)[3] Droning a drowsy syncopated tune, Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon, I heard a Negro play.

Down on Lenox Avenue the other night By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light He did a lazy sway .

Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

[4] Langston Hughes was known as one of the most prominent and influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance, a rebirth movement of African Americans in the arts during the 1920s.

Collectively, they changed the way the world viewed African Americans because of their talents and ability to capture real life and turn it into art.

Hughes wrote of inequality ("I, Too"), of resilience ("Mother to Son" and "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"), of pride ("My People"), of hope ("Freedom's Plow"), and of music ("The Trumpet Player" and "Juke Box Love Song").

Throughout the poem, several literary devices are used to guide the reader through the mixture of emotions the blues player is feeling.

The vivid imagery and use of language gives the reader a more personal glimpse into the life of the man playing the blues.

He starts by setting the mood with an alliteration, "droning a drowsy syncopated tune / Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon".

It is also worth noting that the poem ends with three rhyming lines: "the singer stopped playing and went to bed / While the Weary Blues echoed through his head / He slept like a rock or a man that's dead."

He made that poor piano moan with melody" continues the reference to color, and decidedly differentiates black from white.

[7] Throughout the poem, music is seen as not only a form of art and entertainment, but also as a way of life: people living the blues.

Hughes's ability to incorporate poetry with music and history with art has given him the reputation as one of the leading black artists of the 20th century.

On side 1 of the album, he was backed by a Leonard Feather-led group that included Henry "Red" Allen, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Vic Dickenson, Milt Hinton, and Osie Johnson.

On side 2, the accompaniment was provided by a Charles Mingus-led group that included Horace Parlan, Shafi Hadi, and Jimmy Knepper.

[9] Hughes slow jams "The Weary Blues" (1925) to jazz accompaniment by the Doug Parker Band on the CBUT (CBC Vancouver) program The 7 O'Clock Show in 1958.