Authentic Blues Singer on NYC Subway
A MYSTERY
Here's the mystery for which I would love to have the answer.
I don't know who this guy is, but he was singing "Oh Susanna" blues style on the subway train that I was riding the other day.
But that isn't the mystery. The mystery is that he didn't sing the words "Oh Susanna," he sang "Oh Susyanna." So I did a Google search of "Oh Susyanna" and found that "Susyanna" seems only to have been used in one place: In the work of Robert Hayden, a poem entitled, "Runagate, Runagate" about slaves fleeing north to their freedom.
So how did this guy on the subway come to incorporate this term from a poem by Robert Hayden, who chronicled the African American experience, into a song with racist origins ("Oh Susanna" was originally done by black face performers)? I have no idea, but I intend to ask this guy, and also what is his name, if I ever see him again. I'd bet that he probably a known blues singer.
Anyone have any answers or know who is this guy?