Question of the Week: 10/4-10/10/21

It’s been a while since we’ve done this question…

What’s your favorite Civil War era song?

 



30 Responses to Question of the Week: 10/4-10/10/21

  1. Aura Lea. This tune was later adapted by Elvis Presley and Ken Darby with new lyrics into the famous 1956 song, “Love Me Tender”. The 1956 Civil War era movie used the same title and was Elvis Presley’s first movie. That movie was originally entitled “The Reno Brothers”, but was charged to “Love Me Tender” because of the popularity of the song.

    1. Agree. Lyrics written by abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe to the music of the song “John Brown’s Body” in November 1861. Her husband, Samuel Gridley Howe, was a member of the Secret Six who funded John Brown’s revolutionary work.

  2. There are so many! Anything Bobby Horton sings, although I love Waylon Jenning’s rendition of “The Rebel Soldier.” Perhaps the lilting melody and imagery of “Riding a Raid” make it my favorite.

  3. My favorite would be pretty much anything being sung in the cotton fields. What was called “Negro spirituals” was some great music.

  4. Well duh! It has to be Dixie for me. It was even old Abe’s favorite song. In the modern era, I think An American Trilogy by Elvis Pressley nicely sums it all up.

  5. I know that it is NOT “Civil War era”, but I have always loved the tune “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, by The Band.

    That said, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” always resonates with me.

  6. Was searching for something different: a popular Civil War song of the U.S. Navy… only to discover nothing memorable. Which is likely one of the reasons John Philip Souza, ten years old when the Civil War ended in 1865, spent his life penning memorable Navy music. Beginning in 1873, Souza composed over 130 marches (my favorite being “The Washington Post,” with attached link to 2011 rendition on YouTube, by U.S. Marine Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxrh1CrMmTY

  7. “Somebody’s Darling” gets me every time. I know it’s morbid and sad, but I love it because it conveys that sense of loss and mourning from a mother/daughter/sister/wife’s perspective.

  8. Battle Cry of Freedom; As a musician myself, it has stirred something within me ever since I first heard it, especially the chord structure of G.F. Root’s original edition.

  9. The Battle Hymn of the Republic is outstanding. Two fun ones are “Richmond In A Hard Road To Travel” and “The Army of the Free.”

  10. “Lorena,” “Dixie,” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home.” The last two songs we learned in
    elementary school in the 1950’s. Lorena is a newer one to me, but I love the tune and the lyrics.

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