Envoi

"She sang the song slowly, as if she in fact did not really remember it, but was trusting each word to take her to the next, relying on the melody - and in her quivering voice, there was no melody anyone but she could hear - to give her the story... For as long as the song lasted, she made you forget that anything outside the song existed at all." - Greil Marcus, in Envoi

Looking up the literal meaning of envoi, I come upon some hints: "a short stanza concluding a ballad," coming from envoyer in French, meaning to send. It is related to the word, envoy, "a messenger or representative." Where we've been, where we're going, we're here to pick up and send messages through time and space in some way, sometimes through music and image, sometimes composed as song and place. 

I Ride an Old Paint performed by Carl Sandberg, 1938

I ride an old paint, I lead an old Dan
I'm goin' to Montan' for to throw the hoolihan
They feed in the coulees, they water in the draw
Their tails are all matted, their back are all raw

Ride around little dogies, ride around them slow
For the fiery and snuffy are a rarin' to go

Old Bill Jones had two daughters and a song
One went to Denver, the other went wrong
His wife, she died in a poolroom fight
Still he'd sing from mornin' to night

Ride around little dogies, ride around them slow
For the fiery and snuffy are a rarin' to go

Oh when I die, take my saddle from the wall
Put it on my pony, lead him out of his stall
Tie my bones to his back, turn our faces to the west
And we'll ride the prairie that we love the best

Ride around little dogies, ride around them slow
For the fiery and snuffy are a rarin' to go

I think this particular song perfectly captures the idea of envoi - the cowboy, who has lived and witnessed loss, wishes to send his bones into the distance. Out of connection to his pony and prairie and out of love, the cowboy sends his story, humble bones upon his most precious companion. Without knowing exactly where it will go, or how it will be received, the message is sent in faith. Somehow, the theme of envoi, reminds me of the following poem:

Night Highway Ninety-Nine by Lew Welch

...only the very poor, or eccentric, can surround themselves with shapes of elegance (soon to be demolished) in which they are forced by poverty to move with leisurely grace. We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet, to one side, and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all.

The construction of moments as exact echoes of other times and places, seem to be captured in the basic language of folks songs - in their lyrics, syntax, tone, and rhythm. The amazing thing about the echo is that something so specific as a song is able to maintain itself in rapidly changing contexts. Lew Welch mentions a "whole huge machinery" that in this case of envoi, could be taken as commercialization and co-opting of the messages and messengers of song. Learning about the specific songs from specific people and specific places this past semester has helped me to become a little bit more alert in positioning myself on some kind of path, hopefully off to the side to experience it for a moment.