the audience was nonetheless aware of the difference in style. The method of song delivery can be observed from the lyrics of the song: Pettin' and