Black Is the Color

Black Is the Color is the old folk song Mrs. Gannet sings to a sobbing Johanna Leonberger, and its significance lies in the moment of recognition it creates across a cultural divide. Heard by Jefferson Kyle Kidd from the other side of a wall, the song changes the atmosphere after Johanna’s loud objections to bathing and offers a musical point of contact without erasing the difference between her worlds.

Place in the Scene

Johanna, a ten-year-old Kiowa-German captive, has been dragged down the hall to the bathing facilities. Kidd hears her objecting, then hears more sobbing when she and Mrs. Gannet return. Mrs. Gannet begins with two hymns, Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross and It Is Well with My Soul. As Kidd listens, he shifts and folds the letter paper in front of him; the songs interrupt his attempt to write and hold his attention. Only after the sobbing dies down does Mrs. Gannet sing Black Is the Color.

Musical Character

Mrs. Gannet sings without accompaniment. Kidd notes her clear light soprano and considers the folk song difficult to sing alone. He identifies its Dorian mode, unexpected turns, and strange Celtic intervals. Those features distinguish it from the hymns that came before it and give the song a less familiar musical shape. Kidd hears that shape not as alien to Johanna, but as closer to the Indian way of singing.

Reception and Significance

The girl is listening. That detail marks a change from the loud objections and renewed sobbing that precede the song: the scene moves from distress to attention, though it does not claim that Johanna’s distress is resolved. Kidd’s observation makes music a form of contact before shared language or custom is established. In the raw-lumber town of Dallas, amid the crashing wheels and shouts at the ferry landing, the song’s unusual intervals provide a brief connection to the musical world Johanna has known.