“We the People Who Are Darker Than Blue” by Curtis Mayfield was released in 1970. The song as a whole is trying to bring attention upon issues that are prevalent in society. It is about discrimination that African Americans face because they have a darker complexion than that of others. Mayfield wants to show his passion in what he believes in, which is that all humans are the same on the inside, through this song. An interesting aspect of the song is the instrumental break around half way in the song. It starts after Mayfield sings, “I know you won’t mind if I tell the whole story”. This instrumental break is played with percussion and brass instruments in a jazz manner for about a minute and a half. I thought this was interesting because I wondered why it was included in the song. By the way he sang the song with the tone he used and took deep breaths, listeners could tell how passionate he felt about the issues mentioned throughout the song. It didn’t seem necessary to add in the instrumental break, but maybe, to Mayfield, it was. Playing instruments possibly allowed Mayfield to release all the negative energy inside of him and relieve the stress he felt. This instrumental break changed how I heard the song the second time because I tried to focus in on this break and try to listen for any techniques that could indicate more of what he felt.