(This is an old post; the complete and thorough interpretation of the song is here at
Witch Hunts & Sacraments: Delta Rae' s Bottom Of the River so please visit this link for a complete exploration of the symbols!).
I am about to go into cardiac arrest writing the review for
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, I am so angry about it. I hate it when you take the time to visit the site and I don't have anything new up, so here is a pop quiz to test your skills of analysis (if we don't do this once in a while, you won't realize how good you are becoming on your own!). Please remember,
there are no right or wrong answers. Please watch this once, and don't worry about "noting anything," your first impressions are going to be really important; then, watch it again to start analyzing. I have listed questions below to help you and the lyrics are below that! This is Delta Rae's,
Bottom Of the River:
I would LOVE for you to post your comments and questions in the comment forum at the bottom of the post, and maybe a brave soul will go first and start off the discussion with their own observations, but here are some questions to get you started: 1). Is there anything the song/video reminds you of
in general? Are there
specific things in the song/video that remind you of something? (Please remember, art does this to form connections with "other art" that it knows it's audience is familiar with to increase the level of engagement we can have with it). Is there anything specifically being invoked by the song/video? What is it and why?
 |
| Analyze the costumes, because clothing is the person in a work of art, so the more you can understand about the costume, the more you can understand the character. |
2). What time period is this taking place in? Why is this
in the location where it is instead of New York or Ohio or the mountains? What is it that signals us to understand where this is taking place? How do costumes contribute to this? Are there contradictions, things that don't seem to belong together? Why would they do this, how can this have significance? How does the location--if at all--contribute to the
feeling and mood of the song and, hence, our interpretation of it? 3). What are the weird, out of place, unusual aspects of the song/video? How can those be tied in with answers to the questions above?
 |
| What elements are being introduced at the very end of the video that we haven't seen before, and how does this contribute to our understanding of the song and, if at all, alter what we thought was going to happen at the beginning of the video? |
4). Do you notice any symbols/acts we have discussed in other posts (okay, here's a hint: what is she doing when we first see the lead singer? She's sitting in front of a mirror, but not really looking into it, so she's "not reflecting" even though the opportunity is right there before her; is that good or bad? She's brushing her hair; what does hair symbolize? Thoughts [I am giving you way more than I should, but this is the first pop quiz, so it's okay] and the combing of the hair suggests a "disciplining" of the thoughts; is that what she's doing or not, and why do you say that?)
 |
| The band's album, Carry the Fire. |
5). What is missing from the song/video? Okay, two more hints, first: instruments. It sounds like
a capella, and where have we just seen this? The trailer for
Pitch Perfect so why was a conscious choice made in
Bottom Of the River to not use instruments and does that, in a larger cultural context, have any significance when being compared to
the trailer for Pitch Perfect which is at this link (the first trailer)? What is something else missing? Light. The video is taking place at night, how--if at all--you think that is significant? What
are the sources of light and what meaning does that have?
PLEASE, HAVE FUN WITH THIS, THAT'S WHAT IT'S MEANT FOR!
(Again, this is an old post; the complete and thorough interpretation of the song I did
after posting this "pop quiz" is here at
Witch Hunts & Sacraments: Delta Rae' s Bottom Of the River so please visit this link for a complete exploration of the symbols!).
 |
| Delta Rae; you can get a free copy of the song by visiting their website! If you click on the title section of the video above, it will take you to the YouTube site where I downloaded it and all their other addresses are there as well as discussion from other video viewers! |
Bottom of the River
Hold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way downIf you get sleep or if you get noneThe cock’s gonna call in the morning, babyCheck the cupboard for your daddy’s gunRed sun rises like an early warningThe Lord’s gonna come for your first born sonHis hair’s on fire and his heart is burningGo to the river where the water runsWash him deep where the tides are turningAnd if you fallHold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way downThe wolves will chase you by the pale moonlightDrunk and driven by a devil’s hungerDrive your son like a railroad spikeInto the water, let it pull him underDon’t you lift him, let him drown aliveThe good Lord speaks like a rolling thunderLet that fever make the water riseAnd let the river run dryAnd I saidHold my handOoh, baby, it’s a long way down to the bottom of the riverHold my hand,Ooh, baby, it’s a long way down, a long way down
20 comments:
Well, the pop quiz has gone real well, hasn't it?... lol
I am so glad you posted this song! I am becoming a huge fan of theirs! I watched this video with a friend and we watched it several times because we were trying to figure out what it means... even the lyrics are a little cryptic.
