Max's Musings

Crossroads

Crossroads


Authors love metaphors and symbols. Crossroads are a powerful example.

Whether it's a Frost poem about the "road less travelled" or Goethe's Faust making his deal with the devil, crossroads are a liminal place where worlds meet, where temptation lurks, and decisions are made. From Greek myths of Hermes and Hecate, to Norse myths about Odin, to the medieval practice of burying criminals at crossroads, they are part of the cultural heritage of our modern world.

Modern songwriters understand this, and build music around the mythos of the crossroad.

Robert Johnson was one such musician. His recording career spanned only seven months between 1936 and 1937, but during that time he produced some of the most influential songs of the twentieth century. In particular, his "Crossroads Blues," arguably the first ever blues song, has influenced an entire generation of rock musicians, including Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, and Eric Clapton. Indeed, Clapton's song "Crossroads" is a direct homage to Johnson's earlier song.

A legend has grown that Johnson's musical talent comes from a deal he made with the devil at a crossroads, and that this is the story behind his song. The existence of such a legend shows both his prowess as a musician and the power of the crossroads metaphor. Of coursre, Johnson must have had formidable native talent, but it's well documented that he honed his skills with long hours of practice and with study under Ike Zimmerman.

In any case, I've not been immune to the lure of the crossroads, and both Clapton's and Johnson's songs have directly inspried some stories I've written. Just to give two examples, "The Flying Dutchman (version 4)"  occurs at a crossroads and explicitly mentions both Clapton's and Johnson's songs. While the story "At the Crossroads"  doesn't directly mention the music of either, it's direct inspirations are Johnson's song and the myths of crossroads as liminal places where the real and unreal meet.

The latter story does specifically mention two other songs which I won't discuss here. Doubtless these will appear in a subsequent blog on this topic.

Links to the Johnson and Clapton songs are in the story "The Flying Dutchman (version 4)" , but I'll include them here, too.

Crossroads Blues, Robert Johnson: https://youtu.be/GsB_cGdgPTo
This is a link to the original recording, not remastered for modern ears. It sounds the way people would have heard it on the radio in the 1930s, which is the setting for part of the story "The Flying Dutchman (version 4)" .

Crossroads, Eric Clapton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFiqngynNk
This is Clapton performing the song in one of his many concerts and the Royal Albert Hall.