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Nobody’s Fault But Mine Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” later covered by Led Zeppelin, is a classic example of the way music reflects its time. The musical styles convey the challenges, mentalities, and struggles unique to each era. Through its sustained melody, Johnson’s 1927 version is a melancholy expression of his spirit, as the blues style echoes the depths of his guilt and his struggle. In contrast, Led Zeppelin gives only the pretense of guilt, which is invariably carried away, dismissed, and at times drowned out by the fast paced, high-volume chords. The two versions’ different lyrics capture the influences and attitudes that reflect their respective eras. Where Johnson struggles with the guilt of betraying Christianity for his music’s spirituality, Led Zeppelin’s version identifies with the heavy metal artist’s struggle. Johnson’s theme of “selling ones sound” at the “crossroads,” for artistic greatness, pervasive throughout the blues, leaves the definition of the “devil” unclear. Conversely, the white rock artist’s “devil in the 1970's is quite clear - drugs. Blind Willie Johnson was, and continues to be, a legendary blues singer, known for his “gruff, bass voice,” and “being absolutely one of the greatest slide guitar players ever.”1 He “usually...strummed a heavy alternating bass figure with his thumb while picking out a single- note melody with the bottleneck (or rather a jackknife) on the first and second or sometimes third and fourth strings.”2 This style is implemented regularly within the recorded version of "Nobody's Fault But Mine," a good example of a classic Blues song. It is an eight-bar blues, and the lyrics follow a common A-A-B pattern, where the first line of the stanza is repeated twice, followed by a third line. This lyrical was usually used in a call/response form, where the first two lines would pose a question, and the third would answer it. Johnson sings his version of the song with great emotional intensity created by his vocals an his guitar. All that is heard in the recording aside from his vocals is his guitar.
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