I initially thought that the song was talking about baptism. "hold my hand... its a long way down to the bottom of the river..." What I got from it is we both sin... take my hand.... redemption isn't a shallow event but very deep; it's a long way down...
then when I watched the video, it reminded me of the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou and the lead singer in this video being a siren... trying to trick everyone. Which when she is combing her hair in the first scene and looks up, her physical self is terrified when the men break in to take her, but her reflection doesn't look at all concerned. During the first part of the video, she is sad and sullen while the "lynch mob" (?) take her away. The two farmers standing on the other side of the fence look like dead people looking on... and even nod as the mob comes closer like they are signalling to someone (something) else... just then the lead singer (the blonde) takes on a different attitude... somewhat smug and sexy even. Like she is gaining power. When the wind picks up (I have no idea what that symbolizes) she does not have her shackles on any more... again the wind blows... she turns... and everyone is dead. Except the two dead farmers she walks away with at the end.
I liked the use of stomp in the video. It made it more stark. The lyrics disturb me even though I like the video. It brings to mind evil. For me , it is reminiscent of a cross between voodoo and the salem witch trials. The long way to the bottom sounds like a drowning and specifically the drowning of a child (the first born son). Possibly the drowning of the infant was to save him from the life she had. I suppose it could be a man but that isn't the way it sounded to me.
The clothes put you in mind of a time of the witch trials. The lipstick is out of place-although a nice blood red in color to match the evil theme.
Both of you are AWESOME!
Thank you so much for being so brave and taking such a risk! I cannot congratulate you enough on your excellent insight and articulation of your engagement with the video! You should both be very proud of yourselves because you did a great job! I am going to write up a few observations myself and will be quoting both of your insights and observations; both of you pointed out things that I certainly missed, so this is beneficial all the way around, thank you and great work!
This video certainly caught my attention. Just watched it for the first time on television. I immediately went to my phone to see what their intention was and I ended up here! lol Clearly they were going for a soulful country sound with the undertones of and old negro spiritual, but the sinister imagery gave it everything but an inspirational outlook, while the effort was certainly well put together I couldn't help but see the demonic symbolism. The Salem witch aspect the other poster pointed out makes a lot of sense here. This band or group is clearly talented but one must be careful when tampering with the wrath of God. The only son capable of going to the bottom of the river and living to tell about it is Jesus Christ, son of the living God! So having said that I feel everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however I would be careful in singing along with these lyrics for there is power in the tongue. As Dimitri Rascalov so eloquently stated in GTA IV "You know, if there is one thing that iv'e learned, it is that you must obey the rules of the game. We can pick the game Niko Belic. But we cannot change the rules"
Yea, this song is clearly satanic all the way. There are many things that I picked up in both the lyrics and the video. The video starts deep in the night, the moon is high. Darkness/evil is strong. Her combing in front of the mirror reminds me of The Ring, the young girl died ALIVE (as the lyrics say "Don't you lift him, let him drown alive") in the deep well water.. maybe just a coincidence, maybe not. She is not looking at her reflection. To me it symbolizing not wanting to see her true self, her holy spirit. Her reflection has one eye covered by her hair throughout the whole shot. Many artists have done it, for ex.. Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyonce, Shakira. That is another satanic symbol. The eye of Ra, the Egyptian sun God. Look up on google images. Note that Ra has a RED sun on his head. The lyrics say "red sun rises like an early warning." Red signifies SIN. Isaiah 1:18. Red lipstick covers her singing lips. Then after they take her out of her home by force, you see her reflection/demon blowing out the candle/light. Light signifies knowledge, understanding, and good. That's why someone smart is "bright." Then it goes completely dark for almost 3 seconds. 23 sec to 25 sec into the video. 23,24,25. There are 3 people bringing her out in CHAINS/CAPTIVITY symbolizing sin. 2 Chor 6:36. The power of sin binds you, leading to death. Which is what the song is really about. DEATH. When she sings, "and if you fall, if you fall" the two men holding the axe have their eyes fully filled black, meaning they are demonically possessed. Fall meaning sin once again. That group to the right have 3 lanterns. After that most of them have masks on. Then you see the 3 people that initially took her out making 3 triangles with their arms in the back. Triangles are another satanic symbol. An equiangular triangle has 3 angles. 60,60,60. Go figure. This is why 3,6,9 are satanic number favorites. They refer to satan as their Lord as mentioned twice in this song. The front masked men have the ying yang sign on their masks meaning the fight between good and evil. Lyrics say "let the river run dry" so there is no more water. Water is the essence of life. Again meaning death. After that she is out of captivity. I guess she has become part of the group or fully possessed. You saw her giving in at the beginning as she started to stomp with them. Before she walks off she looks to the left. Left again meaning demon. The demon on the left shoulder and angel on the right. At the end, everyone DIES except 3. I have researched satanic symbology and numerology and studied many videos. Everything is usually cryptic or subliminal. I see that this song and video is gaining huge popularity. Be careful with what you listen to. Where your mind is, there your heart will be also. May God bless all of you and keep you out of harms way.
