Hey . . . I even know all the words to "Lorena"! :-D
I wrote my thesis on the Civil War . . . and I love the music of that period. I sing Sacred Harp as well as popular late 19th c music, play the piano, harpsichord, guitar, Irish lap harp, and pennywhistle (as well as the bagpipes, but not in the house!)
I'd love some of the links to Civil War songs (I have the Paul Glass "Singing Soldiers" book, Sandburg's "American Songbag", and Lomax's big book). FREEPmail me any time.
Babylon is fallen indeed! But hopefully it WILL rise again under a new government of free men.
Re "Babylon" "Rising again" in the glorious dawn of Freedom's Light; AMEN, Sister!
Bagpipes!? Whistle!? Hey, Mamma; we be JAMMIN! };^{D~
And re Sacred Harp - I would LOVE to do that, but not much of it happening up heah in Maine (that I know of)!
We'll be in touch after this cools down a little; I just wanna Praise de Lawd!
Re. "Lorena"; All 6 verses?
One of my favorites, too; it's on my CD "Home From the Hill" with guitar accompaniment.
Now this is going to offend even some fellow FReepers, but hey; I didn't write it! It's from another time, another issue, another war.
But I think that with some updating, editing, and term substitution like "Iraqi" for "Darky" and "Saddamnite" or some such for "Rebel", it might fit the occasion well enough.
MIDI files for most of these are available, by the way, at:
http://supersearch.mudcat.org/@AdvSuperSearch.cfm">
http://supersearch.mudcat.org/@AdvSuperSearch.cfm BABYLON IS FALLEN
(Henry Clay Work)
Don't you see the black clouds
Risin' ober yonder
Where de Massa's old plantation am?
Neber you be frightened
Dem is only darkies
Come to jine and fight for Uncle Sam.
cho: Look out dar, now
We's a-gwine to shoot!
Look out dar, don't you understand?
(Oh, don't you know dat)
Babylon is fallen,
Babylon is fallen
And we's a-gwine to occupy de land.
Don't you see the lightnin'
Flashin' in the canebrake
Like as if we's gwine to hab a storm?
No! You is mistaken
'Tis de darkies' bay'nets
An' de buttons on dar uniform.
Way up in de cornfield
Where you hear de tunder
Dat is our ole forty-pounder gun;
When de shells are missin'
Den we load wid pumpkins
All de same to make de cowards run.
Massa was de Kernel
In de Rebel army,
Eber sence he went an' run away;
But his lubly darkies
Dey has been a-watchin'
An' dey take him pris'ner tudder day.
We will be the Massa
He will be de servant
Try him how he like it for a spell;
So we crack de Butt'nuts
So we take de Kernel
So de cannon carry back de shell.
Note: a follow-up of Kingdom Coming. RG
@America @war @Civil @army @slavery
(I seem to recall one version with the chorus "Whack Fal-de-Rah! Babylon is Fallen"... we'll check some of the archives for it.)