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The band’s disagreement over which version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” to record symbolizes the tension in the play surrounding power and creative control. Levee wants to record his own arrangement of the song, which he insists is more “exciting” and modern than Ma’s traditional style. Ma, however, insists that because she’s the leader of the band, she doesn’t have to take Levee’s artistic opinions into consideration. The rest of the band follows whatever Ma says, frustrating Levee with their attempts to show him that Ma—and only Ma—has the power to make decisions about how the music ought to be played. To complicate things, though, Levee tries to circumvent Ma’s authority by appealing to the white studio executives, who agree that the song would be better if the band played it Levee’s way. Because there’s so much disagreement over how to play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the song itself comes to represent the inherent difficulties of creative collaboration, highlighting how different artistic visions can lead to messy power struggles.
The Song (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Quotes in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Song (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
LEVEE: See, I told you! It don’t mean nothing when I say it. You got to wait for Mr. Irvin to say it. Well, I told you the way it is.
CUTLER: Levee, the sooner you understand it ain’t what you say, or what Mr. Irvin say...it’s what Ma say that counts.
SLOW DRAG: Don’t nobody say when it come to Ma. She’s gonna do what she wants to do. Ma says what happens with her.
LEVEE: Hell, the man’s the one putting out the record! He’s gonna put out what he wanna put out!
SLOW DRAG: He’s gonna put out what Ma want him to put out
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TOLEDO: See, now...I’ll tell you something. As long as the colored man look to white folks to put the crown on what he say...as long as he looks to white folks for approval...then he ain’t never gonna find out who he is and what he’s about. He’s just gonna be about what white folks want him to be about. That’s one sure thing.
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IRVIN: Ma, that’s what the people want now. They want something they can dance to. Times are changing. Levee’s arrangement gives the people what they want. It gets them excited…makes them forget about their troubles.
MA RAINEY: I don’t care what you say, Irvin. Levee ain’t messing up my song. If he got what the people want, let him take it somewhere else. I’m singing Ma Rainey’s song. I ain’t singing Levee’s song. Now that’s all there is to it.
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MA RAINEY: I’m gonna tell you something, Irvin...and you go on up there and tell Sturdyvant. What you all say don’t count with me. You understand? Ma listens to her heart. Ma listens to the voice inside her. That’s what counts with Ma. Now, you carry my nephew on down there...tell Cutler he’s gonna do the voice intro on that “Black Bottom” song and that Levee ain’t messing up my song with none of his music shit. Now, if that don’t set right with you and Sturdyvant...then I can carry my black bottom on back down South to my tour, ‘cause I don’t like it up here no ways.
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Get the entire Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Song (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Symbol Timeline in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Song (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) appears in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
Finally, the musicians start rehearsing. But they only get several bars into the song “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” before stopping—Levee is playing something entirely different. He impatiently tells the...
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Unable to agree how to play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the band rehearses a different song. But Irvin interrupts to ask about Ma, clearly nervous because of the pressure Sturdyvant is...
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Before they rehearse Levee’s version of “ Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ,” Slow Drag’s bass string breaks. Levee makes fun of him, saying that he would...
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...but a “leftover,” he’s going to sit this one out. Plus, he already knows the songs. Finally, though, Cutler convinces him, and they start playing Levee’s version of “Ma Rainey’s Black...
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...version of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” This isn’t the way she wants to record the song, and she won’t be convinced otherwise—no matter what Irvin says about how Levee’s version is...
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...teach Sylvester his part, then goes back upstairs, leaving Levee to complain that playing the song the traditional way is just some “old circus bullshit.” Nobody in the North will like...
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Act 2
...Distressed, Irvin decides that, in this case, the band should play Levee’s version of the song. He then retreats to the control room.
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...session with “Moonshine Blues.” But Ma rejects this, saying the band will instead play “ Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom ,” and that Sylvester needs a microphone. After an awkward pause, Irvin breaks the news...
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...and the band is able to play through the entire number. Everyone celebrates when the song is over, but Sturdyvant breaks the news that something went wrong—Sylvester’s microphone wasn’t working because...
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