Thriller!!!
Everyone, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your wonderful insights and taking the time to post them! I actually did a thorough interpretation on this, posted on this blog July 17 where I dove into the whole imagery and lyrics of the film, so please refer to that post, instead of this one, for meaning and symbols! Thank you!
http://thefineartdiner.blogspot.com/2012/07/witch-hunts-sacraments-delta-raes.html
Ok so this song I think is about making a sacrifice and performing a baptism of sorts saying really that the baptism/sacrifice if it happens to take the life of the son/person that it is God's way almost like it should be an exorcism to take the evil away. But on the contrary, the music video is set in the late 19th century, early 20th century were they believe she is possessed by a demon or witch which as you see in the mirror she is, as she is shackled and dragged by the other female singer which may of been the one to make the accusations, as the walk by the two men that were in front of the house they have masked men that represent tribal beliefs and possibly voodoo. Then when you look back to the group that came to "drown the witch" the masked men have now taken over the men that originally just had hoods over their heads, meaning she started to possess them to take over their bodies, as they turn the frame around the wind starts to blow which is a sign of witchcraft in most scenes ever seen, she and the other singers from the band look like they're fighting to gain back power from one another, the main singer says Shh to silence the acts and spirits she has summoned and subliminally stating that she is still hidden from everyone since she just killed the petitioners and she walks away with her "henchmen" to a new place to live. The song and the video may be similar in meaning but they are not meant to be similar in text. Listen to the song carefully the main singer states the wrong while the townspeople state the good and the signs of evil.
The time setting and the setting in genral really made me think this was probably back in slave times. Especially with her southern voice and relevance to an old slave song they use to sing to help one another escape. Because of this I didn't know how to feel towards the song. But it's a good thing you pointed out that she couldn't see her reflextion in the mirror. I didn't even notice that. Maybe she was being accused as a witch or vampire.
I found the song to be a warning about sin and evil of this world and where it will lead you...my favorite parts of the video are probably ones that go unseen.. like the mirror scene at he beginning when she turns around to look at the door yet her reflection is watching ...and as they drag her out the door her reflection remains in the mirror... I too enjoy the stepping. It added flavor...
Does anyone realize that this is a old Negro spiritual why would they take something so sacred to black people. why?? Why steal that too? There is no limits to what gets stolen from black people I guess. Slavery is something so horrible and should not be mocked by them or anyone else. I am extremely odfended!!!!
Dear Anonymous (Oct 30),
I certainly did not know the song has a special place in the history of blacks; thank you so much for sharing that insight! When originally posting on the song, and doing some research, it seemed that the group was taking credit for writing the song and if they have "adapted" the song for modern purposes, that is one thing; it is quite another to pass the song off as your own "original work" and while I didn't see anything citing the long history of the song, as you are suggesting it has, the absence of that history would seem the song is being passed as original art work; could you please inform us, is the song as delivered by Delta Rae the exact same lyrics, or is it "based on" an old spiritual song?
Even if the song has a long history, if there is no "author" or "songwriter" there is most likely no copyright on it, but neither is there upon Mozart's or Beethoven's works.
Thank you very much for taking the time to let us know about the song's history; if you could, please share more with us!
Does anyone know the name of the original Afrocentric song this one is based off of?
As many others have said, it does "resemble" an old slave hymn, not sure exactly which one though. But by the lyrics of the song, you can definitely tell its subliminal. I would also like to point out things that are in the video that represents something opposite completely.
First, I would like to point out that the scenario going on seems as if it is indeed a lynching. But the lead singer is a white girl going through the trials and tribulations of going to the river to get lynched, when in fact it seems as if there should have been a black girl instead. You have men on the side shrouded in white with red masks. That scene reminds me of some type of KKK rally. Then you have some stompers behind the girl shrouded in black and their faces covered. A lot of black fraternities do these moves and black sororities as well.
Now I would like to talk about the camera swerving around the singer when pointed to the other band members singing. It looks as if she put a hex on them. They were not able to lynch her because she caste a spell on them causing them to be the victims of her powers.
There are stories about slaves poisoning their masters when they were mistreated. In the Mississippi River region, slaves were very close to their African ancestral roots and spirituality system. I would not call their way of worshiping the most high "satanic" whatsoever, because all religions are based on African spirituality. Europeans feared their system simply because they knew it was far much superior than Christianity and it kept the slaves close to their roots and to nature.
If the slave master found out that their slaves done something without their approval or if they were disobedient by poisoning their masters they were lynched (the word "lynch" comes from Willie Lynch).
That's my study on this video.
I have read all the comments and there is much speculation on the meaning of the song. That was why I was lead to this site to begin with. Radio KCRW did an interview along with a recorded music piece with Delta Rae awhile back. Delta Rae said the video invoked images of the witch trials, which was not what the song was about. They could not get a striking visual to match the meaning in the alloted 2 1/2 minutes of the tape. So, it is not about witch trials. Is it about redemption or about killing of a slave`s son? I still do not know. I have not been able to find any information said by the band.
Dear Anonymous (Nov 24),
Thank you for leaving the information. I would like to make an important point, however: IF the song is NOT about a witch hunt, it's about the killing of a slave, instead, then the makers of the song and video have failed to effectively communicate their message. Nearly everyone who has posted on this site about the song has said they feel it's about a witch hunt of some kind, and if we are supposed to be getting something else out of it, they should have taken a different approach to the video; it doesn't have anything to do with "not enough time," if we are not picking up on an intended message, they failed as artists.
(As I point out at the start of this article, this particular post was only a quiz for regular readers to do their own decoding instead of only reading mine all the time; my actual reading and interpretation of the song is here: http://thefineartdiner.blogspot.com/2012/07/witch-hunts-sacraments-delta-raes.html
with a live link at the start and finish of this post).
The purpose of art is to communicate, and during the creative process, the artist may or may not be fully aware of what they are wanting to say, but once it is "released" into the public, the artist loses the right to make "authoritative statements" about intent, the "author" (the artist) of the art is just another bystander who can offer commentary, but their's does not out-weigh mine, yours or anyone else's, because when we engage a work of art, we enter into the creative process with the artist who guides us; if the artist loses us along the way, and we take a different path than what the artist intended, the work of art has not been successful. A mature artist leaves the interpretation to the viewing public, content that they are interacting with the piece; an immature artist tries to dictate to viewers what the work is about, thereby making the art more about the artist personally (like a god-figure) rather than the viewer, which is what good art does.
So, cast aside anything about interviews or intent, and just engage the art on your own and ask yourself questions to gain what you want from it through fruitful dialogue.
The video is evocative of the Lousianna bayou, circa 1930-1940. To me it invoked more of voodoo than anything else. As for the evil aspect, it seems at first SHE is the evil. However, to me the video seems to be more a commentary on mass hysterics and mob mentality. She is perhaps being unfairly victimized, and the song seems to be more about what the self-righteous hide as opposed to the faces they show on a daily basis, whereas she is simply honest about who she is. Yes, it's good vs. evil, but not the way you would assume it to be.
Your website is a marvelous place to get important info! Will you be mind if I reblog one of your entries on my personal portal?
Miss Doris,
That is so kind of you! I would not mind at all as long as there is a link back to this blog/cite the original source! Thank you so much and very best wishes!
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